Can you explain how the collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum came to life and what your role was in this process?

James: I originally approached the Van Gogh Museum after learning more about Vincent‘s openness to communicate about his challenges with mental health. The relevance to the power of yoga and how this can connect with the community today was something I felt was a powerful story. Through the process of building the collection and working with the Van Gogh Museum I learnt so much more about him, his relationship with his brother, his time at Saint-Rémy, and so the story kept evolving and getting stronger, with it eventually becoming extremely powerful to me personally.

It was certainly not easy to choose from the large number of paintings by Vincent van Gogh. Why did you choose three paintings Wild Roses, Irises and Almond Blossom for the collaboration?

James: The paintings and work were chosen based on the connection with nature, and these were specifically painted during his short time while staying at Saint-Rémy. This being the period of time when Vincent was receiving support and communicating openly about his wellbeing to his brother Theo, the paintings represent a journey of small steps of growth and improving wellbeing.

What inspires you personally about the eventful life of Vincent van Gogh?

James: I was inspired from learning how Vincent was so transparent about his mental state and his openness to his challenges and emotions that he was experiencing throughout his life and his desire to find help. I felt this was an inspirational story that is more relevant to our world today than ever, and with it being still a challenging stigma today, I cannot imagine the bravery to be this vulnerable in the late 1800s. But the time when he was getting help in Saint-Rémy was when he was his most productive, and in that one year he managed to create over 150 paintings. Which is truly incredible. I am very grateful to have been able to spend so much time with the art, with the colours, experiencing seeing the brush stroke and the colour mixing on extreme high resolution versions of the paintings. The project has left a stronger impression on me than I realized, and when seeing the Manduka products in the museum, next to the work, it was strangely emotional.

What is the main message of this collection and how does it go hand in hand with sustainability?

James: The main message that we hope this partnership communicates is one of inspiration. Using Vincent’s paintings to inspire and invigorate people to talk openly with no repercussions about their feelings, to ask for help when needed and to do something that could make you happy. Manduka believes Yoga, meditation, and any form of physical or mental wellbeing have such a positive impact on all people, that we hope the collaboration inspires those who already practice to continue and share their experiences to others to be inspired to start or learn about what yoga and meditation are and can do. Manduka is a performance yoga brand that is constantly using colour and education in its product innovations to inspire as many people as possible about the benefits of Yoga. So using the brilliance of Vincent‘s paintings and colours makes the partnership even more powerful and long lasting. We strive for longevity in our product through focusing on durability, performance and sustainability and are excited that this collection will be constantly relevant to the yoga community.