The World of Interiors

Shona Heath Since creating her first set out of paper, Shona has honed her talent for conjuring fantasy from the throwaway. She lately cast her spell on Poor Things, crafted to ‘feel like a real dream: confusing, irreverent, often funny’. The result ‘holds many complete worlds’ – as does our Swatch feature, for which Shona conducts an orchestra of influences: Miljenko Stančić, Lewis Carroll, Chinese padded silk art… listen in on page 188. Daisy Johnson Daisy often thinks of Helen Garner’s image of ‘the beginner’, who cleaves to a thin first draft as ‘to the coast and will strike out into the ocean only under extreme duress’: ‘I always need this bravery,’ she says. Creation is equally fraught for the artist Tessa Farmer – but it could be that same…

The October issue has landed, bringing with it all manner of visual feasts. We travel from Japan to Spain to Switzerland via Morocco, the US, UK and Mexico, but before all that we take a more fantastical excursion. Last year Yorgos Lanthimos’s fabulously peculiar film Poor Things arrived on cinema screens. Strange, funny, farcical, uncanny and off-kilter, it conjured up a world that is impossible to pin down: a curious collage of Victoriana, steampunk, erotica, John Soane, Hieronymus Bosch and the 19th-century French illustrator Albert Robida, with some animal hybrids thrown in for good measure. This was, in large part, the creation of production designer Shona Heath, who alongside her colleague James Price rightly won an Oscar for the gig. And so, when it came to deciding who might create…

‘How would you like to live in a Looking-glass House?’ In this, our October extravaganza, we put this question to you, dear reader. While we like to think we turn the quotidian on its head with every issue, things got pretty topsy-turvy even for us this time – so it feels only natural that allusions to Alice’s adventures in that new wonderland pepper this section. Let’s set the scene and retrace her steps into the mirror, watching as it ‘melts away into bright, silvery mist’. The shimmering cloud studies of Japanese artist Furuya Kōrin should serve well as an imaginative aid. Take a turn about the garden where, rather than a bunch of bad-tempered tiger lilies, it’s straw that comes magically to life: the sculptural corn dollies we’ve compiled represent…

Ensign of the Times Ever since the 17th century, the Fante people of coastal Ghana have been fashioning Asafo flags out of trade cloth, each one a colourful patchwork of appliquéd symbolic images. Drawing on his own West African heritage, and inspired by Akan stories, the Londonbased designer Amechi Mandi has been busy playing with that tradition, creating bright jacquard throws, rather than flags, featuring charming scenes that tell their very own story. There are five designs in total, and they join a whole panoply of cushions available on his eponymous online shop, launched four years ago. Shown, above: ‘Asaf O’donis’ throw, £245. Visit amechihome.com Trim with Whim In 1913, the architect Adolf Loos banished ornament from buildings altogether. The impending war finished it off for good. Inside, however, decoration…

FOCUS/24 16 – 20 September A high point in the design calendar, Focus/24 is a five-day show that sets the agenda for the months ahead. Aimed at trade professionals and design enthusiasts alike, it offers a packed programme of new launches, talks, tours, workshops and more. Free Access All Areas events in the showrooms draw the crowds: hear the creative director of a top brand introduce their new collection before showroom-hopping to a hands-on demonstration or panel discussion. The main-stage talks programme, Conversations in Design, sees in-depth interviews with star names, while Grow Your Business sessions aim to take creative careers to the next level. Head to the Design Avenue for 30+ pop-up House Guests that add another layer of inspiration. New showroom collections to look out for include some…

All prices include VAT. For suppliers’ details see Address Book…