Patricia Denise Guild

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 1946 ''1500 Designs from All Ages and Cultures'' (2018) Running Press, Elizabeth Wilhide p159) is a British designer and the founder and Creative Director of

Designers Guild Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showroom on Kings Road in London, as well as offices in London, Paris, and Munich. Designers Guild designs and wholesales furnishing fabric, wall coverings, ...

an international home and lifestyle company. She is known for her fabric and wallpaper collections and her work as a designer and manufacturer on a range of home interior products. She was awarded an

for services to interior design in 2008.

Background

Born Patricia Denise Jeffreys (later Kaye) in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, Guild married her first husband Robin Guild (1939-2006) in 1969. Some of her earliest memories are of gardening with her grandfather and these images inspire her floral works and design, reminding her of that early sense of wonder. She has degrees from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History Winchester School of Art (WSA) was founded in 1 ...

and

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. With Robin, Tricia Guild established Designers Guild, in 1970. The couple split in 1973, and she continued to run the company. By re-colouring a collection of Indian hand-block printed textiles, the first collection was established. She opened her store on the Kings Road, at the age of 22, with her first collection of fabrics, also selling ceramics and furniture. In 1974 she started working with artists such as

Kaffe Fassett Frank Havrah "Kaffe" Fassett, MBE (born December 7, 1937) is an American-born, British-based artist who is best known for his colourful designs in the decorative arts— needlepoint, patchwork, knitting, painting and ceramics. While still a chi ...

and

Lillian Delevoryas Lillian Grace Delevoryas (January 3, 1932 - March 6, 2018) was an American artist whose career spanned six decades. Trained in Fine Art, Calligraphy and Woodblock printing she initially achieved recognition during the 1970s for her pioneering work ...

among others. Since 1986, her brother Simon Jeffreys has been a business partner in the company and Chief Executive."Designer Profile: Tricia Guild"
''

Homes & Gardens ''Homes & Gardens'' is a British monthly interior design and garden design magazine published by Future plc. The magazine is based in London and began circulation in 1919. It was the UK’s first home interest magazine. The magazine is marketed ...

'' 17 December 2021 Throughout the 1990s Guild expanded her range as Designers Guild grew in the UK and overseas. The flagship store and showroom are on the

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, London. In 1985 the company's turnover was £3.0m and in 2010 it had grown to over £50mTricia Guild's top tips for inside your home – Telegraph
/ref> with over 250 staff and offices and showrooms in London, Paris, Munich, Milan and New York. The company operates in over 80 countries. Guild received an honorary degree from the

in 1993. She was given an OBE for services to interior design in 2008. Various of Designers' Guild textiles are held by the V&A. Guild's second husband, the international restaurateur Richard Polo, died in 2019. They lived together in Notting Hill and also owned ''Le Contesse'', a home near

Cetona Cetona is a town and ''comune'' in the southern part province of Siena, Tuscany, in an area where Umbria and Lazio meet. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). The geographical elevation is between a ...

in the Chianti region of Tuscany from 1988. The property, set on four acres of their land, was featured in several of her books. Polo is survived by Polo and Guild's daughter and their grand-daughter.

Honours and awards

* 1989 Textile Institute Gold Medal for her outstanding contribution to International Textiles, UK. * 1991 Queen's Award for Export Achievement ''The Bruno Effect Magazine''
"The legendary Tricia Guild reveals the secret to creating designs that thrill". 26 May 2022 * 1992 The Export Award for Smaller Businesses. * 1993 Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Art, London, UK. * 1993 Honorary Master of Arts Degree from Winchester School of Art, UK. * 1994 A winner of the European Community Design Prize. * 1995 'Excellence de la Maison' for Bedlinen, by Marie Claire Maison Magazine, France. * 1996 Queens Award for Export Achievement (Second time to be awarded) * 1999 Honorary Degree of Doctor of Technology, Loughborough University. * 2007 The Homes & Gardens Classic Design Award – Lifetime achievement.
/ref> * 2008 Tricia Guild appointed an OBE for services to interior design.

Books

*1982 ''Soft Furnishings'' *1986 ''Designing with Flowers'' *1988 ''Design and Detail'' *1989 ''Design and Garden'' *1990 ''Tricia Guild New Soft Furnishing'' *1992 ''Tricia Guild on Colour'' *1994 ''Tricia Guild’s Painted Country'' *1996 ''Tricia Guild in Town'' *1998 ''Cut Flowers'' *1999 ''White Hot'' *2002 ''Think Pink'' *2004 ''Private View *2006 ''Pattern'' *2008 ''Flower Sense'' *2010 ''A Certain Style'' *2013 ''Colour Deconstructed''

References

External links

Designers Guild WebsiteProfile in New StatesmanTricia Guild Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guild, Tricia 1946 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Designers from London English interior designers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Marylebone

Background

Honours and awards

Books

Further reading

References

External links