Interview
with Bronwen Jones (Interior Designer)
Q: I can see you have lots of pattern books
here from different designers, but which ones do you find the most inspiring
and effective?
A: Delecuona
produce a very smart black box with cuttings that are tied together like this,
same fabric but it different colour waves.
It looks very sleek and very sophisticated and appeals to the more
minimalist architects and designers, it’s very much in the upper end of the
market and not very John Lewis. This type of book would be very difficult to
sell to John Lewis because you need to be a designer to have that foresight to
imagine how it looks. I have cut these out and put them in my own boxes. When I
speak to suppliers and I need to show clients ideas, I put a scheme together; I
order the cuttings and send them off to the client with a letter.
Other designers that have made a name for themselves and who
tend to be a bit more eclectic and thought out like Zoffany, use very good
quality fabrics and make a pattern book similar to Colfax. In so much that you
have the same tone running throughout, it helps you. You could have wing chair
in that and a sofa in that and you can’t really go wrong, it’s like painting with
numbers. However, a more creative designer will say ‘I want that on the wing
chair and the Delecuona for the curtains, it’s about knowing your books.
Q: Do you find less people are using interior
designers these days because they are taking a more DIY approach?
A: The problem
here for me, as an interior designer, is that the client will get the cutting,
with all the details on, and say ‘great Il just order that straight form the
supplier’, this makes interior designers reluctant to send out cuttings. You’ve spent that time
to make a collection and the clients have gone elsewhere. A good example of
that possibly, is designer’s guild. The client go straight to them and order
it, this makes me defunct.
So when I started off in a company called Charles Hammond we
would have large samples like this one, you can see the whole design and it
would be tagged without the details. It
would just have a code, so we in the company would know what it was, but the
customer wouldn’t. This would guarantee the client to come back to us. But as
the market has developed that has not worked necessarily.
Q: How do you think the internet has affected
the way you get inspired and how has the industry responded to this?
A: Now with the internet, for example GP
and J Baker have sent me a letter with a code and password so I have access to
their full library of their fabrics. However being a designer you need to touch
that fabric. You need to see it and get inspired by it, and more often than not
you could be working with loads of things thrown out on the floor and because
one thing touches another you could think ‘oh wow, they go really well together
and they could be from completely different designers. Again, it’s the freedom
you need to have as an interior designer.
Q: You have pointed out the books you enjoy
using, but which ones do you tend not to use so much?
A: This company
is called Evitavonni, it is very expensive fabric and personally I find this
type of book really frustrating. It might look really nice but I think it appeals
more to the hotel market because you have a load of pages, one very similar to
another and at the back; the details and the name of the fabric but you have to
use it in a very specific way. The type
of designer using this book is not particularly interested in the overall look;
they have just been given a budget and need to implement it. For example, the
Duchess rom on floor one of a hotel will have fabrics A,B and C and the bridal
suite will have fabric D,E and F.
Q: You have a lot of books here; do you find it
difficult organizing and storing them effectively?
A: With books
like these, you have to have the space. I had my shop, but I have downsized so
I can only keep here what I think I use a lot.
So, this is Zimmer and Rhode fabrics, and they very much
deal with the trade rather than retail. They work from designers from the
outset. They are good because if I am looking for a silk in a very specific
colour, they will have a whole book dedicated to silk; this is how the true
designer likes to work. You decide you want a silk and sifting through books
like these are tedious; you want all the colours in one book like this one.
Again due to space, Zimmer have created tiny books, these are good for me as I
can see what they are like but a client might want to see a bigger piece.
From my point of view, this way of viewing a fabric works
very well. If I get it condensed like this, it’s perfect!
Zimmer and Rhode have also embrace technology, you can
actually see their fabrics online. This is useful for the designer because you
can get an idea at a glance but of course colours and texture do not come
across on a computer so you still have to order a cutting to get the real feel.
Q: This book here is particularly striking; do
you think it’s useful or important to have lots of imagery in a pattern book?
