June 2018. A sunny Friday afternoon -already looking forward to the weekend- I said to myself: "let's make a change today". So I contacted Timorous Beasties, whom I had been following for some time, and asked if we could get together for a chat. A few weeks later we did, in their London shop, and it was all I had hoped for: great conversations and the start of something good.
Alistair Mcauley and Paul Simmons founders of the brand are amazing designers. Together with their dedicated team they develop the most intriguing patterns and artwork for a variety of products for home, graphic and fashion from their Glasgow based design studio.
Why I love them so much? Besides the fact that they are Scottish, and we Flemish have a historical bond with the Scots, they are extremely talented, have tons of courage and a lot of guts. From their very beginning, 30 years ago, their view on design is a non commercial one. They stayed true to their ideas, conquered all obstacles a creative soul can encounter... and they succeeded! Respect lads!
So after that first meeting in London we kept in touch, they would send over designs, I would do some material research and sampling. One thing led to another and little time later we were producing 3 new designs on a soft touch, wide width, textile wall covering.
This textile base takes on colors from each end of the spectrum very well. From deep black to vivid yellow and bold pink or green. Exactly what these designs needed. The tactile aspect adds to the final product giving it this soft, luxurious feel.
The designs are Seaweed and Shell, Seaweed Column and Eels Colonnade. All were lauched at Paris Déco Off 2020 together with 3 other designs on a cork base.
All pictures property of Timorous Beasties, photographed by Johnny Barrington