A KIND OF MAGIC

AN AESTHETIC CORNUCOPIA OF INTERIOR DESIGN INSPIRATION AND ARTISTIC PASSION FROM LUKE EDWARD HALL, ONE OF TODAY’S MOST COLOURFUL AND WHIMSICAL CREATIVE ICONS THE KALEIDOSCOPIC WORLD OF LUKE EDWARD HALL

Since bursting onto the London design scene in 2015, young English artist and designer Luke Edward Hall has brought a characteristic verve to everything he touches. In this captivating new monograph A Kind of Magic, published by Vendome Press, Hall shares the myriad influences that drive his prolific output, from local mythology and folklore to 1980s pop music and all things Baroque, inviting us to peek inside the London home and Cotswolds cottage that he shares with his husband Duncan Campbell, along with his countryside studio – the creative laboratories that form the backdrop to his interior, product, and fashion design, and painting, drawing, and writing.

“Ispent many months pondering the title of this book. I love giving things names and inventing stories, but, as I usually find, it was hard to sum up a lot of thoughts and feelings in a few short words. After much to-ing and fro-ing with the Vendome team, I settled on ‘A Kind of Magic’ because often, when I’m describing my work, I end up shoehorning the word ‘magic’ in somehow”, writes Luke Edward Hall.

“Magic is about using powers to make things happen that would normally be impossible. Magic is a special quality that makes something seem different to the ordinary. Magic is elusive, curious, not an everyday thing. Whenever I’m putting a room together, or painting a picture, or designing an object, I’m hoping and praying I create something with that fleeting quality, that sense of enchantment, that sprinkling of wonder. It’s about taking oneself out of the everyday and instead inserting head and body and heart into someplace more fantastical.It’s about atmosphere. Magic is what I’m always aiming for.”

“Aside from all this, ‘A Kind of Magic’ was one of my favourite songs when I was a kid”, he writes. Every August in drives down to the North Devon coast from Hampshire with his entire family, he would ask his aunt to play the song on repeat on the journey. “I can’t say that I was, or am, the biggest Queen fan, but back then this particular song –for me, at least –fizzed with magic and energy.”

AKind of Magic is a true celebration of Hall’s eclectic, colourful universe, offering a window into his singularly bold interior design style – documented here by his close friend and collaborator, Londonbased photographer Billal Taright – and the people, places, and things that inspire him. Peppered with his trademark drawings and paintings together with a selection of his own memorabilia and an assortment of short essays on his passions, from flowers and gardens to cooking and clothes, this treasury of delights invites us to venture into the nostalgic, magical realms of one of the design world’s brightest voices.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.

Luke Edward Hall is an English artist, designer, and columnist. His philosophy is shaped by his love of storytelling and fantasy, and his colourful work is often inspired by history, filtered through a lens of irreverent romanticism. Since founding his studio in 2015, he has worked on a wide range of commissions, from interior design and fashion projects to murals and illustration, and collaborated with numerous well-known brands and institutions, including Burberry, Lanvin, Ginori, Svenskt Tenn, and the Royal Academy of Arts. His first book, Greco Disco, was published in 2019. In 2020 his first large interior design project was unveiled in Paris – Hotel Les Deux Gares –and in 2022 he launched his own fashion and homewares brand, Chateau Orlando. He exhibits his work internationally with an Athens-based gallery, writes a column for FT Weekend, and is currently working on a variety of new projects.

Billal Taright is a London-based photographer renowned for his striking interiors, fashion, still life, and portraiture. Successfully straddling the interface of art and commercial photography, his work has been featured internationally in publications ranging from Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue to Cabana and AD, with fashion collaborations including Hermès, Diane Von Furstenberg, and many more.

A Kind of Magic - The Kaleidoscopic World of Luke Edward Hall by Luke Edward Hall. Photography by Billal Taright. Foreword by Nicky Haslam. Published by Vendome Press. Hardcover, 256 pages, 250 colour illustrations.