Hello, Wallace Sewell
Category: Invest in quality
Wallace Sewell is the design studio founded by Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell in 1990. The products that their eponymous practice creates are a great example of Diktat Number 1, so the business was on my shortlist to write about from day one. The duo have agreed to a Decmatic interview, which I’m looking forward to very much. In advance of that, here’s a brief introduction to the business.
I confess, what first drew me to Wallace Sewell were the designs. I’ve long hankered after one of these rugs.
But having been hypnotised by the colours and patterns, I quickly learned that these are quality products made to last and that the business had a genuine commitment to responsible and sustainable manufacturing, right down to packaging up offcuts to be sold for crafting.
The idea of longevity isn’t only a question of spending more on materials and production techniques that will endure. It can also be about a design approach that ignores fashion in favour of timeless designs that will always be relevant.
This is evident in two very different Wallace Sewell projects. For Transport For London, the studio has designed a number of fabrics for tube and overground trains, including this iconic seat pattern.
When your design is seen and used day in day out over a period of years, it needs to have a dateless quality.
In a very different way, the company’s re-edition of a Bauhaus original - Gunta Stölzl’s ‘Prellerdecke’ created for the dormitories at the design school in 1926 - highlights the timelessness of their own work. This Bauhaus motif could have been created yesterday, just as much of Wallace Sewell’s work is hard to pin to any particular design trend.
Logistics for the interview are still being worked on but I hope to talk to the founders soon. In the meantime, do checkout the fantastic creations the business produces.
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