Chikai’s story started with Jessica and her love and passion for handcrafted creations. She has spent all her life bringing creations to life but never thought about starting her own business until around 2013. Originally from Spain, she decided to start using her crafty skills as a business when she moved to Brighton in the UK, where she resides now with her supportive husband David and little baby Jora.

After moving to the UK Jessica started working remotely and whilst doing so she became interested in crochet. Being a creative and resourceful person she self-taught herself the techniques and began producing items that people were super excited about, so Jessica and David decided to bring Chikai to life.

Originally set up as two etsy shops (for plushies and materials) Jessica decided to create her own shop in 2019, to combine both destinations into a self-managed space.

Chikai means “nearby” in Japanese, a symbolic name for the type of personal touch and customer service that Jessica aims to deliver on every package she sent around the world. Each of these includes a handwritten note and a small gift, a token of appreciation for the support.

Jessica has been working full time on Chikai for 6 years, creating all sort of lovely crochet creations and making DIY materials accessible to people from all over the world.

Chikai has also been on several local craft markets and Xmas markets around Brighton, with great success on every occasion. On top of that Jessica has been able to make Chikai her full time job, thanks to a loyal and happy customer base that is very appreciative of the work done at the store.