Focus/26: Quintessential British Design
A full house, once again, and one of the most personal questions our industry can ask: what does quintessential British design mean today?
During Focus/26 at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, we welcomed designers to our Chelsea showroom to introduce our new Sanderson x Ca’ Pietra tile collection and to host a panel on exactly that. The conversation looked at how heritage materials, craft and contemporary practice shape the way British interiors are made and understood, and where the discipline goes next. It was a candid, generous hour, and we are grateful to everyone who came to support us.
The voices who made it
Sean Symington
Founded his Bath and London studio in 2019 and has become one of the names defining British decorating now, all colour, pattern and period character worn lightly. Rooted in classic English style yet fearless with both, he speaks for a heritage that refuses to take itself too seriously.
Ellie Tyerman
Lead Designer at Sanderson Design Group, with more than ten years shaping luxury interior and apparel collections across its quintessentially British brands. With our new Sanderson collection just launched, she brings the archive, the craft and the modern eye to where heritage and contemporary practice meet.
Michelle Wu
Global Head of Design at Maybourne Hotel Group, shaping the look of Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley and The Emory. Few people define how British luxury feels today more directly, and her devotion to the smallest details is exactly the rigour heritage interiors ask for.
Minnie Kemp
Design director at Firmdale Hotels and head of design at the Kit Kemp Design Studio, the family practice behind the joyfully patterned interiors of Ham Yard, Charlotte Street and The Whitby. A champion of British art and craft, she brings storytelling, colour and playfulness to the table.
Between a journalist who has spent three decades listening, a designer redefining English decorating, the mind behind a new heritage collection, a champion of British craft in full colour and the eye shaping Britain’s most storied hotels, the room had every angle on where British design sits, and where it is heading.
Thank you to our speakers, and to everyone who joined us. Here’s to the next one.
