EPISODE 113 | TORI MURPHY | TEXTILE DESIGNER

MARIA LE MESURIER PODCAST

Host Maria Lemejra interviews English textile designer Tori Murphy about the evolution of her sustainable fabric brand. The conversation cov

Key takeaways

• Tori Murphy launched her brand in 2012 using only 12 meters of fabric woven in Lancashire.
• Her textile collections have been stocked by prestigious retailers including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Daylesford, and Selfridges.

Main topics

• Sustainable textile manufacturing
• English heritage brands

Notable quotes

It's not what happens, it's how you deal with it.

Conclusion

The episode provides an inspiring look at how aligning business values

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) Hi, I'm Maria Lemejra. Welcome to my podcast where I'll be talking about many different things as a life and style editor, inviting guests on from different fields that inspire me, editing things both in and out of life, finding and sharing interior design styles to make home as comfortable as possible, recent discoveries, personal style, feel goodbyes, wellness tips and tricks, favorite sayings and affirmations, plus any lessons learned along the way. I believe that life should be easy and it's not always easy at all. It helps to understand how others get through it to bring life together. Speaker 2 (0:43) Today I'm with the English textile designer Tori Murphy. Tori started her brand in 2012 with 12 metres of fabric woven in Lancashire that was turned into a capsule collection of cushions and throws that quickly got stocked by Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Daylesford and Selfridges. 14 years on, Tori has worked globally on home and commercial projects and is well known for her timeless and sustainable fabrics and products. which are all produced in England. Speaker 1 (1:13) Hi Tori, how are you? I'm great Speaker 2 (1:16) Maria, Speaker 1 (1:17) how are you? Speaker 2 (1:17) I'm very well thank you, thank you so much for joining me, it's very very nice to see you. So please can we start by you describing your style and your brand's collection? Speaker 1 (1:27) So I've thought long and hard about this. Speaker 1 (1:33) I would like to think that we're a quietly elegant, relaxed English brand. That's a nice description. Speaker 2 (1:42) Yeah. Speaker 1 (1:43) Yeah, I think so. We're a fabric and homeware brand that specialises in English woven fabric and we dedicate ourselves where possible to making everything in England. Speaker 1 (2:00) having been in business now for 14 years, there's a certain kind of restriction within that that has also shaped our identity. And that's a good thing, I think. You know, if we were having things produced left, right and centre, I think it kind of opens up. Speaker 1 (2:26) it opens up things and having those certain restraints in place, I think it's, it's helped carve things out for us a little bit. So yeah, quietly relaxed. We're very much about natural materials, natural fibers. And they all kind of feed back in to create this, this, this look that I think we're, becoming known for. Speaker 2 (2:57) Yeah, exactly. You certainly are. And you've spoken about it before. I loved what you said about all your products being produced in England, that you don't do that because it's trendy, but because it's right. Do you think that people are generally more thoughtful when buying now? Speaker 1 (3:13) I mean, this is a huge question. And I think I'd like to start by saying there is absolutely a time and a place for everything. I think it's unrealistic. to say that we can live in a world where everything that we have around us is made in England. That's definitely not possible. But I think there is a... Speaker 1 (3:38) an awareness um that's becoming greater certainly since we started the business yeah Speaker 2 (3:44) at Speaker 1 (3:46) the beginning when i remember the first trade show we were at um and people coming on i was talking about made in england um and most of the questions were why why would you do that why would you yeah why would you bother to do that when it's much easier and cheaper and faster yeah Speaker 2 (4:05) um Speaker 1 (4:06) to have it made elsewhere. And I mean, and that sort of kind of answered it for me. It's never been about speed or ease. It's been about creating something with integrity. And I think there are people who understand that and people who, who want to live that way. And, you know, people. have a choice of how to live and what they want to surround themselves with and if they're um You know, if they're interested in it, then I think there's definitely more of a pull coming now. You know, people kind of have seen maybe the darker side of industries where things aren't so pleasant in certain kind of factories and countries. And it's possible to avoid all of that. And, you know, made in the UK, there is such extraordinary skill and knowledge. Speaker 1 (5:10) capacity and um you know we just are very happy working in that kind of area where we know who we're working with um we know what's involved and it's lovely to be able to share that with people who who have an interest in it Speaker 2 (5:25) yeah i think that's very well and very delicately answered because um as you say everybody has a choice don't they and And everybody's situation is different and it's probably is unrealistic, but it is nice to know that a lot of people do care about where they're, what they're buying, isn't it? Yeah. Speaker 1 (5:47) Yeah. It's, and not everything has to be, but you know, there is a chance to. Speaker 1 (5:55) you know have things in your home that you love but also have gone on to support local communities uh local families local industry it's all you know it's kind of a much bigger uh picture yeah and we're definitely a small part of that but it's yeah we we feel very lucky to be involved in in in maiden england yeah Speaker 2 (6:18) um And for someone looking to make their home a little cozier for the autumn, what would you say is the easiest way to achieve that? Speaker 1 (6:27) Well, we're literally doing it as we speak at home. I think, you know, there's again, it's unrealistic to say or, you know, put up a brand new pair of curtains for each season. I don't think that's fair to say. I think it's lighting and texture. I think, you know, take the lighting. down sort of harsh overhead lighting is never good for anybody if you can you know pop in a few extra kind of warm lamps around the place obviously candles are a great thing if you if you like candles but then from my perspective it's it's kind of texture it's you know start introducing your merino walls and your velvets and those fabrics that