I can’t quite believe it’s been 15 years since I set up Beauvamp! The time has just flown by but that’s probably been helped with having two kids in tow, a dog and three house renovations to get through, however here we are and after a steep learning curve in establishing the business, I feel I can now say Hi!
Whilst I now spend my days designing and making lampshades, I actually started the business restoring and decorating furniture. It wasn’t until I came across a vintage floor lamp to renovate that I realised the potential for lampshade design. After spending a long time researching and perfecting traditional sewing techniques, I immersed myself into the world of lampshade styles and interiors from bygone eras, taking huge inspiration from my findings. I fell in love with the Arts and Crafts, Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods in particular and wanted to build on frame shapes from these eras and bring them into the present with a contemporary twist of my own.
My first collection of shades took inspiration from the old Tiffany glass lampshades originally designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in the late 1890’s. I loved their angular shapes and coupled with a fascination for silk ruching, I had to go with the name ’Tiffany’ for my first collection.
As time passed, I was finally able to plough more time into my passion and went full time five years ago with the wheels turning faster and faster ever since. From making my first lampshades on the kitchen table, it’s nice to take a breather, look back for a second and see how things have grown. We now have an excellent creative team of five, working from our studio in the beautiful market town of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, and feel very lucky to be here.
I leave you with a selection of our new ‘Tiffany Waves’. A collection I have been putting together since earlier in the year that include a range of pleated linens, organic and recycled cottons along with some specially selected prints from some of my favourite textile designers. It’s an evolving eco-conscious collection that I plan to keep adding to, so please do let me know if there are any fabrics, colours or patterns in particular you would like to see more of.
I also just want to say a huge thank you for supporting this little venture of mine and I can’t wait to see where it leads next.
Alice x
