Tricia Guild
Encyclopedia
Tricia Guild OBE is a British designer and the founder and Creative Director of Designers Guild
an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showroom on the Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London
, and offices in London, Paris
and Munich
.
Tricia Guild is known for her bold and original fabric and wallpaper collections and her work as a designer and manufacturer on a range of home interior products.
Throughout the 1990s Guild focused her attention on expanding the range as Designers Guild grew in the UK and overseas. The flagship store and showroom are situated on the Kings Road, London and include a showroom devoted entirely to fabrics, wall coverings, furniture and paint.
In the 1980s the company’s reputation started to build. Tricia’s brother Simon Jeffreys, who was in corporate finance with Coopers & Lybrand, joined the company as Chief Executive, in partnership with Founder and Creative Director, Tricia Guild. In 1985 DG turnover was £3.0m and now in 2010 it has grown to over £50m with over 250 staff and offices and showrooms in London, Paris, Munich and Milan and a 66000 sq ft (6,131.6 m²) distribution centre in West London.
Today Designers Guild exports to over 60 different countries and won the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1991 and 1996. A licensing division has been developed into product areas which include upholstered furniture, paint, bedlinen and towels as well as stationery and home fragrance. A new division was also set up to produce and manufacture fabrics and wallcoverings under license to further utilise the Designers Guild sales and distribution network.
Designers Guild also produces under licence The Royal Collection of Fabrics and Wallpapers, William Yeoward Fabric and Wallpaper and Jasper Conran Fabric. They are also the distributor for Ralph Lauren Home throughout Europe and the Middle East. Designers Guild launched their new website and UK online shop in March 2008 to promote their brand online. They also created an interactive fabric and wallpaper library on the website, and customer scrapbook facility with an aim to maximise business opportunities. The USA online shop was launched in 2009, offering their full range of home accessories to the US market.
Guild was awarded an OBE for services to interior design.
Designers Guild
Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showrooms on the Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London, and offices in London, Paris and Munich....
an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showroom on the Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and offices in London, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Tricia Guild is known for her bold and original fabric and wallpaper collections and her work as a designer and manufacturer on a range of home interior products.
Career
Tricia Guild established Designers Guild, in 1970 whilst searching for textiles to decorate with. By re-colouring a collection of Indian hand-block printed textiles, the first collection was established. She opened her store on the Kings Road with her first collection of fabrics, also selling ceramics and furniture. In 1974 she started working with artists such as Kaffe Fassett, Lilian Delavoryas and Janice Tchalenko, amongst others...Throughout the 1990s Guild focused her attention on expanding the range as Designers Guild grew in the UK and overseas. The flagship store and showroom are situated on the Kings Road, London and include a showroom devoted entirely to fabrics, wall coverings, furniture and paint.
In the 1980s the company’s reputation started to build. Tricia’s brother Simon Jeffreys, who was in corporate finance with Coopers & Lybrand, joined the company as Chief Executive, in partnership with Founder and Creative Director, Tricia Guild. In 1985 DG turnover was £3.0m and now in 2010 it has grown to over £50m with over 250 staff and offices and showrooms in London, Paris, Munich and Milan and a 66000 sq ft (6,131.6 m²) distribution centre in West London.
Today Designers Guild exports to over 60 different countries and won the Queen’s Award for Export Achievement in 1991 and 1996. A licensing division has been developed into product areas which include upholstered furniture, paint, bedlinen and towels as well as stationery and home fragrance. A new division was also set up to produce and manufacture fabrics and wallcoverings under license to further utilise the Designers Guild sales and distribution network.
Designers Guild also produces under licence The Royal Collection of Fabrics and Wallpapers, William Yeoward Fabric and Wallpaper and Jasper Conran Fabric. They are also the distributor for Ralph Lauren Home throughout Europe and the Middle East. Designers Guild launched their new website and UK online shop in March 2008 to promote their brand online. They also created an interactive fabric and wallpaper library on the website, and customer scrapbook facility with an aim to maximise business opportunities. The USA online shop was launched in 2009, offering their full range of home accessories to the US market.
Guild was awarded an OBE for services to interior design.
Background
Guild has degrees from the Royal College of Art, Winchester School of Art and Loughborough University. She is married with a daughter and a granddaughter, and lives with her husband, the restaurateur Richard Polo, in Notting Hill.Achievements and Awards
- 1989 Textile Institute Gold Medal for her outstanding contribution to International Textiles, UK.
- 1991 Queen's Award for Export Achievement
- 1992 The Export Award for Smaller Businesses.
- 1993 Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Art, London, UK.
- 1993 Honorary Master of Arts Degree from Winchester School of Art, UK.
- 1994 A winner of the European Community Design Prize.
- 1995 ‘Excellence de la Maison’ for Bedlinen, by Marie Claire Maison Magazine, France.
- 1996 Queens Award for Export Achievement (Second time to be awarded)
- 1996 Home Tex Design Award, USA.
- 1999 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Technology, Loughborough University.
- 2002 Elle Decoration International Design Award for Best Fabric Design.
- 2003 Elle Decoration award for best wallpaper USA
- 2007 The Homes & Gardens Classic Design Award – Lifetime achievement.
- 2008 Tricia Guild awarded an OBE for services to interior design.
- 2008 Pricewaterhouse Coopers Profit Track 100 – Britain’s fastest profit Growth firms: Designers Guild awarded 22nd place.
- 2008 Microsoft award for Best Use of Technology
- 2008 Freshest New Website Award
- 2009 Homes and Gardens Fabric Awards 2009 - Portier design wins "Best Wallpaper" (From Darly Collection)
Books
Tricia is the author of fifteen books on the subject of colour and design, from soft furnishing to flowers, gardens and city living.- 1982 Soft Furnishings
- 1986 Designing with Flowers
- 1988 Design and Detail
- 1989 Design and Garden
- 1990 Tricia Guild New Soft Furnishing
- 1992 Tricia Guild on Colour
- 1994 Tricia Guild’s Painted Country
- 1996 Tricia Guild in Town
- 1998 Cut Flowers
- 1999 White Hot
- 2002 Think Pink
- 2004 Private View
- 2006 Pattern
- 2008 Flower Sense
- 2010 A Certain Style