We are always excited to discover new fabrics and meet the makers and suppliers behind them. Recently, we had the pleasure of meeting textile designer Natasha Marshall. Join us as we learn more about her creative journey, her day-to-day practice and the inspiration behind her latest collection, British Seasons.
Can you tell us about your journey into the textile world?
I have always been drawn to pattern, colour and the possibility of transforming something you see into something you can live with. I studied Printed and Knitted Textiles at Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 1996, and a year later set up my own interior textile business in Glasgow. For more than 20 years, I designed, produced and developed fabric and wallpaper collections, learning how textiles actually behave in real spaces while working alongside interior designers and architects.
In 2020, I moved back to London, where my work evolved to focus on textiles and colour within architectural interiors. There was an eight-year pause from producing my own collections. Then, almost without me consciously deciding to, all the drawings and colour studies I had been collecting started to become fabric again. That became British Seasons, a very personal collection of 12 large-scale linen designs inspired by the colours, shapes and rhythms I see around me throughout the British year.
What is your day-to-day creative process?
For more than 928 days, I have started my morning by drawing. It began with Sketching Not Scrolling: every morning, I make a cup of tea, open my sketchbook and draw. At the beginning of each sketchbook, I write a list of 10 prompts, such as not taking the pencil off the paper, using only straight horizontal lines or working only with dots. When I reach ten, I start again. The drawings themselves are deliberately playful. After doing this every day for so long, I have noticed that it has changed the way I look at the world. Those little observations build up into a visual library. Months or years later, one of them might suddenly become a fabric.
Your work is largely influenced by the seasons. Do you have any other sources of inspiration?
Nature is my biggest inspiration, but inspiration is everywhere if you are paying attention. I love being outside and feeling the rhythm of the seasons. I swim outdoors at Hampstead Heath, run around Primrose Hill or Regent’s Park, and often see the sun rise. I regularly visit Kew Gardens to walk, sketch and take photographs. I also keep colour diaries and walking sketchbooks. Sometimes they are very deliberate studies of a plant or tree; other times, they are simply a collection of things that have caught my eye. I think the important thing is to stay curious.
We love your enthusiasm for colour! What’s your favourite colour combination and why?
Ultramarine and Cornflower Blue are my favourite go-to colours. Colour makes me smile. It can change the atmosphere of a room almost instantly and has a very strong emotional quality. For my home, I particularly love using the colours of spring, but I am equally drawn to combinations that initially seem unlikely, such as pink, red and green. Nature is the best colourist of all. The combinations you find in a garden or a winter landscape can be surprising, sophisticated and timeless all at once.
How do you imagine your latest textile collection being used?
I wanted British Seasons to bring joy and playfulness into interiors. I have always believed that colour and pattern can completely transform how a room feels. I also felt there was an opportunity for something more exuberant in contemporary interior textiles: large-scale designs with personality that aren’t afraid to make a statement. Scale is particularly important to me. Used as curtains, the designs become almost like moving paintings as the fabric folds and the light changes. As blinds or wallcoverings, you can really appreciate the whole composition. I also love the physicality of printed linen: its texture, weight and softness. All 12 fabrics in British Seasons are woven and printed onto 100% linen in the UK.
Are there any words of advice you would give to your younger self and others in pursuit of creativity?
Only create things you absolutely love, and remember to draw and paint every day. I now have daily sketchbooks, walking sketchbooks and colour diaries filled with things I have noticed. Over time, these little collections become an enormous source of inspiration. And also, keep believing in British making. Being able to make British Seasons here was very important to me. The fabrics are woven and printed in the UK, and I love that the entire process, from the first sketch to the finished cloth, takes place here.
My long-term dream would be to see a true field-to-finished-cloth linen industry return to the UK. There is something very special about understanding where things come from and knowing the hands and skills involved in making them. Ultimately, I think that is what I am trying to do with my work: take the everyday things I notice, turn them into colour and pattern, and make something that brings a little more joy into the spaces we live in.
Natasha’s new collection, British Seasons, is now available here, and we can’t wait to start scheming with it.