Matthew Williamson is having a good time. We’re sipping rosemary-flecked vodka drinks and lounging on a plush, open-backed indigo sectional as the designer smiles at friends Sienna Miller and Selah Marley who’ve gathered nearby. The mood is so convivial that if it weren’t for the thump-thump of the DJ’s music reverberating off the bare ceilings, it’d be easy to imagine that we were hanging out in Williamson’s living room instead of in the fifth-floor showroom of ABC Carpet & Home.
But in a way we are hanging out in Williamson’s living room—or at least one of them. The British designer’s first bespoke furniture collection, which he launched in collaboration with Duresta last year, is now in more than 40 stores worldwide. In fact, the line’s stateside debut at ABC is the reason for the evening’s celebration. “You know, I’ve loved this store forever and a day—it really taps into my design DNA,” he reflects as he gazes at a flamingo-legged side table from the collection. “I never thought I would end up with my product in this store . . . yet here we are.”
Not that it all came out of thin air. Since streamlining his clothing business a few years back, the designer has had more time to work on on projects that speak to him—and more time to grow his label organically. “It’s a new chapter for me. I’ve always had ambitions for a lifestyle brand and I love interiors. It was a no-brainer when Duresta approached us two years ago,” he explains. “The process is a bit slower, thank god. Fashion is so relentless; it’s so cyclical. When I stopped showing and wholesaling, it was a whole shift of business. I’ve been trying spread my wings. I’ve found new energy through it.”
It’s an energy that shows—both in Williamson’s spirit, and in the collection’s vibrancy. See for yourself in the gallery below.
