We were introduced to the creative mind of Abigail Edwards this year through seeing her original and imaginative styling for editorials. More recently she is breaking into the product market with wallpapers and soon, ceramics.
Studying at the Wimbledon School for Art and Design, Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and having worked in New York, Abigail is well travelled and has built up a diverse range of clients.
With a keen eye for beauty, colour, composition and contrasting textures, styling interiors for photo shoots can clearly result in the creative of the mind of a designer.
Styled for Homesense
Tell us a little about yourself, your background? It’s fascinating!
I grew up in a very small village near Stroud in Gloucestershire with an overactive imagination and a rather idealistic view of life. I then moved to London to study fine art and always assumed I would be an artist until a passion for interiors and a need to earn some money took over.
How did you get into becoming a stylist for some of the top magazines?
I did work experience with lots of my interiors magazines and assisted lots of brilliant stylists, until eventually I got a job as an assistant at Country Homes & Interiors Magazine. Then after a while I became Deputy Decorating Editor just 2 days a week. I did freelance styling the rest of the time until I felt confident enough to go completely freelance, which I think was about 8 years a go now, and I have never looked back. I love working for myself. And styling for different clients everyday keeps everything exciting and inspiring.
Styled for YOU magazine
Abigail has styled for food companies also, here for Ocado.
What to you makes a great interior space?
Calmness, lack of clutter, texture and plenty of natural light. I like honest materials like brick, wood, concrete and prefer an interior that has grown over time rather than a look that is just bought and created instantly.
We really appreciate the gathered skills across all creative fields brought into interior design – is this how you feel with your experience?
I think so. There are many different kinds of styling, I think my background studying fine art really makes me appreciate composition, light and texture within each shot, whereas stylists who come from an interior design or textile background have a very different aesthetic.
What took you to designing prints for wallpapers?
I have drawn since childhood. I stopped painting when I started styling, mainly due to lack of time and space, as until now I have always lived in quite tiny spaces. I didn’t stop drawing though and the drawings became more illustrative over the years. I began to think that the illustrations would work better as a pattern than a picture. But I have never studied design and had no idea how to do pattern repeats etc. I am also terrible with computers so just redrew the same drawing over and over again by hand and taught myself how to create a pattern repeat. I should really learn how to use a computer properly! I didn’t really have any expectations as to if anyone would buy the wallpapers but I was very lucky and very pleased that people seemed to like them.
I believe you were at TENT this year?
Yes I was, it was my third year there and is always a really enjoyable experience.
What project are you most proud of?
My recent wallpaper collection.
Abigail’s ‘Seascape’ wallpaper
Do you have a favourite designer?
I love Paola Navone’s designs and also Autoban.
Paola Navone’s work is simple, clean yet the contents within the space have a story, they have been collected.
Worldwide do you have a favourite place, having lived in a few cities?
I love the energy and optimism of New York and find it incredibly inspiring but you can’t beat the quirkiness of London.
What can we expect next from you?
I have some new bone china that will be launched soon. A mug and a dinner plate and a side plate will be added later. It is entirely made in the UK in Stoke on Trent, which is surprisingly unusual. A lot of the bone china that says made in the UK is actually manufactured in China and just decorated in the UK, which is a real shame when we used to have such a big pottery industry here. I am also working on another wallpaper design that should be ready next Spring. And I will of course be styling lots of interiors shoots too.
Thanks Abigail!
Visit Abigail’s website here!
