Designer Loves: Sophie Elborne
As part of its First Look initiative, and as a preview to London Design Week 2021, the Design Centre asked top designers to choose their favourite products from this season’s new collections. Sophie Elborne makes her selection below, with an edit that features some of the colours she loves best.
Is there a particular piece out of the products you’ve chosen that you can’t wait to put in a scheme? How do you envision using it?
The ‘Asaram; fabric by Martyn Lawrence Bullard from Tissus d’Hélène. I’d love to repeat this across a bedroom space. It would lend itself just as well to the headboard, bed, pleated lampshades and adjoining upholstered furniture combined with fresh off-white linen draped bedside tables and a few vintage wood and ebonised furniture or accessory pieces.
Did you discover anything on the First Look colour wheel that surprised you?
I wasn’t familiar with Anne Corbière, which I’ve discovered via Alexander Lamont + Miles, but will be sure to check out its woven textiles.
Is there a colour you are consistently drawn to in your work?
I just cannot and have never been able to escape from indigo blue, which I constantly return to for its depth, perfect partnership with natural materials and shades of white (the non-colour that provides the canvas to most of my schemes).
What timeless colour should we all be embracing this year?
Biscuit in all its forms (including edible!)
See these products in person at London Design Week 2021 (16-21 May): register here
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- ‘Atelier Jean’ wallcovering, Pierre Frey: “This wallcovering combines all the things I love: vintage paper, hand drawing and a good dose of whimsy to ensure spaces never take themselves too seriously”
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- ‘Inkpen’ table, Vaughan: “Nodding to the furniture designs of E W Godwin and the Aesthetic Movement, this little table would bring vintage character and graphic charm”
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- ‘Arlesienne’ wallcovering, Pierre Frey: “This reminds me of Japanese miniature nature paintings expressed in a sophisticated, French palette of biscuit, black and white. I would layer it with natural finishes and lots more white”
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- ‘Frank’ table lamp, Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam Ltd: “This piece has beautiful, Brancusi-sculpture-like proportions, finished in a really interesting verdigris-looking patina that appears to capture the passing of time as if it were an antique”
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- ‘Asaram’ fabric, Martyn Lawrence Bullard at Tissus d’Hélène: “This print combines pretty and mature in equal measure, offering a medium-scale pattern that would be impactful but not overpowering”
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- ‘Ollone’ blind, Anne Corbière at Alexander Lamont + Miles: “I love the idea of woven, natural slatted blinds in lieu of their more current interlined fabric relatives. This design gives a far greater sense of the maker’s hand-crafting”
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- ‘Large Cep’ table lamp, Collier Webb: “An elegant lamp with modernist influence that would sit comfortably alongside most design styles, offering all the playfulness of a green cartoon character”
Alexander Lamont + Miles, Second Floor, South Dome
Collier Webb, Second Floor, South Dome
Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam Ltd, Ground Floor, Centre Dome
Pierre Frey, First Floor, Design Centre East
Tissus d’Hélène, Fourth Floor, Design Centre East
Vaughan, Ground Floor, Design Centre East
