Wallace and Sewell
House Contributor
Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell met at The Royal College of Art and, after graduating in 1992, decided to set up a studio and create a brand. The brand, predictably, was Wallace#Sewell, but the scarves, throws and cushions they wove were far from predictable - earning a reputation for exquisite quality and innovative design.
Wallace#Sewell is acclaimed for its bold use of colour, structure and yarn in intriguing geometric formats. Inspired by traditional visual art and the industrial-fabrication aesthetic of the Bauhaus, Wallace#Sewell seeks to combine beautiful imagery, skilled craft and traditional manufacturing techniques to create products that sell to over 200 stockists in 20 countries.
Their diverse portfolio includes art-inspired scarves for the Tate Museum, and moquette fabric designs that cunningly incorporate the capital's skyline for Transport for London's Underground seating. They have also designed bespoke pieces for various boutique hotels, including The Hotel Megaro in St Pancras, and the Martinhal hotels in Portugal.
The initialdesign process begins on handlooms in the London and Dorset studios. The designs then proceed to a family-run mill that uses both traditional and state-of-the-art technology to create the product. The fabric is then washed and pressed at the finishers to give the cloth an unparalleled, luxurious feel. This process provides flexibility to produce woven material in a variety of quantities from small batches to large-scale orders.
Since Wallace#Sewell's inception, Emma and Harriet have developed a strong, proudly-British brand that embraces the UK textile industry and its wealth of expertise and production excellence.