Meet House & Garden's Rising Stars–the design talents to watch for 2023
Ever since its first issue 75 years ago, House & Garden has aimed to be a place of discovery somewhere to find the latest and best ideas in the worlds of interior design, gardens and architecture. For the second year, we look at some of the most exciting names starting to make their mark in their respective fields. Among them are innovators and go-getters, creatives with a distinct take on things and those blessed with a natural sense of style. It has been a tough couple of years, yet all these individuals and studios have thrived. Let’s celebrate them.
Sirui Ma1/25Oswalde Shop
Design Store
Founded at the height of the pandemic by Jenna Fletcher, Oswalde Shop trades via Instagram, in lieu of a physical store. Named after Jenna’s mother’s maiden name, the consultancy and store specialises in playful plastic vintage items. Jenna is also very committed to showcasing pieces by black designers, such as the ‘LM’ stools by Nifemi Marcus-Bello.
Copyright Clive Nichols2/25Harry Holding Studio
Garden Design
After graduating from London College of Garden Design in 2018 as Student of the Year, Harry Holding now has a thriving design business based in Bristol and London, with a dedicated maintenance team. His garden for an innovative newbuild in Fulham, SW6 (pictured) – featured in a 2021 episode of Channel 4’s Grand Designs – earned him an award from the Society of Garden Designers in 2022. Harry is designing a garden for RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, in collaboration with School Food Matters.
3/25Daniel Combes
Garden Design
Initially self-taught, Daniel Combes first worked as a gardener for Tania Compton and in gardens designed by Arne Maynard, before he teamed up with designer Daniel Back for three years. He then went on to set up his own business, taking on a series of large country gardens. ‘I’m inspired by classical design and typically my gardens have a very architectural layout, softened by luxurious planting,’ he says of his approach. ‘I don’t get caught up by fads and fashions.’
Copyright Ståle Eriksen © 20214/25Magri Williams studio
Architecture
Founded in 2018 by married duo Joe Magri and Alice Williams, this London-based studio has sustainability at its heart. The pair’s commitment to environmentally conscious design won them a place on the long-list for the prestigious Don’t Move, Improve! Award in 2022. The project – a renovation in north London – featured concrete, glazing and coping stones, all sourced locally.
5/25Alice Ferguson
Garden Design
Having studied architecture at the University of Cambridge, Alice Ferguson was a wedding florist for five years, after which garden design seemed a logical progression: ‘Creating spaces that make people happy is a privilege.’ She set up her Bristol-based practice in 2021 and is working on a number of gardens in the south west and further afield.
Ollie Tomlinson6/25Anahita Rigby
Interior Design
Trained as an architect, London-based Anahita Rigby found her true calling during a graduate stint in Hong Kong, perfecting the look of a shoebox flat. ‘I realised how important interiors are, especially when space is at a premium,’ she says. With residential and commercial projects, her studio creates intriguing designs, where every corner is an opportunity to experiment. Her Instagram account is a moodboard of her well-researched taste.
Claudia Black7/25Meg Boscawen
Decorative Art
For this textiles graduate, lockdown was an opportunity to experiment with paint. Meg Boscawen began by painting portraits of interiors she had spotted in magazines, before taking her brush to a larger canvas – walls. In 2020, she spent some time working under decorative painters Lizzi Porter and Alistair Erskine, before opening her own studio. Meg’s delightful, delicate depictions of flora, fauna and decorative shapes create beautiful little pockets of joy throughout a house.
Genevieve Lutkin8/25David Horan
Product Design
Before going solo in 2021, the Dublin-born designer David Horan worked under Faye Toogood and Michael Anastassiades. Represented by gallery Béton Brut, David launched his debut furniture collection, ‘Paper’ (above), in 2022. Inspired by Japanese mingei and French decoupage work, the pieces – though minimalist from afar – have wrinkles and skin-like coloration up close.
Owen Gale9/25Benedict Foley
Interior Design | Product Design | Antiques
‘I think having a sense of humour and playfulness is something vital in design,’ says Benedict Foley, who certainly practises what he preaches when wearing any one of his numerous hats – antique dealer, art dealer, frame designer (he started A.Prin-Art in 2016) and, most recently, interior designer. His many and varied endeavours have whimsy and an appreciation for storytelling in common. He is currently working on a handful of interiors projects, one of which – a colourful, eclectic and inviting house in north west London – was featured in House & Garden in December 2022.
10/25Cargill Sykes
Garden Design
After he studied at the London College of Garden Design, Duncan Cargill’s first client was Tom Sykes. They teamed up, launching their garden design business in 2018. The pair’s projects, from London and the Cotswolds to France, all have a contemporary feel with naturalistic planting.
11/25ConForm Architects
Architecture
This young architectural practice, founded by Ben Edgley and Eoin O’Leary, has gained recognition for its considered approach to design that focuses on materiality and craftsmanship. It was named the AIA UK 2022 Emerging Practice and was shortlisted for the 2022 RIBA London Award for its projects, which merge new materials with historical features.
12/25Elizabeth Tyler
Garden Design
Having studied garden design at KLC School of Design in 2015, Elizabeth Tyler worked for Marcus Barnett before setting up her own practice in 2017. Collaborating with designers and architects, such as Ben Pentreath and Adam Architecture, she currently works predominantly on large country gardens. ‘I am most inspired by historical properties,’ she says.
