The vigilant of you with good memories will remember my previous mention of lifestyle and interiors brand Dovetail-Living a few weeks ago within my top pick of Bicycle print products (here) - now to get to know the brains behind the fabulous brand - Samantha Mureau.
London-born Samantha has been Buying and Trend Forecasting for the Fashion and Interiors Industry for over 15 years. Just six months ago she set up her own on-line Lifestyle and Interiors Boutique, Dovetail-Living.com - now here's what she has to say...
When did you have your first interiors moment & what was it?
I've always had a keen eye for print, pattern, colour, form and detail and since the age of 9, and pulling together mood boards, I've wanted to work in fashion, whilst endlessly rearranging my bedroom around and restyling it. I guess this was the start of where my fashion and interiors career commenced.
You were working in fashion first and then interiors, do you think that the two are interconnected?
After buying for Topshop, fashion forecasting and seeking out the new and emerging trends for large International Fashion and Lifestyle Brands, yes I can see that there are so many influences that start off in fashion and then trickle over to the interiors world, in fact more and more so. Just take all of these incredible geometric patterns that are coming through now in fashion and you see them there too in interiors.
Do you think that we should be changing our interiors as much as we do our clothes then if interiors is so fashion-led?
I think what is so important about making your home your own is that you pick and choose what you love, what you feel an emotion for, what puts a smile on your face whether it is fashionable or not. You can't keep on changing your house around to follow every trend but you can acknowledge the trends and pick up on pieces that you know that you can live with for a long time.
Take, for example, the colour trend right now for blue in both fashion and interiors; It doesn't mean that everything in your house suddenly has to be blue, it would look very cold for starters but you may just see our hand-painted blue floral cushion by Bluebellgray and have the perfect spot for it in your home now and for a long time ahead as it's a timeless classic.
What's the Idea Behind Dovetail-Living?
Ever since I was sourcing new brands and labels at Topshop, bringing Designers to the High Street for the first time and working with them to build their own ranges I knew that this was something that I wanted to come back to in my career. I loved the connection that I was building with the designers, finding out their inspirations, their ideas and seeing how these were all brought together and how this reflected in their products.
This is key for me now, creating a House of Independent Designers - Designers whom have a passion, a drive and a story behind each of the incredible products that they are designing and making. This really comes across for the client whom then is not just buying a tray but a tray with the most beautiful design upon, a tray from an incredible and talented individual or up and coming label and one that has been designed in London or Amsterdam and then made with the finest woods in Scandinavia.
Dovetail-Living is about bringing to the client a very edited selection of beautiful pieces for their home that they love too and that are of a high quality and that will last combined with ideas and styling tips of how to put the items into their homes. We offer home styling services too for our clients so are ultimately a one-stop shop.
A huge thank you to Samantha!
