Andrew Thomson is the lighting & upholstery buyer at Heal's. Fiona Sibley talks to him about commissioning innovative new Heal's products through the Hidden Art Design & Manufacture Project.
How did you get into buying?
I was a buyer and latterly Divisional Sales Manager at Harrods for about six years, working in Furniture, Sound and Vision and Gift & Home before I became lighting and upholstery buyer at Heal's. I studied architecture and emerged at the height of the building recession, but having worked whilst at University in an interiors shop I thought that while individual designers were working on individual products, pulling them all into a retail range could be a very dynamic and creative career.
How do you go about commissioning new design?
At Heal's we do some of the design ourselves, then look to our manufacturing and supply base and see whether we can realise those ideas. More often we source off-the-peg products, some from UK manufacturers, others overseas. Negotiating exclusivity is important so that there is not conflict between ourselves and other shops. Out of 250 lines in the Heal's lighting range, about 20% of those are designed exclusively for Heal's. We try to get the others tailored for us. There are certain brands, Flos lighting for example, that we have to have in stock to mark ourselves as a serious lighting department. We would very much like to commission more of our own design for production but I look after 400 product lines across lighting and upholstery so it's not always possible. That is what has been so good about Hidden Art – it has given us a great opportunity to work with new designers.
How have you been involved in Hidden Art's Design & Manufacture Project?
We set two very specific design briefs, one for lighting and one for upholstery. We were looking for a particular kind of lighting that would retail at about £70 based on a standard retail margin. We had 14 design submissions, all interpreting the brief in very different ways. Some of them were wonderful designs that could not have been realised at that price, but would certainly work if they were pitched to a different lighting manufacturer. We have chosen three different designs to take forward to prototype using some of our manufacturers that also have a history of working with Hidden Art. Some designs have made a feature of using a particular manufacturing technique or unusual material, and all have very different aesthetics. One design is simply a cut and folded paper lampshade - I had no idea how the designer came up with it – but he told me he'd just sat there folding and cutting paper until this very impressive shape came about. I'm very excited about that design, as I am about all the others.
Why did you decide to do this project?
Greater choice of design is the ultimate goal as it makes things much more interesting for the customer. The best thing about the Hidden Art project is that it is a great vehicle for pairing up British designers with British manufacturers. UK manufacturers are now feeling that to compete on price, they must take production to the Far East while they retain the design element here. But that's not always an advantage from a lighting point of view. There are a lot of specifications for lighting that vary between the UK and abroad and you need to avoid problems like getting the wrong voltage. There are some very good design manufacturers here, like SUCK UK and Innermost, who are doing their design and manufacturing here and producing great products. Only by doing the manufacturing in the UK can you meet the taste level of the UK customer. For the designer, having a brief helps the design process. It is very difficult to design in a vacuum without knowing to whom the end result is targeted.
What is the best way for a designer to get their design commissioned by high street retailers?
Heal's only retains a small manufacturing output nowadays for bed-making. If designers are able to support all the production as well as the design, we are very interested in hearing from them. We stock product by some small companies who function on a small, almost pieceworker scale, like Extraordinary Design based in north London. They are a very reliable supply. Like someone else I discovered recently at a Manchester design show, these smaller designers bring in valuable elements to enhance our core range. We do however have to limit the number of companies we purchase only small amount of product preferring whenever possible to build more substantial relationships based on larger collections of product. We have a very strong core product mix and alongside this we continually add and take away statement elements rather than change everything for a new season. New lines are filtered throughout the year so that when people come into the store they see both familiar and new pieces. So buying is a continuous process for me rather than focusing on particular times during the year.
How much attention should a designer pay to trends?
It's very important if they are going to use a strong colour or an unusual material. What happens on the fashion catwalk at Gucci and Prada is going to influence interiors and the things we see at the Paris Maison & Object show at the end of January are very quick to react to fashion trends. For designers it's a case of looking at anything that influences design, determining what the source of inspiration is and looking at what it is doing next.
Are you interested in the narrative behind a product?
Yes. The story behind something is really significant from a press and PR point of view because you practically have a ready-written piece for the press. Some of the Hidden Art designs really had this. We love it when there's a story as it can influence the way we might display something in store.
What ultimately sells a design to you?
Memorability. If a product that stands out and is memorable then the design has worked. It's just the same for the consumer. It's no good if you can walk away from a show or a store and instantly forget what you have seen. It needs to work as a product on the most basic level of function but impact is important.
February 2004