Celebrated fashion-turned-homeware designer Matthew Williamson has long been renowned for his clever use of pattern and colour. Yet as his influences shift and his style evolves, he talks to Rosalind Sack about learning to hold back and his life at home in Mallorca
(LEFT) MATTHEW WILLIAMSON AT HIS LONDON HOME; (RIGHT) MATTHEW’S PREVIOUS HOME ON MALLORCA. IMAGE: IAIA COCOI
“I am in the middle of domestic chores, appropriately enough!” laughs Matthew Williamson in his warm, Mancunian lilt, fresh from spraying fabric protector onto his new lemon yellow sofas. At his home in Mallorca, which he shares with his partner of 32 years, Joseph – also his business partner – and their eight-year-old daughter Skye, life has mellowed for the celebrated fashion-turned-homeware designer.
That’s not to say that he isn’t still in high demand, working across multiple international projects and spending a week every month in London for work commitments. Yet, as Matthew nudges into his fifties, he’s sensing a shift: “I’ve just been deadheading geraniums in the garden and getting quite chuffed about it because it looks better. I like those more mundane tasks these days; I quite like rearranging, and my jam jars and my tins in the cupboard all have to face the right way!”
Matthew was one of the first British designers to lend his creativity from the catwalk to the home, blazing a trail for a plethora of fashion names who have since pivoted into interiors. Following a phenomenally successful, award-winning career in fashion design – his iconic debut collection modelled by the likes of Kate Moss, Jade Jagger and Helena Christensen – Matthew’s first homeware product collaboration came in 2003. A collection of rugs with The Rug Company using prints from his ready-to-wear collections, it was big news. Twenty years later and Matthew has fully shifted his focus from fashion to homeware and interior design, collaborating on products with the likes of Osborne & Little, Duresta, Les Ottomans and Pooky.
His own home and creative outlet, which he and his family moved to two years ago, is nestled in a pine forest in the beautiful coastal village of Deià. It is slowly being done up, although he says: “Is a house ever finished? Not in my head it’s not! I think I’ll always be working at it in some way.
“I’m particularly obsessed with how things look and how they function and the flow of rooms. With a home you are creating a sanctuary and I’m so unhappy in a chaotic space. I want to walk in and know where everything is – I want there to be an effortless to it,” he says. “My parents were very fastidious – my mother in particular was very tidy and organised. Everything was lined up, all her jewellery, the whole kit and caboodle, and she took a lot of pride in it.
“And I quite like the finer things in life; like nice glassware, tablecloths… I like the ceremonial aspect. Why would you not have a drinks bar in your lounge if you can?”
HEAVILY INSPIRED BY HIS SURROUNDINGS, SUNSHINE YELLOWS ABOUND AT MATTHEW’S FORMER HOME ON MALLORCA. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
Matthew’s tendency towards bold colour and pattern in both his fashion and interior designs has come to define his style: “We all have our own interpretation of colour, no one sees it the same. I just don’t, and never have, gravitated towards neutral schemes. I look at pictures of homes and I might think, that’s an amazing totally nude kitchen diner. I just don’t think I could live in it; I don’t know that it would give me much pleasure.”
That said, Matthew admits that his tastes are evolving: “I think the work that I put out looks more coloured and patterned than in the cold light of day. I’m definitely into colour but, as I’m ageing, I’m becoming weirdly less so. I’m getting a little bit more refined and less whimsical, and I’m learning now that to hold back is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m liking the less is more principal at the moment… Now there’s a weird twist to the tale!” he laughs.
The infusion of colour and pattern that was once so prevalent in Matthew’s work was largely inspired by his many trips to India. He remains heavily influenced by place, which may come to explain why, living in the sun-soaked Balearics overlooking forests and ocean, his style is shifting.
“I used to love travelling and it used to be monthly, mostly work-based trips. I like it far less now. Maybe it’s because I live where I live; it’s a beautiful place to be. I’m definitely a homebody… is that the word? The weather does a lot to my mood and it is brighter here, the days are longer.
“What I’m looking at now is different from what I was looking at 10 years ago and what I’m inspired by is different. It changes over time and I think that if I were back in London, my style would change again. I don’t think I’ll ever be a minimalist, but I’m now thinking, ‘Why have I put three things on that shelf? Actually, it needs one thing’. I’m not really into the over excess of whacking it all in. That irritates me a bit; the ‘anything goes’ kind of thing, I’m not sure it does, quite frankly!”
