- We love love colour here, how would you describe your relationship with colour in 3 words?
Explorative - Playful - Encompassing - What colour is your car?
Harriet - Pewter
Emma - VW T25 in ‘British Gas’ blue - Is there a colour that appears in all of your work?
Olive green. - If we said you could only use 2 colours for the next month, what would they be?
Orange and sage or loden green. - What comes first for you, colour or design?
Design.
6. What emotions do you hope people feel when they see your colour palettes?
Intrigue - Joy - Surprise
7. Where do you most often find and look for colour inspiration?
Fine art.
8. How do you approach balancing bold colours with softer tones when creating a new textile design?
Using a coloured neutral to juxtapose the bold colour.
9. Has your use of colour changed over time? What has changed, if anything? We’d love to hear more about the evolution of colour in your work.
We enjoy designing with all areas of the colour wheel and don’t have favourite colours. As the design team has grown, we have broadened the variety of palettes we design with.
10. How did you meet, and how did Wallace Sewell begin as a partnership?
We met whilst studying for our textiles BA Hons at Central School of Art. After graduating from our MA’s at the RCA in 1990, we shared a studio for a couple of years, before showing our first collections at Chelsea Crafts Fair in 1992, and the business evolved from that point.
11. How would you describe the signature Wallace Sewell signature look and colour palette?
A bold use of colour, with unusual colour palettes.
12. What part of the design process brings you the most joy?
Incorporating colour into the weave structures AKA ‘Colour & Weave’.
13. Do you both have the same colour style, or does one of you lead on colour decisions?
The whole design team are involved inColour decisions, with added input from the wider Wallace Sewell team.
14. Which project or collection has challenged you the most in terms of colour?
We embrace designing with all colours, so, even though the project to design the moquette for the Elizabeth Line might have daunted some designers, we enjoyed the challenge. We feel any colour, even an ‘ugly’ one, can find a ‘home’ with a palette of colours.
15. Do your own homes have lots of colour? We’d love to hear about your use of colour at home?
Emma – currently my home has white walls, with colour incorporated through art, furniture and interior textiles. However, it needs redecorating, and our plan is to bring colour into the painted walls.
Harriet – a country style home in Dorset, low ceilings and thatch that has a period feel yet we’re slowly trying to modernize the interior. Similar to Emma, white generally with splashes of coloured textiles, paintings and interesting ceramics and glass.
16. Why do you think colour has such a powerful impact on how we feel in our homes?
Colour evokes moods inspired by memories... colour can also suggest seasons such as spring or autumn depending on each room’s chosen palette and interior objects and furniture.
17. What does your ideal bedtime look like after a creative day in the studio?
Emma – a cool space, a tidy bed and bedroom, linen sheets and in winter multilayers of bedspreads, a Wallace Sewell honeycomb with an Indian Kantha quilt on top.
Harriet – peace and quiet away from the day’s business – crisp sheets, soft lighting and in winter a wonderfully cosy bedspread.
18. Are you night owls or early birds when it comes to your creative energy?
Harriet – definitely a night owl, probably through habit from when my children were small. Once they were in bed then the house was quiet and I could focus without disruption
Emma – neither really. But, if I get up early, I enjoy that quiet time before the working day starts.
19. What is the one thing you absolutely need for a good night’s sleep?
Harriet - beautifully clean sheets with no creases.
Emma – Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery oil. It’s delicate and the smell is so calming.
20. What does breakfast look like in your households - slow and cosy or quick and on the go?
Emma – homemade muesli with yoghurt and plum compote, at home before work. I do my best not to eat at my desk.
Harriet – usually on the go, granola, yogurt, nuts and berries but sometimes nothing.
21. If you were off camping for the weekend, what one thing would you take from your home?
Harriet – coffee percolator.
Emma – my own pillow from our bed.
22. What one colour best represents each of you, and why does that shade feel like your match?
Emma - Wallace Sewell Orange – I have always loved orange, though actually have more clothes in other colours from the rainbow. My wardrobe is arranged by colour.
Harriet – Green in all sorts of shades, sage, loden, more ochre green.
23. If you weren’t designing textiles, what other creative path could you imagine following?
Emma – product design – I would have enjoyed problem solving for everyday objects.
Harriet – I'm drawn to ceramics and glass but also possibly music. I played the cello and loved it and now sing in my local choir.