The Story Beneath the Surface
Updated: Jul 8
How three decades in design led me from creating beautiful things, to shaping spaces, stories and experiences people remember.
I think I've finally realised what I've been doing for the last thirty years.
More importantly, I've realised why.
On paper, my career has taken me through textile design, interiors, creative direction, building Print Pattern Archive, designing collections and working with hundreds of brands.
Last year I realised that what had been a thriving archive business for thirteen years had quietly become a hustle. I've never been interested in hustle culture, but rising operating costs and the rapid emergence of AI were changing the economics of design studios. I watched many well-established studios struggle. The industry was changing. But where there's change, there's opportunity. I could feel a call towards something more soulful, not only within myself but across the wider commercial world. Hollow luxury and surface aesthetics weren't cutting it anymore.
I'd started noticing that the brands building loyal, niche followings all had one thing in common. They told a cohesive story. This isn't the next boardroom trend. Truth, culture and narrative can't be copied, and savvy Millennials and Gen Z travellers want to be immersed, not simply impressed.
After decades of design meetings, from the high street to the high end, I realised my job had become less about the design I was presenting and more about the thinking behind it. Those hundreds of print meetings honed my understanding of brand position, voice and differentiation. Why some brands build deep emotional loyalty whilst others remain beautifully executed but ultimately forgettable. My commercial eye became sharp, but my understanding of the brand world became sharper.
Something else was quietly percolating during this period.
I travelled. To source antiques, work and of course leisure.
Over the years I've stayed in more than 600 hotels. Boutique hotels, country houses, luxury retreats and wonderfully eccentric places, including a beautifully restored showman's caravan. My eye became trained to spot what worked, what felt authentic and what quietly missed the mark within seconds.
More recently, after a stay at The Daffodil Hotel & Spa in Grasmere, everything clicked.
Grasmere is one of my favourite places and somewhere I return to often. Before I'd even reached reception to check in, I'd already noticed exciting commercial opportunities, guest touchpoints that could be inspiring and subtle interior changes to accentuate the stunning location and stories just waiting to be told.
The Daffodil Hotel sits opposite Wordsworth's former home, on the edge of stunning Grasmere Lake with a mountainous breathtaking 360 degree view. The staff exude warmth and personality. Throughout the hotel I could see opportunity to connect to the spirit of place or the area's extraordinary cultural heritage.
Within an hour I'd imagined a five-year vision for the hotel. One built less on budget initially and more on creativity, narrative and meaningful guest experiences. A destination offering something nobody else in the Lake District could. The opportunities were everywhere.
Beauty combined with story has enormous commercial and human value.
Not because it's beautiful. Because it changes behaviour.
Whether it's a boutique hotel, a retail collection or a lifestyle brand, a genuine narrative that runs through every touchpoint creates emotional connection. People rarely remember the room itself. They remember how a place made them feel. That's what brings them back. That's what makes them tell their friends. That's what they share across socials.
Don't increase your marketing budget. Increase your story.
It's no longer enough to have mediocre branding or vanilla luxury hospitality interiors created from the same playbook that could exist anywhere in the world. Guests don't remember marble bathrooms. They remember how a place made them feel. And that was the sum of many subtle and emotional parts working cohesively to create a stunning holistic experience,
Today my work is to uncover what makes a place impossible to copy. Its spirit of place. Its local culture. Its heritage. Its founder's story. I work at the intersection of aesthetics, narrative design and commercial opportunity, translating those qualities into experiences people remember, return to and recommend.
Paper Fabric Story is where everything I've spent three decades learning finally comes together.
Design. Story. Hospitality. Heritage. Editorial. Community.
For years I thought I was building an archive. In reality, I was learning how brands, places and experiences create belonging.
Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing more about the thinking behind Paper Fabric Story, the places that have shaped me and the ideas I've been quietly building.
I'd love you to join me.
If you want to start a conversation, drop me an email.
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