Material Boy

Trading bleak London for the sunny skies of Deià, Mallorca, prince of pattern Matthew Williamson has reinvented himself as an interior designer

- Tony Torrecillas

When I was growing up in Manchester in the northwest of England, which is by all accounts a very grey city, my mother stood out like a peacock,’ begins Matthew Williamson. ‘She dressed in vibrant colours, combining her garments in unusual ways. Many people considered her an eccentric. When she entered a room, everyone gravitated towards her. It is harnessing that power over people that made me dedicate myself to fashion.’ So it was that the boy from Manchester, who at six years old painted his bedroom in lavender and silver, would go on to become one of the top names on the British runway – that is, until three years ago. Exhausted by the shows, the capricious critics and the ephemeral trends, he decided to close the fashion chapter of his eponymous label, focusing instead on what he now recognises as his true vocation: interior design.