Collaborations in Britain’s Material World

As Featured in Hotel Designs

When it comes to collaborations between designers and furniture brands, British suppliers are arguably in a league of their own. To celebrate the industry working together, Hotel Designs took a closer look at some of Gabriella James, Chairmakers most meaningful partnerships….

The British textile industry is thriving, and its success is driven by a range of factors, one of which is todays eco-conscious zeitgeist that has triggered a desire to buy sustainable, local and authentically sourced materials.

More significantly, there is an emerging renaissance in traditional British manufacturing skills and techniques.

This artisan revival has led to an abundance of traditionally crafted textiles and natural textures. Raw weaves with pronounced warps and wefts, stubby fabrics in rustic checks and bouclés that resemble cloth cut from an artisan weaver’s loom. Traditionally block-printed fabrics featuring abstract art with loose brushstrokes and playful daubs or ikats and motifs. Richly embroidered weaves and tapestries on all manner of natural fabrics including linens velvets and wool.

But the real driving force behind the resurgence in British textiles is a new crop of British textile artists creating vibrant and distinctive prints and weaves for interiors. This new breed of designers is not only creative, but tech and marketing savvy and so able to run their own businesses, heavily driven by social media. They have skilfully incorporated the unique strengths of British textiles such as heritage, quality and traditional skills to create innovative fabric collections for today’s interiors obsessed consumer seeking a story and provenance behind their purchase.

Gabriella James, Chairmakers' designer fabric collection showcases some of the best British designers. Their stunning and luxurious creations are central to the beauty of the chairs and stools the brand create. Here are four of our favourites.

 

Kit Kemp

Award-winning interior designer Kit Kemp has been developing inspiring, vibrant interiors for almost three decades. With a background in graphic design, this self-taught creative has created her own quintessential British style.

Kemp is the creative force behind the hugely successful Firmdale Hotel group, a boutique collection of hotels renowned for their unique character and stylish use of colour. Her distinctive quirky designs have led her to collaborate with big names including Christopher Farr Cloth to create an inspiring range of totally unique fabrics and wallpapers.

Gabriella James' selection of Kit Kemp Weaves and prints draws on her whimsical style. It is a carefully curated collection of colourful eclectic patterns and joyful textured weaves to create luxurious chairs and bar stools that are as beautiful as they are comfortable.

 

Penny Morrison

Penny Morrison is one of the most sought-after Interior Designers in Britain and around the world. Penny is renowned for creating unique designs through seemingly clashing combinations. Pairing unexpected patterns and palettes, her designs are a visual feast brimming with colour and exuding spontaneity and sophistication in equal measure.

Her collection of luxury prints and weaves is a rich accumulation of inspiration from cultures around the world, from Turkish embroidery and Japanese textiles to Anglo-Indian symbols and Ancient Greek motifs.

Andean Vertical Stripe and Anni Orange are stunning colourful designs that ensure the brand’ chairs and bar stools will make a statement in any space.

 

Margo Selby

Margo is a world renowned British textile designer. Her Jacquard woven textiles have pushed the boundaries of weaving to create contemporary upholstery fabrics that are brimming with colour and style.

Gabriella James, Chairmakers' selected weaves from her Memphis collection brings together a diverse and distinctive range of woven fabrics that are both decorative and luxurious. These jacquard weaves in harmonious but contrasting colours sit beautifully against a multitude of fresh paint colours to create chic and stylish chairs and bar stools to make a vibrant addition to any interior.

 

Korla

Korla, named after a town in China on the Silk Road, create gorgeously graphic fabrics mixing bold colours with strong patterns. All their fabrics are designed, woven and printed to the highest quality entirely in the UK.

Their collection of colourful and contemporary textiles is bold, fun and cheerful. Korla designs feature geometric shapes, small patterns, zigzags and scallops that are wonderfully light-hearted and frivolous. Their colour palette of bright, summery and cool shades is as striking as it is original.

The brand’s pair of signature Korla prints with their eye-catching paint finishes is effortlessly cool and will bring a fresh contemporary look to any style of interior.