The Revival of British Craftsmanship & Manufacturing
September 1, 2024
As many of you know, I absolutely love natural materials and craftsmanship, and one of my passions is the importance of designing and making in the UK. In a world of mass production, it has always been an increasingly important ethos for me and equally, for sustainability in my business.
As many of you know, I absolutely love natural materials and craftsmanship, and one of my passions is the importance of designing and making in the UK. In a world of mass production, it has always been an increasingly important ethos for me and equally for sustainability in my business.
Using local and sustainable craftsmanship is important, as is the need to preserve traditional craft skills, which we are in danger of losing. Craftsmanship is a sign of a creative hand at work, and alongside this, a creative mind striving to keep traditional skills and industry alive in the UK.
I have become quietly optimistic about the revival of craftsmanship and sustainability in the world of interiors. No longer is our industry saturated with mass-produced products. There is a growing awareness of doing things ‘differently’ and some companies are listening to new ideas and driving sustainability and individuality.
More often than not in my work, I hear clients say they would prefer something unique, individually crafted and individual to them. Many of us are choosing longevity over a short-term design trend. We are choosing to let go of the uniformity of imports and are becoming more aware of the beauty of the hand in the maker’s process. The hand-crafted product means embracing the subtle variations, depth and uniqueness of handmade skills and natural materials. The handcrafted process is a beautifully subtle way in which to teach us patience in a world that is driven by impatience, and beauty in a world that is driven by the ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ culture.
Manufacturing my Moorland Trimmings collection in the UK was an amazing journey and allowed me to oversee the quality of each trimming, working closely with the team at the mill to choose the natural materials and the yarn colours. Using British craftsmanship not only shas a low carbon footprint, but it also supported the local community with jobs, allowed me to improve sustainability, and importantly, helps us to create new journeys and change our consciousness about our habits for consumption and consumerism.
My design style is to create a home that is classically timeless and quietly elegant. I approach every project with one ethos in mind: to create a home that feels consciously designed, a home that evolves from consciousness, ethics, sustainability, and integrity. Which is why I love hearing about companies who are working with the same ethos as mine and driving craftsmanship and are crafting bespoke products.
Helen Izzard is a Somerset based interior design studio, creating timeless, quietly elegant interiors. Our design philosophy is underpinned by our ethos of timelessness, quality, longevity, and craftsmanship. We are drawn to natural materials, which are inherently beautiful, practical and sustainable. Our speciality is bespoke curtains and blinds, using sustainable fabrics from UK independent fabric designers, alongside our Moorland Collection of Artisan British-Made Trimmings.
As our homes evolve and change with us over time, adopting a longer-term sustainable vision of quality and longevity will help us connect to both our history and our future. I have my ‘little black book’ of UK companies, which I use or recommend to clients, companies which encompass my own personal ethos and whose products are simply unique and beautiful. The list of British companies I source from has grown over the past few years and my little book is now a beautifully tasteful cream linen folder! It is full of my jottings, notes, references, products details and company information, and is something I would hate to lose!
I would like some of these companies, from across different specialties in the interior design industry, who champion craftsmanship, alongside a strong sustainability ethos too. These are companies who as they have grown or are growing, are encouraging a different generation to have a very fulfilling and rewarding career and are examples of the slow revival of British craftsmanship.
Soane Britain
Soane Britain designs and manufacturers beautiful furniture, lighting, rattan, fabrics and wallpapers, all using British craftsmanship and manufacturing. They have been collaborating with some of Britain’s finest designers for over 27 years and have an uncompromising commitment to British manufacturing. Calling upon the skills of various workshops, their team of makers include blacksmiths, patination, upholsters, willow weavers, saddlers, cabinet makers and finishers and weavers, alongside fabric and wallpaper printers.
Their fabrics are printed in British workshops, practicing traditional printing methods, in particular flatbed silk screen techniques. Flatbed printing is a labour-intensive process but is used to capture the depth of beautiful old fabrics.