A: This is a huge
book by Andrew Martin and very difficult to show but very inspiring. It’s very
good for people who are lacking imagination, for designers and clients. You
might think that certain fabrics are a bit old fashioned but put in the right
scheme it can look completely different. You have an illustration next to the
fabrics and wallpaper, again a very contemporary feel for it. They are helping you, it works! Andrew Martin
has marketed himself very well but you do need the space for the books. Also,
with these books, it’s accompanied by brochures which replicate the images
further pushing the designs forward. As a designer, really it doesn’t matter
how anything is presented to you, ultimately you will make that decision
yourself because you have that imagination.
You have to buy these books at a very costly price. A
typical Andrew Martin book like this one will cost £160, however It’s an
investment you have to make, which is why when a client uses us then goes
somewhere else to source the fabrics, we are resentful.
Another way of getting samples is using a ‘ladder hanger’,
which is made up of about 6 colour ways with one larger sample of your choice,
so a client can see what the impact is but also the other options available.
Q: It seems to me, that now more than ever,
designers in all areas of the field are trying to sell a lifestyle rather than
just a product e.g.Orla Kiely. Do you think this is the future for these books?
A: This is a
Cecil Beaton book, it can be very effective. It is selling a style, as
illustrated in the images, and like Designer’s Guild, Cecil Beaton goes with
Cecil Beaton. There are some companies that are quite specific. You have to
have the whole lot!
Q: Do you find more and more clients are coming
to you with their own inspiration found from magazines and the internet?
When you get to meet a client you have to learn about them
but obviously they have come to you for your advice so it’s a compromise
really. You want to give them the best; I have a tendency of pulling out my
favourites. It’s important when choosing a designer you look at their style and
see if it suits you.
Some clients know
exactly what they want before they come to you, these are the worst because
they like to undermine you. They need to accept you have hired a designer
because they know best!
Q: Pike believe that the days of the pattern
book, the way it is now, are limited and it will soon be replaced by a more
modern and digital service, what you do think?
A: I think there
is a plus and a minus for that. I think there would be a lot of wastage. I
could ring up after looking online for fabrics and to cover myself I will order
10 samples and only use 1 or 2. I think it could work but the suppliers could
get bogged down by sending lots of samples. The Delecuona idea with the box is
forward thinking. You buy it for £20 and you get all the cuttings you want, so
the suppliers aren’t constantly sending out cuttings, paying for the postage
and the administration. I don’t think we will lose pattern books but I think it
will become increasingly aided by the internet, but the nature of our work; you
need to touch it and feel it because one linen is very different to another
linen. It’s not until you see it in the flesh that you can appreciate the
difference between the two.
I do get the feeling that certain books are very expensive
to produce, they won’t be making much profit, and nobody would buy it if it was
too much. Especially with companies like Andrew Martin who also provide a
brochure, you can see from those images what you want; there is no need in
spending so much on making a sell proof book.
I think something does need to be done in terms of the way
pattern books work. What I find annoying is when certain fabrics and wallpapers
in a book get discontinued; you have to cut it out so the customer can’t see it
and your left with a very scruffy looking book. It doesn’t reflect well when
you’re trying to inspire someone. You have to update everything all the time,
if your client sets their heart on something and you find out it has been
discontinued your put in a very difficult situation.
Q: Now I will ask you
some questions about interior decoration to gain you consumer perspective. So which
retailers/ brands do you buy items for you interior?
A: I like Ikea, everything is all in one place. I spend so
much of my time designing other people’s homes, I am sick of it by the time I
come to do mine so I just want it to be as easy as possible. Sometimes when I
really like a sample, I cut it out and make a cushion cover or something.
Q: What else attracts you to IKEA? Do you go there with a
specific product in mind?
A: Yes, I never go just for a look around. I go for
something specific but I always end up buying more than that. I like how cheap
it is mainly.
Q: What fashion brands do you buy?
A: Marks and Spencer’s, Next, Wallis, sometimes Monsoon.
Q: How would you describe you interior taste?
A: White! My whole house is white, so minimal I guess. I
like patterns in small doses.
Me: Thank you very much for meeting with me.
