Success Is Satisfaction

The multifacted designer on his ongoing quest for perfection.

Mind

THE BEGINNING

Educational background

I was lucky enough to go to a great school called Ampleforth College in Yorkshire. It was run by Benedictine monks. I had a great housemaster, who taught me about contributing and always doing things to the best of your ability. That’s something that’s always stuck with me.

Specialisation

I grew up surrounded by antiques, in both my dad’s shop and also in the halls at Ampleforth. I think it was something that just became ingrained in me. I suppose you could call handcraftsmanship my special subject.

First internship

I left school at 18 and started working with my dad in his antiques shop. It didn’t take long, about 3 months, and I became obsessed with the craftsmanship, the level of detail in the stuff the British had made over the years — everything right down to the handles and locks. There was no looking back after that.

A subject you wish you had studied

When I first started out I didn’t know much about profit and loss or balance sheets, so perhaps it would have helped back then if I’d studied that at school! But I learnt pretty quickly along the way.

Your most ambitious school/ college project, and its outcome

It wasn’t a school project, but when my dad gave me the business I was certainly very ambitious with what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to be in the antiques trade, I wanted to build a business, to create something, to contribute to other people. So I changed direction from antiques to designing – that took some balls, but here we are now.

Matter

THE DESIGN OUTPUT

Your first design...