SCP Contents Issue Number Five Welcome to SCP Issue Number Five, published SCP Products: to coincide with the 2014 Salone del Mobile Milan. This issue has new product pages with Upholstery 2 the best of the 2013 Collection now included, while the SCP Milan Supplement has all of our Furniture 10 new 2014 designs. There are products from Faudet-Harrison, Lucy Kurrein, Reiko Kaneko, Accessories 17 Fort Standard, Bec Brittain, Donna Wilson, Mark McGinnis, Andrea Stemmer, Sarah Kay The SCP Collection 19–22 and Peter Marigold. We also have new 2014 editions of designs by Jasper Morrison and Accessories 23 Terence Woodgate. In the editorial section of the newspaper, we Lighting 26 look at the working practice of Reiko Kaneko, strip down one of SCP’s most celebrated designs, Textiles 28 talk to the SCP designers about a changing commercial landscape, discuss the evolving Rugs 30 workplace with Richard Leeks of SCP Contracts, hear the latest trends from our worldwide An overview of the current SCP collection, featuring some on-location photography by stockists, indulge in some light-hearted John Ross and a centre spread pull-out detailing all products currently in production. illustrated selfies from our designers, and our editor celebrates British design in Milan. I am very pleased to be returning to the main Milan with a Plan 32 Fiera for the first time in five years. However, I am growing more concerned that a gap is Our Editor, Duncan Riches, thinks it is time to celebrate British design in Milan. developing between how the larger companies in the industry and the smaller independents, like us, are thinking. Over the last few years, Balzac to the Future 33 we have increased our manufacturing network of small producers, fabricators and factories. It A look under the skin of one of SCP’s most iconic products, the Balzac armchair is a delight to see a renaissance in small-scale, by Matthew Hilton. high-quality British manufacturing. It feels like a return to the mood of the Arts and Crafts movement. Many of our producers are making Habit is your Greatest Treasure 34 things using traditional methods, or are in fact, reviving traditional craft skills. While all The British-Japanese designer Reiko Kaneko is new to SCP. Her first product for the this is going on, I feel that some of the bigger company, the Adderley Works pendant light, was launched in 2013. Now, for the companies in the design sector are just getting 2014 Collection, she has been working on some very special terracotta tableware. more protective and distanced from the actual Our Editor, Duncan Riches, finds out more. art of making. I particularly dislike behemoths threatening everybody and anybody. The UK is currently undergoing a change in copyright Around the World 36 laws, which will strengthen the hand of a small number of large companies who actually believe In this regular feature, we profile a selection of our worldwide stockists, taking a that they are the guardians of good design, but look inside their stores and hearing some views on trends for the forthcoming year. only a small number of them produce anything new of merit. I find it hard to understand why st protectionism and legal action seems to be the 21 Century Designers 38 preferred methodology of some of the larger brands. How did they work out that is how the The role of the designer in the modern world is constantly changing. The formal world progresses? There is a danger that this boundaries in design have shifted and prefixes such as furniture, product, textile kind of attitude will just make designers fearful or graphic are no longer required. SCP’s Lucy James talks to the diverse stable of of making anything new that could be deemed SCP designers to find out how they are adapting to the changing landscape. a copy, when the reality is designers do not work in a vacuum and ideas are often copied, or reinterpreted somehow. Me, Myself and I 40 The design industry is in danger of becoming out of step with the modern world. In the self-obsessed spirit of the “selfie”, a word recently entered into the Oxford A post-internet world that has seen many new English Dictionary, we invited SCP designers to produce an illustrated self-portrait. approaches to design (open-source, co-design, user-generated content design, etc.), surely requires some new thinking. I like the idea that Keeping Ahead 41 designers shouldn’t be constantly employed by companies to make things. Rather that they We talk to SCP Contracts Director Richard Leeks about the ever evolving workplace, should be employed by companies not to make looking at a new project in East London, and some beautiful new products. things, and