Homeware goes haute: Now fashion designers want to revamp your interiors too...
by Jess Wood For The Daily Mail- Jess Wood confesses that she has become an interiors junky
- Lockdown has turned us into a nation of nesting homeware obsessives
- For designers, grabbing piece of £13 billion homeware market is a no-brainer
Maybe it's midlife; maybe it's the endless Zoom calls that now have to take place in my sitting room.
Or maybe, having spent years feeding my clothes and jewellery habit, I've run out of wardrobe space and adorning my home is the logical next step.
Whatever it is, I confess: once a fashion addict, I've now become an interiors junkie.
As I write, I'm sitting on a mango yellow floral African-inspired cushion, which matches my new African-print Stella Jean kaftan.
I pop out to the shops and come home with Ikat cushions.
And it's not just me. Lockdown has turned us into a nation of nesting homeware obsessives — with fashion designers now getting in on the act.
Alice Temperley is launching an interiors range, Gucci's outre décor collection is selling like hotcakes (geometric G wallpaper? Yes, please) and Dolce is collaborating with Smeg, covering toasters and fridges in their signature baroque prints.
On the High Street, Habitat's debut collection with cool fashion brand Shrimps was such a success that a second will hit stores in autumn.
For fashion designers, grabbing a piece of the £13 billion a year homeware market is a no-brainer.
Interior designer Gabrielle Blackman, one of the stars of BBC 1's home makeover programme DIY SOS, says: 'Our homes were once private spaces. Now, with Zoom, Instagram and the lockdown, they've become public.
'As an interior designer, I always look at how my clients dress and try to extend that into their home.
A good interior design is more flattering than any Instagram filter or designer suit; the right lighting can make you look thinner, younger, more fabulous.
'And it's exciting to have these fashion brands involved now. Household names like Alice Temperley already have people's trust — you've got the outfit, now you can have the housestyle to match.'
Speaking as someone who rose at 6am to comb the local boot sale for vintage vases on my recent Suffolk holiday, I couldn't be more thrilled about this development. So, here are the pieces and collections I'll be adorning my house with next …
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Temperley London, temperleylondon.com
The British designer is known for her bohemian, artfully dishevelled take on English style — and now you can recline on an Alice-embellished velvet throw, too.
The range also features cushions and tablecloths in signature prints from her archives, handmade and embroidered in India.
I'm drooling over a Saba leopard-print tablecloth, £120-£850.
HAUTE INTERIORS
Saunders Furniture by Jonathan Saunders, saundersstudio.com
Once upon a time, Jonathan Saunders was one of my favourite fashion shows on the London Fashion Week schedule.
Part of the same generation as fellow London stars Christopher Kane and Roksanda Ilincic, Saunders is a master of colour and dazzling screen prints.
I used to drool over his masterful combos — aqua with peach and flashes of red, gorgeous abstract print dresses.
He closed his namesake label and worked for Diane von Furstenburg as chief creative officer from 2016 to 2018, and has now turned his attention to interiors full time.
He unveiled his first furniture collection at the art fair Frieze in February.
Saunders studied product design at Glasgow School of Art and fell into fashion through his love of textiles — so the new focus makes perfect sense.
Saunders' new creations include a tubular steel square stool with leather upholstery and table, a bench made from sycamore and stained beech using a marquetry technique, and one-off wall hangings that feature his signature screen-printing.
At the moment, pieces are on a bespoke, price-on-application basis but a ready-made collection and High Street collaborations are bound to follow.
THE ULTRA HIP PICK
Gucci Décor, gucci.com and matchesfashion.com
Designer Alessandro Michele doesn't think small, so it's no surprise he wants to fill houses with the same startling aesthetic, a blend of every era and corner of the globe, that he brings to his fashion collections.
The range includes everything from furniture to tableware, wallpaper and porcelain trinket boxes.
If I had £4,500, I'd be spending it on the floral jacquard tasselled armchair. But I'll settle for a butterfly trinket tray, £195, or a Fumus Star Eye candle, £225.
ITALIAN FLOURISH
Dolce&Gabbana for Smeg at Harrods, John Lewis and dolcegabbana.com
Billed as a meeting of 'Sicilian aesthetics and state-of-the-art technology', the Italian duo's collaborations with high-end domestic appliance brand Smeg started a few years back.
Smeg products are known for their sleek minimalist chrome looks, so seeing some of the company's signature items covered in Dolce's bold and beautiful rococo prints is a delight.
The latest collection, Sicily Is My Love, features a slow juicer, a blender, toaster, citrus juicer and a kettle.
The food blender, £699.95 at John Lewis, will perk up morning smoothies a treat.
RED-CARPET GLAMOUR AT HOME
Matthew Williamson x Vinterior, matthew williamson.com
As a fashion designer, Williamson was known for his red-carpet dresses and bright colour combinations.
Now he's left fashion for interiors, creating jungle and leopard covered wallpapers for Osborne & Little and selling candles, stationery and tableware under his own label.
His collaboration with vintage and antique website Vinterior is a curated edit of his favourites each month.
The current 'Summer Living' edit features everything from a 19th century Swedish folk-art painted cupboard, £2,970, and faceted murano glass vases, £420.
KATE'S DESIGNER DOES TABLEWEAR
Emilia Wickstead Home Collection, modaoperandi.com
One of the most successful of London's crop of fashion designers, Wick-stead is loved by A-listers and royalty (including Kate) for her ladylike elegance and couture-infused silhouettes.
Her first foray into interiors is a partnership with pre-order trunkshow site ModaOperandi.com and features beautiful table linens in signature Emilia prints.
I fell in love with a dress in this floral print from one of her previous collections but I couldn't find it in my size.
Now, my table can wear it instead! Light Floral Linen Tablecloth, £588, and matching four napkins, £234.
