The Story of our English Garden Collection
After studying Fashion Print at Central Saint Martins, I went on to design for the renowned store Liberty London, it was there my love for interiors blossomed. Having started designing for the seasonal fashion collection I then moved over to design for interiors, alongside the very talented Emma Mawston. Emma is possibly the most passionate creative I had ever met, she taught me a lot, most of all to put my heart and soul into my work. Used to seeing my designs on garments I was amazed to see how print and colour could transform a room and I knew it was the start of something special.
Having been together for nearly sixteen wonderful years and married for almost two of them, Phil and I feel extremely lucky that we can share our love of design and have always wanted to create something together, combining our passions in both print and furniture design. Last year, after leaving my role as a print designer for Cath Kidston to follow our (scary but very exciting) dreams I not only worked with Phil but also as a freelance print designer. One of my first projects was with the wonderful Bruce Lepere, the carpet buyer for Liberty. Having previously designed a rug for Bruce, while working for Liberty, he briefed me to create a new design; something I was both extremely honoured and excited to work on. With the trusting and open brief of 'a floral', I turned to our very own beautiful English gardens for inspiration. I wanted to create something with movement, energy, and vibrancy.
The final design, a tangle of brightly coloured flowers and foliage was hand painted in watercolours, one of my favourite mediums. Wanting to create cushions to sit alongside the rug, I worked the design into a repeatable fabric pattern for our own collection. We had it digitally printed in Lancaster onto a soft luxurious velvet which illuminated the artwork. Thanks to our trusted and innovative printers the detail is extraordinary and the saturation and depth of colour is exquisite. (One of the most amazing things about being a print designer is seeing your artwork being brought to life on fabric, it's a feeling that never gets old!)
When designing the cushions themselves we wanted the front to display the artwork and the back to be plain, similar to an artist's canvas. With tones that complemented each colourway, we chose each backing velvet with care and consideration, the colours enhancing the hues within each print and offering something different.
The cushions are now available online and can be found at Liberty waiting patiently for their complementary rug, which is currently being hand woven. 'The English Garden' velvet will soon also be available by the metre as well as feature on pieces of free standing furniture which are currently in the design stages. Watch this space!