Keep It In The Family

Dig deep into the history of interior design and you’ll find that the roots of countless stellar careers can be traced to the fertile partnership between the ‘mother’ and ‘father’ of classic British interior design, Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler. In unearthing the web of who worked for whom, Arabella Youens discovers the essence of the creative DNA at the heart of classic English decoration

- Arabella Youens

THERE is no Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler look, just a common approach to decoration that distils the elements in a room so that they are as beautiful and comfortable as they possibly can be. It’s an approach that relies heavily on intimate knowledge of everything from the way that spaces work and colours combine, to the manner in which fabrics fall and furniture lends a mood. The fact that it has survived and thrived for more than 70 years is thanks to decorators who have studiously ignored trends, instead focusing unerringly on the changing needs, tastes and lifestyles of its clients.

The firm was established by Lady Colefax in the 1930s, but didn’t show the full extent of its promise until the American tastemaker Nancy Lancaster came on board, introducing a raft of big-spending clients and allowing the decorator John Fowler to convince a generation of country-house owners that the firm could inject joy into their stuffy houses.