Shaping the future

How is a new generation of interior designers responding to changing lifestyles, proliferating choice, the challenges of sustainability and the tireless demands of social media? Arabella Youens asked some of the profession's brightest lights

- Arabella Youens

OVER the past 50 years, the British interior-design industry has grown up; back then, the land where the three glass domes of Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour stands was an unloved waterfront and the profession was still in its infancy. Today, London is home to some of the world’s most prolific multi-disciplinary practices that undertake work around the globe, led by founders who have become household names, garnered honours and written books.

It is also a sphere that has become much more democratised; Instagram and Pinterest have fuelled a greater interest in the subject and, in many senses, it has lost its mystique. Previously, the only way to see inspiring interiors was in the pages of magazines and finding specialist painters, artisans and specialist upholsterers relied on those in the know. ‘Decorators held their cards and contacts close to their chest,’ says Stella Weatherall (www.stellaweatherall.com).

"People are a bit tired of seeing the same thing again and again'

‘Now, several leading names, such as Rita Konig and Beata Heuman, are happy to share their knowledge and sources through online classes. Technology has meant that it’s a much more open field these days,’ adds the decorator, who studied at the Inchbald and worked with the Dorset-based interior designer Flora Soames and Kit Kemp before setting up on her own. ‘It’s not only what the client sees. We use software to manage projects and procurement that allows small businesses such as mine to operate in a way that would have previously been impossible.’