114 committed to tackling alongside organisations such as United in Design, of which C&TH is a member. As well as our 50 Finest list of established names with exceptional portfolios, take a look at page 68 for the next generation of talent to watch out for. They were all discovered and supported by UiD, which was started by successful designers Alexandria Dauley and Sophie Ashby as a way of uplifting a new generation of design talent from under-represented communities. You can read Sofia Tindall’s longer interview with the duo about their important work on the C&TH website. Alongside our 50 Finest list, there are essays from Claudia Baillie, who ventures out and about to uncover a new generation of craftspeople (p21), and Marc Abbott, who discovers a sustainable approach to buying and displaying cut flowers (p24). We also asked three interiors influencers for their advice on buying vintage online (p17), and I ventured into one of my favourite territories, the kitchen, sitting down for coffee with four companies to find out what’s new in every home’s number one gathering spot (p12). And we couldn’t talk about houses without including their outside space, so we’ve included the 20 leading landscape and garden designers at the top of their game (p28). Finally, we bring you the brands that allow you to dig deeper into a company you may be considering for your next project. I hope it should make at least one of your decisions a little easier.
Editor’s LETTER Designing a beautiful house is all about decisions – which fabric, wallpaper, colour palette and style of furniture to choose – but in the first instance it’s about finding the right interior designer. It should be simple, the talent pool is brimming, but like trying to turn a Rubik’s cube into a perfect square, it’s not as easy as it seems. Hence why we launched The 50 Finest Interior Designers, now in its sixth year, a glossy tome celebrating the people and brands behind the front doors of exceptional houses and hotels. This is the ultimate helping hand, guiding you to the best professional for your own project, be it commercial or residential, small scale or palatial. To select this year’s podium stars we enlisted the help of four people with strong, influential views on style and design. Firstly, renowned architect and designer Richard Parr whose work, notably at The Newt in Somerset, is applauded throughout the industry. Furniture restorer and TV presenter Jay Blades, MBE, whom we all fell in love with on The Repair Shop, accepted our invitation, so too Harriet Wetton, CEO and founder of Narchie, the ‘Depop of interiors’. The final judge is womenswear designer Edeline Lee, whose structured, feminine designs garner a loyal following. We are enormously grateful for their input. See our final 50 on page 33. Diversity, inclusion and representation are an ongoing concern in the interior design world, and one that we are
12 118
8 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.COM/INTERIORSGUIDE
Eds-Letter-V4-LC.indd 8
23/06/2022 20:56
