Meet the Showroom: George Smith

What brought George Smith to Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour? 

Our presence at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour marks an exciting new chapter for us. Opening a showroom here reflects a clear ambition to be at the heart of the global design community, placing George Smith within one of the most influential interior destinations in the world.

The showroom provides a unique opportunity to connect with an A-list audience of international, influential design professionals as well as design-passionate private clients. By establishing a presence here, we can fully immerse ourselves in the community and take part in key industry events.

What should we expect from the showroom?

It’s a fresh and inviting environment. “Try before you buy” could not be more important when it comes to sofas and armchairs, so we want visitors to feel welcome and ready to settle in for a while! The showroom will showcase a selection of our best-selling designs alongside new collections, while a dedicated fabric area displays an extensive range of our textiles.

Beyond the display, the space is very much designed for interaction and client meetings, complete with a cup of tea or coffee to make the experience all the more enjoyable.

Why should customers visit in person as opposed to looking/buying online? 

Because comfort is entirely subjective: what feels perfect to one person may not suit another, so sitting in a piece and experiencing it first-hand is essential to truly understanding your needs.

In person, clients can also fully appreciate the breadth of options available. With an extensive range of finishes, fabrics, and fully bespoke possibilities, seeing and comparing these choices physically makes the decision-making process far clearer.

The showroom also provides the benefit of guided expertise. Our team is on hand to offer tailored advice, helping clients and designers navigate the options.

What’s George Smith’s design philosophy? 

Our design philosophy is centred on quality, durability and comfort above speed and cost, underpinned by a clear “buy once, buy well” ethos. Each piece is crafted using traditional British upholstery techniques and the finest materials, ensuring exceptional longevity, structural integrity and lasting comfort.

We are focused on creating furniture that is made to endure, both in performance and appearance, becoming more characterful over time and offering lasting value.

‘Signature’ chair

Is there a ‘hero’ product that you feel encapsulates your brand? 

The Signature collection encapsulates George Smith, and it has become our long-standing bestseller across sofas, chairs and stools, and works across both classic and contemporary interiors. Its success comes from its adaptability and depth of customisation, allowing clients to tailor everything from arm style and cushion filling to leg finish and size, while still retaining a consistently timeless silhouette.

It also carries the brand’s founding story at its core, with the design originally developed from a single, much-admired sofa that was carefully deconstructed and reinterpreted into what became the Signature range.

Are there broad trends in your sector of the design industry that you’re embracing?

A key shift we have seen is moving away from designing for a moment. In an industry often driven by seasonal trends and visual impact, there is a growing recognition that truly successful interiors are those that endure, not just physically, but functionally as well.

For us, this starts with craftsmanship. Our furniture is handcrafted in Newcastle made using traditional upholstery methods, ensuring that each piece is made not just for immediate impact, but for years of use. Designing for later often leads to better spaces now. Layouts change, colours shift, trends move on, but well-made furniture often remains.

What can we expect from the latest collections? 

We’ve introduced the ‘Lucy’ sofa and chair, a contemporary splayed-arm design that brings a softer, more relaxed silhouette. Defined by its gently swept-out arms and balanced with supportive pillow-back cushioning and deep seats, ‘Lucy’ offers a more effortless, lived-in feel while still retaining George Smith’s signature tailoring. It has been designed to sit comfortably across all interiors.

We also just had a significant expansion in our linen offerings and colourways. Three new Belgian linens – ‘Meuse’, ‘Dender’ and ‘Ancre’ – introduce 75 new colourways in total, bringing a broader, more layered palette to both tailored and relaxed upholstery.

What craftsmanship or innovation goes into your furniture? 

Every George Smith piece begins its journey in our Newcastle factory, where the UK’s largest team of master upholsterers manages end-to-end manufacturing. Each frame is made from responsibly sourced, kiln-dried hardwood using traditional joinery refined over decades. At every piece’s core, hand-stretched jute webbing supports double cone springs, individually stitched and hand-lashed for lasting comfort and resilience. Upholstery layers of horsehair, cotton felt, and hessian are applied with precision to regulate weight, temperature and moisture.

Ultimately, the craftsmanship at George Smith lies in what cannot be seen. By focusing on the internal build as much as the aesthetic, every piece is made to be not only beautifully finished but also exceptionally comfortable and built to stand the test of time.

Is there anything else you’d like the Design Centre’s community to know about your brand?

I would emphasise that we are not just a furniture supplier, but a fully integrated partner in the design process, supporting projects from initial concept through to final installation. A significant part of the work that we do is bespoke. We often begin with a brief, sketch or reference, and our product development team develops this collaboratively with designers through detailed drawings, technical discussions and, where needed, prototyping. This ensures that every element, from proportion and scale to sit and comfort, is carefully resolved before it reaches production.

For hospitality and commercial projects, this approach is combined with the scale and infrastructure required for more complex schemes. We regularly support designers and architects globally with site surveys, technical specifications, and compliance requirements, ensuring that each piece is not only visually aligned with the design intent but also performs in high-traffic environments.

We understand that no two projects are the same, so our role is to make the process as seamless as possible, whether that is adapting an existing design, developing something entirely new, or advising on materials and finishes.