Christopher Horwood13/25Emma Ainscough
Interior Design
It was the Covid lockdowns and a realisation that homes should be places of excitement and even folly that gave a boost to Emma Ainscough’s practice. The Studio Ashby alum, who went solo in 2020, has a passion for collecting and curating, mixing and matching. The effect is like a grown-up doll’s house: ‘People aren’t scared of trying something different.’
© Rachael Smith Photography Ltd14/25Studio Beleta
Interior Design
Founded in 2019 by Spanish-British designer Belen White Campos, who trained at Cochrane Design and Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, Studio Beleta is known for projects with a pan-European, Riviera sensibility, characterised by summery rattan, fruity hues and jocular stripes on everything from cabinets to window frames. Belen also has her own shoppable product line, which she describes as ‘an invitation to understand my style’.
Kane Hulse15/25Wadhal
Architecture
Fahad Malik moved from Islamabad to London aged nine, then to Glasgow at 18. His architectural practice Wadhal, founded in 2021, is named after a Pakistani tribe in an attempt ‘to reconnect with a lost heritage’. His interest in the environment is central, using the climate for aesthetic effect: ‘Sunlight and wind are free.’
Norman Wilcox-Geissen16/25Bard
Craft Gallery
In Leith, this Edinburgh gallery aims to change the narrative around Scottish craft. It was set up last year by architect James Stevens (left) and his husband, writer and curator Hugo Macdonald, who want to give Scottish makers a showcase for their work. ‘We want people to come in and touch things, to feel their weight,’ says Hugo. Many of the creators make innovative and ecological use of materials such as seaweed and bioplastic.
Helen Cathcart17/25Isabella Worsley
Interior Design
Before opening her studio in 2018, Isabella Worsley worked for both Kit Kemp and Guy Goodfellow. The influence of each is easily seen in her clever use of space and inviting interiors. Her portfolio includes large-scale projects, such as Wildhive Callow Hall hotel in Derbyshire, and family homes. One of these, a Hove mews house, has been featured on the House & Garden website.
Emily Marshall18/25Max Radford
Interior Design | Gallery
During the three years he worked for antique dealer Max Rollitt, Max Radford says he acquired ‘a real understanding of furniture design’. He set up The Radford Gallery in 2021, holding pop-up shows featuring contemporary designers. The latest of these, on May 12-21, is an exhibition of work by Amelia Stevens and Matthew Verdon at AUFI (Ask Us For Ideas), Eastcastle Street, W1. His interiors projects, currently including a house in Turnpike Lane and a Dalston flat, are often where his expertise is best displayed.
Millie Thomas19/25Jacob Monk
Textile Design
London-based creative Jacob Monk came onto our radar when his bright ikat fabrics – all handwoven by him – earned him a place at Cockpit Arts in 2018. This was followed by a collaboration with Toast, which resulted in his fabrics being exhibited at the brand’s menswear shop in Carnaby Street, W1. Recently, he has turned his hand to designing rugs in uplifting colourways.
Owen Gale20/25Studio Shan
Interior Design
‘I always try to create “modern” design in a way that is still homely and inviting,’ explains Lishan Tham. Having honed her craft working for House & Garden Top 100 Interior Designer Sophie Ashby, she draws on her upbringing in Malaysia and 16 years living in London to create interiors that are both comfortable and interesting – with a nod to modernist shapes. Among her recent projects are a penthouse in Holborn and a family home in Surrey.
21/25Miria Harris
Garden Design
Formerly an art curator, Miria Harris trained at Capel Manor College and worked for Jinny Blom before she branched out
on her own. Her work is underpinned by a deep love of plants and characterised by a sense of romance and softness, with plenty of movement in the planting. Though based in London, Miria has worked on country estates as well as city gardens. One of her recent London projects was featured in House & Garden in July 2022.
22/25Mingyu Xu
Furniture Design
This is a story of East meets West and old meets new. Raised
in north China, Mingyu Xu was fascinated by objects woven in bamboo (used to create everything from chopsticks to mattresses) and their parallels with Art Deco. Having studied product design at Central Saint Martins and now based in London, Mingyu creates retro-futuristic pieces. He aims to refresh the tradition
of bamboo weaving; a low-carbon material, it has both elasticity and toughness.
Stoffer Photography23/25Pernille Lind
Interior Design
Copenhagen-born Pernille Lind derives her interest in form from her engineer father and in materials from her antique-dealer mother. Ditching an early desire to work in fashion, she studied interior design at Central Saint Martins and set up her studio in 2018. She loves long projects – the antithesis of seasonal fashion – and has just completed a four-year townhouse renovation.
24/25Blast Studio
Sustainable Product Design
Co-founders (from left) Martin Detoeuf, Pierre de Pingon and Paola Garnousset reimagine urban waste into uniquely beautiful yet functional objects, establishing a synergy between nature and technology. Their ‘Coral’ lamp collection, for example, uses 3D printing to transform refuse, such as discarded coffee cups, into intricate lampshades. Their innovation has not gone unnoticed and, in 2022, Blast Studio won the New Talent Award at the Surface Design Show.
Greta Stepanyan @gretastpnyn25/25Tom Hertz
Product Design
It was growing up on the Swedish island of Gotland, known for its geological formations, that inspired Tom Hertz’s limestone work, which is equal parts sculpture and furniture. Trained in masonry and plastering, he creates jaunty, jaggy pieces, including seating based on ancient birthing chairs.
