18th July 2019
Childhood home of Queen Victoria and home to young royals for over 300 years, Kensington Palace is now a building of two halves, with the parts open to the public cared for by Historic Royal Palaces, an independent charity.
On 24th May 1819 at Kensington Palace, Queen Victoria was born. On 24th May 2019, her 200th birthday, the home of her youth re-opened to visitors after a major makeover in the form of a new semi-permanent display called ‘Victoria: A Royal Childhood.’ As part of the work to recreate the rooms where Victoria grew up, Historic Royal Palaces curators carried out extensive research into the decorative schemes she would have known as a little girl.
We were excited to work with the curators at Historic Royal Places, to create custom period carpets for the rooms where Victoria was born and raised at Kensington Palace.
It started with a trip to our archive, which holds patterns from as early as 1790, the curators worked with Brintons archivist Yvonne Smith to select original hand painted designs. Historic Royal Palaces required designs that were authentic to the period when Victoria would have lived in the Palace and so Brintons was an obvious choice for this very special project. The carpets chosen were from the Georgian period and Brintons designer Kay Jones subsequently worked on a detailed specification to prepare the designs for manufacture.
We are proud to own one of the world's largest commercial design archives and historical pattern libraries in the industry, restored and preserved by our Archive Manager Yvonne Smith. The archive library is a facility unique to Brintons and is an invaluable resource to designers, conservators, decorators and contractors worldwide.
Image top right, Yvonne Smith, Brintons Archive Manager at Kensington Palace with the original design papers
Image centre: Kay Jones, Brintons Creative Designer
Image bottom left: Design from Brintons archive shown with the finished carpet
Image bottom right: One of Victoria's rooms at Kensington Palace
14th June 2019
The Birmingham City University (BCU) textile students showcase is the culmination of three years of study from their graduating students. The work on display is very diverse and highly individual, from concept to actualisation, representing the future career aspirations and developed aesthetic of the students.
BCU invited our Commercial Marketing Manager, Sarah Draper and Creative Designers, Kay Jones and Jane Bradley-Bain to the School of Fashion and Textiles Graduate Show and asked us to award a prize for Design Innovation.
The team selected Isobel Smith, BA (Hons) Textile Design (Constructed Textiles) work. The project was titled 'Considering Simplicity'. Taking inspiration from yoga and meditative practices Isobel created a cohesive collection of surface explorations that included solid and grounding materials which allows potential for people to slow down and form balance in their surroundings.
Image left: Isobel Smith's work/display
Image right: (l to r) Kay Jones, Jane Bradley-Bain, Isobel Smith, Sarah Draper
9th May 2019
This year, we witness another showcase of theatrical fashion designs centered around the theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion”. Now if you’re not too familiar with the terminology, this event does not include tents, campfires and marshmallows – or does it?
Modeled after Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay ‘Notes on Camp’, where she describes the word as depicting elegance through exaggeration, the 2019 Met Gala brings together elements of fantasy, kitsch, and luxury. So, what does this have to do with carpet?
Image: Traci Ellis Ross (DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES) with design 2/S5374SG.
Our custom Axminster design collection, Camp Revamp by Stacy Garcia for Brintons, takes the Met Gala theme to another outrageous level. From fanciful patterns to synchronic imagery; this avant-garde collection is perfect for any contemporary interior daring to make an uninhibited statement. Imagine talking to a client about how they can have a still frame of this event captured into a luxurious yet durable Axminster carpet.
‘Camp’ design can be quite humorous, ironic, or can represent a conundrum of convoluted expressiveness. The extreme repetition, bright colors, and fabulously inflated forms from the 2019 Met Gala play into Brintons' conversion of camp–Axminster carpet.
Image: Saoirse Ronan (Shutterstock) with design 10/S4735SG.
Image: Ciara (Karwai Tang/WireImage) with design 2/S5370SG.
Image: Adwoa Aboah (Jennifer Graylock/PA) with design 8/S4738SG.
The Brintons Axminster collaboration with Stacy Garcia highlights a rebellious and sophisticated harmony that defines this exuberant collection. From designs illustrating scenes of mystical lands to scenery that at times are hyperbolic in nature; Camp Revamp by Stacy Garcia for Brintons blurs the lines between kitsch and high art.
Elements and principles of art have the power to transcend through many various forms of media. As we can see this outrageous aesthetic of ‘Camp’ can be portrayed not only in fashion, but also as an interior design trend. At Brintons our goal is to lead by design and bring forth the best quality finished product that is also visually eloquent. Which comes to the unapologetic claim that our Camp Revamp by Stacy Garcia for Brintons is ahead of its time and has been camping for quite a while.
Image: Cara Delavigne (GETTY IMAGES) with design 6/S3496SG.
29th March 2019
Hotel Designs’ Meet Up London, which took place on March 28 2019, provided an evening full of celebrations for Brintons designers Jodie Hatton and Kayleigh Jones.
London was at the centre of the design world once more, as hundreds of designers, architects, hoteliers and key-industry suppliers descended on city’s Fitzrovia district for Meet Up London.
New to this year, the evening included the final of Hotel Designs’ 30 Under 30. Following its search to find the industry’s next rising stars, Hotel Designs whittled down the hundreds of entries to just 40 talented designers and architects and announced the finalists of its 2019 30 Under 30 initiative at the event and we were delighted to discover that Jodie and Kayleigh had made the final list!
Nominations came in from many leading design firms such as HBA London, The Gettys Group, WATG, Richmond International, Gensler and many more.
Speaking at the event, editor Hamish Kilburn said: “I have to say, as a young design editor, I support this initiative with every fibre in my body. Throughout this whole process I have been so impressed to see such interesting in-house schemes in leading design and architecture firms in order to give credit to the rising stars of our industry.”
“Our aim for the 30 Under 30 initiative is really to bridge the age gap between designers, hoteliers, architects and key industry suppliers,” said Katy Phillips, publisher of Hotel Designs.
Image L to R: Jodie Hatton and Kayleigh Jones
1st March 2019
Following its search to find the industry’s next rising stars, Hotel Designs has announced the shortlist of its 2019 30 Under 30 initiative…
Nominations, which closed on February 15, came in from many leading design firms such as HBA London, The Gettys Group, WATG, Richmond International, Gensler and many more and we were delighted to hear that our Creative Designers Jodie Hatton and Kay Jones have been shortlisted. The winner will be announced at Hotel Designs’ highly anticipated networking event, Meet Up London: 30 Under 30 on March 28 at the showroom of Minotti London.
“Our aim for the 30 Under 30 initiative is really to bridge the age gap between designers, hoteliers, architects and key industry suppliers,” said Katy Phillips, publisher of Hotel Designs. “Our events are often attended by directors and principals of studios, but we would like to extend the invitation now to include the young talented individuals who are shaping the future of our industry.”
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