Lulu Lytle, Founder & Creative Director of Soane Britain, has been awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honors List in recognition of her services to British Manufacturing and Craftsmanship. Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) are distinguished in any field, through achievement or service to the community. The award is the cherry on top for Soane Britain after a busy spring launch of a floral textile collaboration with renowned artist Charlotte Johnstone.
Championing traditional British making skills, Lulu’s mission has always been to make well-designed furniture, lighting, textiles and wallpapers which have the quality and longevity of fine antiques. Soane directly employs over 100 people, a third of whom are craftspeople, as well as indirectly employing many more through its partnerships with a further 41 independent British workshops. This award is recognition for all that Soane’s team and partners have achieved over the last 27 years to develop enduring designs made with real integrity and pride, promoting British craftsmanship around the world.
In addition to kingly acclaim, earlier this spring Soane Britain collaborated with English artist Charlotte Johnstone on a painterly collection depicting flowers and insects. While best known for her portraiture, fabrics fit naturally into the narrative of Charlotte’s work, where the pattern of a chair’s upholstery or the drape of a dress tells the sitter’s story just as the face and hands do.
Charlotte’s original designs are instilled with her great interest in gardens and pollinators and draw upon a decade spent living in India. Initially inspired by south-east Asian fabrics in Soane’s textile archive, Charlotte made numerous studies in pencil and watercolor, reimagining various botanical elements. Both patterns she has designed for Soane are distinguished by their painterly quality and have been faithfully replicated by expert printers in Britain to retain all the distinct characteristics of her original artworks.
Congratulations to our talented friend, Lulu Lytle, for the well-deserved honor and to Soane Britain who continues to bring beauty to life with fresh collections and enduring designs.
Produced by Leslie Newsom Rascoe