I think this week was the first time I felt a ‘chill’ in a few months, and smelt the first hint of woodsmoke in the evening air. Autumn is my favourite time to be in the city, and I’m glad to be back, because I don’t think my suitcase has been fully unpacked since the summer began! My own travels have taken me to Paris, the Lake District, Devon and Scotland to name a few, while the wider team have been to Monaco, the Alps, Tuscany, Dubai and Kraków, and of course a rather lovely amount of London activity as usual.
But I’m not complaining – some seasons simply ask more of you and give far more back, and at present, the Studio is humming, the diaries are filling up and everyone has returned with new ideas and a renewed appetite for creativity.
It began with the London launch of the THG Paris Marcel Collection. It was wonderful to celebrate its confident, sculptural spirit at home and we were delighted to partake in a conversation at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour’s Focus/26 with Georgina Blaskey of Sheerluxe, Hannah Burch from the THG team and our own in-house Architect – Pablo Rimoldi who championed the design process. It was one of those rare sessions where you can feel the room lean in, and I came away feeling extremely grateful for our global design community, as well as the incredible work that has come from our collaboration with the fantastic team at THG Paris.
Not long afterwards, my team made their way over to the Monaco Yacht Show which is always a highlight of the European calendar. It was a joy to join the BOAT party hosted by one of our projects – Ulyssia – and introduce our new concept yacht – Zenith, created in partnership with Swisships. Zenith is our vision of what a modern yacht interior can be: calm, tactile and unapologetically luxurious, with a sense of light and space more often found in a beautiful home than on the water – I can’t wait to share more.
There was also very happy news closer to home. We were once again included in the Andrew Martin Interior Design Book, with some stunning imagery from our Holland Park and Mallorca projects. These two homes could hardly be more different, one a London townhouse full of quiet elegance and the other a sun-washed villa with the ease of the Mediterranean, but both reflect the way we like to work: with a strong sense of place and a great deal of care. To see them sit alongside so many celebrated designers is an honour, and I am grateful to my team for the hard work behind every image.
One day I want to mention in particular was the extremely fun simulated shooting day we hosted at the Englefield Estate. We were joined by peers from across the industry and between set-ups there were plenty of laughs and long conversations – the kind of relaxed exchanges that happen when people are given the space to connect away from the usual working environment.
More recently, I made a personal visit to the Lalique factory, and I was struck by the artistry of the glassmakers. Watching molten crystal become something extraordinary and shaped by hand reminds me why I love to do what I do. In the same week members of my team visited a workshop and factory belonging to Graff in Kraków, where I saw the same dedication to precision and quiet perfection. I always come back from these visits humbled and inspired by the artisanal craft that exists in our wonderful world.
Elsewhere the wider team has been out on site across Dubai, Cyprus, Tuscany, Switzerland and Italy. There is no substitute for standing in a room, feeling the proportions and watching the light move across a wall and I love hearing the stories they bring back: a perfect stone sample found by chance, a beautiful lunch in a Tuscan hilltop village, a client’s delight when the first pieces arrive. It is a privilege to work with a team who care so much about what they do and who are happy to travel so far to get it right.
And finally, something a little special. Tagging onto the trip to Lalique, I stopped by Paris to see Céline Dion perform. I will not pretend to be objective – it was magnificent. There are moments when design, music and emotion all meet, and this was one of them. When she sang the entire arena seemed to hold its breath and it was a reminder that creativity, in whatever form, is about making people feel something and that is what I hope we do in every home we design.
Thank you, as always, for being part of our story.
Katharine