Rapture & Wright Fabrics
Based in Evanlode in Gloucestershire, Rapture & Wright started out 20 years ago, with a key aim to develop a low-impact in-house fabric printing. Sustainability and the environment are at the core of their ethos and drive their aim to set a new standard for environmental sustainability for the print industry. The company hand print every fabric ordered, so the lead time can be quite long at times, but the quality of cloth and printing is worth the wait. Their portfolio of designs grows every year, using the best flax cloth. They print to order, eliminating overproduction and wasted stock. This is small scale hand production at its best and most ethical.
Central to their sustainability plans has been the development of the ecological print waste treatment system, and they are the first print works to establish this system. Seeking help from a Scottish ecological company, they created a system of living ponds which filter and break down print waste within the natural environment, created by an ecological system of planting.
We were fortunate to attend one of their Open Days in 2022 and you could feel the passion for sustainability in the company. The filtration plant is simply incredibly, and I would highly recommend a visit if you can. The treatment ponds are simple in ethos but ground-breaking for the print industry. There are many printing industry lessons to be learned there.
Atelier Ellis Paints
Based in Bath, Somerset, Atelier Ellis makes beautiful, breathable, natural paint in the most exquisite choice of colours. They have created a paint that uses minimal smart science and is carefully formulated to be completely breathable, virtually VOC-free and using locally source natural materials.
The founder, Cassandra Ellis, has an ethos of complete transparency in the ingredients and source locations, where 95% of materials are sourced from the UK, and the remainder sourced from Europe. The paint bases are made in the UK, and they mix every colour in order to eliminate any waste. All the details can be found in the Product & Application Guide, which is a rarity in the paint industry.
Lam Lighting
Lam Lighting is a small artisan company that I recently discovered. Based in Colchester, a small team of artisan makers create ethical porcelain lighting, handcrafted to order, with a focus on purity of materials and simplicity in design. Their lamps are not glazed and therefore porcelain is used in its purest form.
Porcelain comes from the earth and is regarded as a highly eco-sensitive material. It is one of the most natural materials we can use in our homes, with an extremely long-life cycle, when can return to the earth with no toxicity or harmful properties.
The lighting designs are beautiful, simple in their form and natural in colour. Lam Lighting has crafted a small but growing collection of lighting, from wall mounted lamps to ceiling mounted and flexible plug-in lights too.
Marlborough Tiles
Marlborough Tiles craft and hand paint their tiles using the finest ceramics. They have spent over 85 years perfecting their processes and fine tuning their knowledge. Every handmade tile is crafted using traditional techniques, resulting in an organic finish, rich with character and its natural imperfections and nuances of a hand-crafted product.
The hand painted tiles are simply beautiful and individual. Marlborough are known for their Majolica technique of hand painting, which requires their in-house team to train for months to perfect the free-hand method on to unfired glaze. This technique makes a huge difference to the end product, as the base glaze and artists work are fired together. The firing process is also a precious art and is an important part of the science behind these tiles.
These are just a handful of small and medium size companies who are some of the companies that I use in projects and that I also see in homes. There are so many more in the UK, so if there is someone you know and use, please do let me know. We need to champion these brands and make sure they become an essential part of our known artisan companies in the UK.
Timeless Ceramics
If you are looking for beautiful ceramics for your kitchen, tiles and vases for your home or ceramic botanical wall art, you cannot go wrong with three of my favourite ceramists, Every Story and Louise Condon, (also known as the Ceramic Botanist) and Kate Botanical Artist. These companies are real artisans at heart, and I am very fortunate to have some small pieces from them. They are truly timeless ceramics, and their parcels are a joy to receive, packaged with love and thoughtfulness, and with sustainability at the heart.
If you would like to see our complete British Made Trimmings collection, please click here for fan edge trims or onion tassel pom pom trims, or if you would love some help in designing your home or are interested in our interior design services in Somerset and the surrounding areas, please do contact me here.
I look forward to working with you.