For the first 17 years of his life, home was a “quite standard, very sweet” three-bedroom house on a cul de sac in Manchester, until he moved to London to study at the renowned Central St Martins. Matthew credits his mother, Maureen, with inspiring his journey into fashion design. Referring to her as “the peacock in the room” he talks fondly of observing the pleasure she derived from making an effort to be colourful and stand out, and the effect of watching people gravitate towards her when she walked into a room.
Although his childhood home wasn’t quite as colourful as she was, it has certainly had an influence on Matthew’s own home. “I remember my Mum bought this pair of lamps that she’d spent weeks saving up for. She loved these lamps. Their bases were like clusters of ceramic flowers and she had them in quite a tart green with cream shades. I was quite fascinated by them. I’ve now got virtually the same ones flanking my bed in my bedroom, but they’re lemon yellow. Of course, your style evolves, but I do think it is formulated so early, consciously or not.”
As a parent himself now, Matthew has been careful to create a space that speaks to his tidiness and creativity, while also being a comfortable family home that’s not too precious. “For the first five years of Skye’s life, all bets were off. Everything broke. I should have just wrapped everything in plastic!” he laughs.
“Although my house is full of antiques and secondhand pieces; nothing is particularly precious. There’s the odd thing that I’d be livid if she broke but it’s not a museum where you can’t touch anything, it’s all a bit knackered here and there. I think that’s my style, it’s always had a bit of patina and character.
“I want her to have freedom and creativity but, without being a nightmare parent, she’s now at an age where I can teach her that it’s important you pick your stuff up, make your bed, open your curtains.”
(LEFT) MATTHEW’S STYLE IS RICH IN PATINA AND CHARACTER; (RIGHT) PAINTING IS A GROWING PASSION. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
Matthew has created a home that is absolutely authentic to him and his family; something that many of us struggle with when there is an overwhelming stream of imagery of incredible homes and interiors at the tap of an app. How does Matthew sift through the noise?
“I loathe technology, in particular my phone,” says Matthew. “The question I’m asked most often is which colour should I paint my living room. And I think you can end up in a right conundrum. It would be so nice to just throw your phone in the sea and return to the simplicity of thinking, well, what colour will make me feel good?
“I’ve got mood boards and I like pen and paper; I draw, I sketch and I paint. My studio is like a step back in time with an easel, and paintings and pictures taped to the wall. I don’t have a computer because I don’t know how to work one, which is both funny and tragic!” laughs Matthew. “I have an assistant who takes my paintings, my drawings, my scribbles and she does whatever she does on a computer (which I still don’t quite understand) and, ta-da, we have something that’s understandable. It’s worked for years – it was like that in fashion.”
When he’s not working, life in Deià includes hosting a weekly art club at his home every Friday for up to fifteen people. “You get tea and a biscuit and it’s the most brilliant, lovely thing. You could be a total novice, you could be Rembrandt, it doesn’t matter, you just do your own thing. Although we’ve got to watch it doesn’t get much bigger because there’s only so many bums on these lemon sofas I can handle!
“I’m now painting whenever I can, if I’m not scrubbing the floors like an old fishwife! I have this ambition to paint enough canvases that I like that they could one day become an exhibit.”
Like her father, Skye has also discovered a love of art: “She saw me doing it and muscled in! So I’ve got her a little easel next to mine – it’s so cute – and we’ve just started a monthly ceramics class together. And we like baking and cooking and gardening, and we’re growing veg and herbs. We’re very happy that we’ve created a home and a lifestyle that works for our little triangle.”
MATTHEW’S FORMER HOME ON MALLORCA REFLECTS THE COLOURS OF THE SUNSHINE AND OCEAN BEYOND ITS WALLS. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
WHILE MATTHEW INSISTS HE’LL ALWAYS BE DRAWN TO COLOUR, HIS STYLE IS BECOMING MORE REFINED. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
MATTHEW’S UNEXPECTED COLOUR COMBINATIONS CREATE A SENSE OF FUN. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
WHILE VERY DIFFERENT, THE BATHROOMS AT MATTHEW’S FORMER HOME ARE FULL OF CHARACTER AND INTEREST. IMAGES: IAIA COCOI
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