JOHN BIDDELL ROYALT Y REMEMBERED


71


Having been shaken to the core to hear the news of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s grave ill health and subsequent passing on September 8th, and like many others being glued to the TV watching her funeral for most of the day on the 19th, I thought I’d like to somehow pay tribute to her and her reign this month. I pondered long and hard, wondering what I could say that hadn’t already been said, or what contribution I could make that would be at all relevant to my role in this magazine. Then it came to me.


As regular readers will know, one of my very favourite design houses is the inimitable Designers Guild. The co-founder Tricia Guild and her stalwart team have been producing exquisite fabrics and wallpapers for over 50 years. From pretty much the moment Designers Guild products hit the market they were hailed as ground breaking. Tricia’s obvious sense of style and her use of colour was a real breath of fresh air. In her early days she was noted for her soft and gentle, yet innovative, floral patterns in beautiful pastel shades. Designers Guild were one of the first companies to introduce the painterly style of wallpapers, a genre they excelled in then, and that they have successfully re-invented over the past few years.


One of the many things I like about Designers Guild is that Tricia has always stuck with colour. Even when the rest of the industry was dulling down in response to “The grey years”, their collections exuded bold colour and timeless elegance, often with the flavours of central Asia. The feel of the product has always been contemporary, off the wall, left field – anything but traditional.


So what a surprise it was for us in the industry when we heard that in 2007 Designers Guild was made the exclusive licensee to The Royal Collection Trust, the only association run by the Royal Family for the Queen’s official palaces and residences, for the manufacture and worldwide distribution of furnishing fabrics and wallcoverings. I’ll be honest, it seemed an odd match to say the least.


LIVE24-SEVEN.COM


HOME S & INTERIORS JOHN BIDDE L L - INT ERIORS EXPER T


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132