Tricia Guild has celebrated more than 40 years in the business, during which time she has expanded from simply designing and selling fabrics into wall coverings, homewares, furniture, paint colours, children's ranges and design services.
She's built a global presence, written 15 books, been commissioned – more than once – by the Royal Family, garnered a long list of awards, including one for lifetime achievement, and been made an OBE for her services to interior design.
Tricia is best known for her bold and original fabric and wallpaper collections and her work as a designer and manufacturer on a range of home interior products. She established Designers Guild whilst search for textiles to decorate with. By re-colouring a collecting of Indian hand-block printed textiles, the first collection was established. She opened her store on the Kings Road with her first collection of fabrics, also selling ceramics and furniture. In 1974 she started working with artists such as Kaffe Fassett, Lilian Delavoryas and Janice Tchalenko.
Tricia has been greatly influential in the way people decorate and is best known for her contemporary style that celebrates colour and pattern, texture and scale. Her rooms are both instantly recognisable yet hard to define; her style is suffused with a timeless elegance but have a modern spirit that makes them relevant for today's way of life.
In the 1980s the company's reputation started to build with over 250 staff in London, Paris, Munich, Milan and New York. Designers Guild now export to over 60 different countries and have twice won the Queen’s Award For Export Achievement. The Designers Guild business philosophy is to combine creativity and innovation with the highest levels of quality: quality of design, product, service and people.
Tricia is married with a daughter and a granddaughter, and lives with her husband, the restaurateur Richard Polo, in Notting Hill.
So, why is she a #Houseproud hero?
No-one does colour quite like Tricia Guild. Her combinations are mind-bogglingly inspired, strong, invigoration and dynamic. Her confidence and her eye are extraordinary - she has shown us how to live with colour. She says:
“Just as food has changed drastically over the past few years as people are travelling and seeing more of the world, so design has changed as well. People’s tastes are keener, they realise they can make the house stimulating and exciting for them and their family, and they won’t be satisfied with just anything.”