to use their understanding of design to make the world a better place. We are an independent and passionate British company. We try to keep creativity at the heart of the brand. I hope you enjoy SCP Issue Number Five. Sheridan Coakley Founder | Owner, SCP Ltd. SCP Classics Side tables Designed by Jasper Morrison 1 9 8 6 SCP Magazine SCP Head Office SCP Stores To sign up to the SCP mailing list, please April 2014 135–139 Curtain Road visit the registration page on our website. London EC2A 3BX SCP East Re-issued 2014 Lead Writer/Editor: T +44 20 7739 1869 135–139 Curtain Road www.scp.co.uk Duncan Riches at and Associate F +44 20 7729 4224 London EC2A 3BX [email protected] T +44 20 7739 1869 Additional writing: Lucy James and Jodi Moss [email protected] F +44 20 7729 4224 Design and art direction: Farrow [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Photography: John Ross SCP West Additional photography: Jang-Hyeon Choi, 87–93 Westbourne Grove Gareth Hacker, Ellie Laycock, Richard Brine, London W2 4UL Trevor Key, Stockists’ own, Designers’ own. T +44 20 7229 3612 SCP Ltd F +44 20 7243 4821 135–139 Curtain Road London EC2A 3BX Printed at The Guardian Print Centre, [email protected] Rick Roberts Way, London, E15 2GN [email protected] www.scp.co.uk 2 3 Upholstery 1 SCP upholstery is made by hand at our specialist SCP Products factory in Norfolk, England. Each single piece is made to exacting modern standards by utilising time-honoured techniques. We only use renewable materials, with frames made from FSC approved beech and upholstered using natural fibres, animal hair and wool. Design talent, dedication and precise craftsmanship are all used in the making of elegant pieces that live well and live long. 1 1 1 1 1 1 Oscar Matthew Hilton Armchair Two seat compact sofa Three seat sofa Four seat sofa Sofa system Ottoman: small, large Daybed Bed Beautiful proportion and the delicate contrast of long straight lines and natural curves give the Oscar collection its reserve and humility. A collection of designs perfect for those who like their modernity laced with a little familiarity. 4 5 2 3 5 3 4 5 2 Bertha 3 Lucas 4 Lincoln 5 Woodgate Donna Wilson Matthew Hilton Lucy Kurrein Terence Woodgate Armchair Armchair Three seat sofa Three seat sofa Three seat sofa Sofa system A joint project between SCP and the A particularly comfortable design that has Shorefast Foundation on Fogo Island, The Lucas infuses a traditional design a high back for extra support, a deep-lying The newly updated Woodgate is available as Newfoundland. This design takes typology with modern aesthetics. Subtle seat and elongated front section. The Lincoln a conventional armchair, chaise longue and inspiration from the traditional boat bottleneck curves create comfort, while deft is a piece that brings together a formal sofa, or as a versatile modular sofa system building found on the Island. Rigid and details such as the taper and flare of the legs sensibility with a softened curvaceous look. to allow for L shaped configurations, with strong, the frame has flat sides and four and the slight protrusion of the seat cushion connectors included. A visually light and back panels that gently kick outwards like a give this piece its poise. lean design, progressive in its conception boat’s hull. The feet are also part of the frame and modest in style. design, creating the look of a beautifully crafted continuous line. 6 7 7 9 6 8 10 6 Wilma 7 Eadie 8 Munro 9 Balzac 10 Mabel Donna Wilson Donna Wilson Donna Wilson Matthew Hilton Donna Wilson Bench Armchair Three seat sofa Armchair and ottoman Three seat sofa A small and useful upholstered bench that A curvaceous and comfortably snug A traditional version of the chesterfield Iconic early 90s design with genuine poise The Mabel sofa hints at a North European is light in appearance and in weight. The armchair. The back of the frame gently that uses time-honoured techniques in the and balance. Uses a double saddle-stitch heritage, devoid of superfluous details, design has slightly splayed turned legs that arcs to create a crescent shape for the neatly making. It features two large piped edged on the arms to create the perfect curve. comfortable and serene. It has a rounded give a nod to traditional craft techniques. fitting full feather upholstered cushion. cushions and a deep buttoned and hand- Featured in Taschen’s 1000 chairs, widely frame and large button upholstered Short tapered legs lend a low-profile look to pleated back. Large and robust, the design is used in advertising and considered by many cushions. Available in a specially the design. comfortable, familiar and suitably grand.