Behind the Curtain | The Art of Making
Photography - Rachel Smith Photography
Photography - Rachel Smith Photography
Photography - Rachel Smith Photography
Photography - Rachel Smith Photography
Every day in our studio is filled with colour, pattern and a lot of passion for the fabrics we create. A huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to get each fabric ready for launch, and we thought you might like a little glimpse into how our collections begin and take shape. Imogen Heath has been designing and creating fabrics for interiors since 2012 and, supported by a small and very close-knit team, works through every part of the process - from hours of painting and playing with patterns and shapes, to meticulously digitising these sketches and then obsessing over the nuances of colour palettes - each design really is a labour of love. Imogen talks through the process behind creating our collections…
FEELING INSPIRED
I seek inspiration for our patterns in all sorts of places. I find great joy in looking at, and learning from painters and paintings from the past, architecture, craft and the process itself. One of my favourite places to browse art books is a little bookshop opposite the Tate in London which sells old exhibition catalogues…whenever I’m in London, I’ll always try to go there. I also get a great deal from simply putting paint brush to paper and mark making, experimenting at my own pace with putting different colours and shapes together. Nothing beats drawing straight from nature - I live right by the South Downs along the Sussex coast, and there is so much natural beauty to get inspired by. For colour, nature is a big influence, but I like to look wider still to try and keep things more current. I’ll always keep an eye on fashion and the looks going down the catwalk, as well as Instagram, of course, to see the trends coming through in interiors. Paying close attention to what’s working well in our existing collection is key, as I’ll always try to build on that too.
BEAUTY IN THE PROCESS
This past year I’ve changed my process a little - but for the better I think. I had to give up my painting area at home due to renovations, so the beginning of the process now starts on my bed or sofa with a set of brush pens and a sketchbook. I am always looking for new ways to keep my creativity in check, and I’ve loved using pens - it’s really helped my love for a little and often approach. I then play around with these sketches, scaling them up and down to see which ones to select and paint up properly. I often decide to do a print run immediately at this stage, before digitising, editing or even putting in a repeat, as I think it’s important to see a design on fabric as soon as possible to truly know if it’ll work and is worth pursuing. My favourite part of the process is sketching at the very beginning - anything is possible at this point, and it’s very freeing to go wherever your creativity takes you. And, after all the refining and experimenting, painting up the final design is really exciting.
PUTTING INTO PRODUCTION
We do all recolouring in house, which I have been told is quite unusual, but I am very particular about colour and find it more time efficient for us to have complete control over this process. We create the colour blankets and aim to see each design a couple of times in various colour ways before settling on a final selection.This process takes ages, around four weeks for every round of samples and then another six for production. We’re branching into wallpaper later this year and one of the most exciting things is that the sampling turnaround times are much much quicker!
OUR EMBROIDERY COLLABORATION
What is so lovely about the embroideries is that it’s much more hands-on and synergetic. Our studio is right next door to our collaborator Jenny King, so we can go from sketch to finished piece in a couple of weeks - all I have to do is book this development time in with Jenny and we’re good to go. We hope you liked hearing about our creative process, and the journey our fabrics embark on before finding their way into your homes! Our hands-on approach means we can be super flexible and anything is possible, so if you’re after something bespoke for your next project, please just get in touch!
Photography - Rachel Smith Photography