Page 31 - Homes & Antiques (February 2020)

ST Y L E . N O W.
Jesse Wild
Jay Blades
LET’S COLLABORATE
Jay divulges some of his future design plans and
shares his thoughts on the bene!ts and challenges
of !nding the right person to collaborate with
ollaboration for me
is more about being
inspired by someone
C else. They don’t
necessarily have to be in the
!eld of furniture or upholstery,
they can be photographers and
knitwear designers who have
created something beautiful. I
admire what these cra"speople
do and want to !nd a creative way
to fuse their ideas into my work.
I have found the easiest way to
do this is by seeking out fabric
designers. I’ll see a pa#ern that
captures my a#ention and I’ll
know instantly that it belongs on
H & A
CO L U M N I S T
The Modern
Restorer
‘It once took me want to ask them:
‘How much waste
two years to do you generate?’
re-cover a chair, Because everybody
produces waste
simply because and it’s what you
I had to wait for do with it that
determines
the right le!over whether you’re
pieces of fabric thinking about
the future of
to come along.’ the planet.
Every time
I work on an
upholstery project, I always
make sure I cut the fabric in a
particular way so that I have the
least amount of it le" over. It’s
then my duty to !gure out how
I can use those scraps – so it
might mean that I put a small
piece on a stool or sew two bits
together to do the back of a chair.
Almost every piece of le"over
material is used on another job.
When you look at my chairs,
you’ll sometimes see I’ve put a
li#le bit of fabric on the back
or the piping doesn’t go all the
way round. The inspiration for
this originated with a chair
a particular chair that I have I upholstered a few years ago –
waiting in my workshop. There it’s not because I had initially
are some fabrics that I have come designed it that way on purpose
across, which I haven’t yet but because I had run out of
identi!ed the perfect chair for. material. Now, this is a feature
With this in mind, I feel the design of mine that is sustainable
natural next step for me would be at the same time.
to bring out a range of furniture. I I’m also not what you’d call
would love to design an item from a ‘commercial manufacturer’,
the ground up. I do have some I am more in tune with the slow
designs in my head, but it’s about movement. It once took me two
!nding the right person to years to re-cover a chair, simply
collaborate with. For example, I’d because I had to wait for the right
need to !nd someone who makes le"over pieces of fabric to come
things using sustainable timber. along. So the challenge would be
When looking for someone to to !nd someone who is happy to
team up with, I would always work this way too.
February 2020 Homes & Antiques 31