Q+A MEET TEXTILE DESIGNER SARAH FORTESCUE AND HER INTERIOR BRAND
Meet Sarah Fortescue…Inspired by her childhood growing up in both Africa and Cornwall, offered Sarah two worlds, with incredibly different cultures…
Sarahs work captures the rich creative heritage, and the essence of both continents, and that shines through in her design work today…
Our latest ‘Next Thing’ launched in September which is a fabric and wallpaper collection…
All our fabrics are digitally printed which is fabulous as we can create bespoke schemes for our clients to give them a unique colourway for their own design scheme. Our wallpapers are just beautiful.
Meet Sarah Fortescue a designer with a passion for Interiors, printed Textiles, Wallpapers and an inspirational eye for colour!
Inspired by her childhood growing up in both Africa and Cornwall, offered Sarah two worlds, with incredibly different cultures…Sarahs work captures the rich creative heritage, and the essence of both continents, and that shines through in her design work today.
We caught up with Sarah and asked her to share her inspiring story….
Tell us how you decided on a career in Design?
My late father would ask my mother, sister and I to choose paint colours….for a beautiful House, called Boconnoc, in Cornwall that he had been lovingly restoring for 12 years (www.boconnoc.com). I was meant to be moving to Hong Kong at the time but thought the house needed finishing so I set about organising each bedroom and bathroom on mood boards and working with the team of Cornish craftsman to complete the interior.
South Africa and Cornwall, quite a contrast!..How does your heritage define your style?
Africa had a great influence on me. Its vast open spaces, the magic of being in the bush, the warmth, the wildlife and the colours, the array of exotic birds and the animals had a huge impact on my interior and fabric designing.
As the founder of Sarah Fortescue, when and how did you start your brand?
My career as a designer started when I completed Boconnoc House in Cornwall (www.boconnoc.com) - it is a beautiful house, that was restored by my father - a beautiful Grade II house which was done to commercial standards as it is let for private hire and weddings. After which I moved to Hong Kong where I started my business and started working with an architect out there.
We had fabulous projects and my first one was a Polynesian Cocktail Bar called Honi Honi which is still open in Central Hong Kong.
What’s next for your Brand?
Our latest ‘Next Thing’ launched in September which is a fabric and wallpaper collection and I have just returned from a fabulous trip to the States where the designs were wonderfully received.
The inspiration for them came from nature, Africa and the tropical palm with a strong use of colour, in order to enhance the powers of nature and how colour can enhance our state of mind if used harmoniously within an interior. This is a very exciting step - we have a lot of work to do!
Do you utilise Digital Print in your work?
All our fabrics are digitally printed which is fabulous as we can create bespoke schemes for our clients to give them a unique colourway for their own design scheme. Our wallpapers are just beautiful. We print on wide width wallpaper
Which products do you print digitally, in the UK or Europe?
All our Fabrics and wallpapers are printed in the UK
Where do you manufacture your products?
All our furniture is handmade in Cornwall, which is very important to me. We use craftsman dotted around the UK and I love that best about my work as you work closely with each other.
What’s your favourite interior project so far?
My family home has the most meaning for me and it is an ongoing project. I am about to start work on a magical house there, which will house some of my designs. Its history, landscape and meaning to me makes for a spectacular connection and exciting design project.
My next project there will be completely radical..so watch this space
How do you address sustainability?
With the huge impact that Blue Planet II had on the globe, I designed our Blue Ocean collection which comprises of Fortescue Bay in 4 colourways and Tropical Corals in Sapphire & Onyx. Donating £1 from each sale which goes towards clearing our oceans plastic.
It is a starting point and one we will continue to look at…
Where can our readers buy your products?
We are an online portal at present and can buy direct from my online shop www.sarahfortescue.com
Vinterior and Eporta
Clients can also visit me at my studio in Chelsea by appointment only.
We stock our fabrics in America at Studiofour Showroom
Finally…Five Words of wisdom for fellow Designers?
Be ADVENTUROUS, use COLOUR, be ORIGINAL...
The story of what happens when young designers access digital technology is still being written.
What once was a theoretical sustainability goal seems to have shifted into an active regulatory reality.
Is the Textile Market Finally Recovering?
After a difficult few years, there are genuine reasons for optimism. Duncan was candid about the challenges: "The market for textiles has been very difficult over the last three years. I'm not going to hide the truth there. But the tide is turning.“
A profound shift is currently reshaping the sector
Changing consumer expectations demand greater design diversity, faster turnaround times, and sustainable manufacturing practices.
To thrive, interior brands must adapt their supply chains, bringing production closer to the end consumer and moving away from bulk manufacturing.
Digital textile printing offers a definitive solution to these operational bottlenecks.
Digital transformation doesn't announce itself.
It accumulates - one innovation at a time - until an entire industry looks back and realises the ground has shifted beneath its feet. That's precisely where textiles stands today.
The conversations happening now about AI, automation, sustainability, and digital product passports are not theoretical. They are shaping decisions being made on factory floors and in boardrooms right now.
“By leveraging advanced digital textile printing, Marylene Madou has successfully merged traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. Her approach offers a blueprint for how independent designers can scale their brands globally while maintaining a minimal environmental footprint.”
From Helsinki's printing mill to Paris's Le Marais, discover how Marimekko is scaling a design-led brand with purpose, craft, and bold innovation.
But what makes Marimekko's story compelling is not just its aesthetic legacy?
The textile industry is undergoing a vital transformation. As the insights from Techtextil and Texprocess reveal, the path forward relies on a combination of sustainable hardware, intelligent chemistry, and seamless digital workflows.
From Zimmer's industrial-scale energy reductions and Stratasys's on-demand 3D embellishments, to Kornit's single-step technical printing and the unified digital ecosystems of NedGraphics and Optitex, the tools for change are here. To stay competitive, brands and manufacturers must adopt these innovations, moving away from fragmented, wasteful processes towards a truly connected, circular economy.
Friedmans stands as a testament to the power of combining traditional textile knowledge with forward-thinking innovation.
“Operating from their UK headquarters, Friedmans now serves a diverse array of sectors, including swimwear, dance, entertainment, sportswear, interior decor, prosthetics, and even pet apparel. With a strategic supply chain that reliably serves clients worldwide”
The apparel decoration industry is decisively moving away from isolated, analogue production tools toward connected digital manufacturing environments.
"Kornit’s unwavering commitment to transformative technology continues to disrupt the status quo. For business leaders and innovators ready to capture the future of apparel manufacturing, the path forward is clear”
The Urgent Need for Sustainability at Scale
The transformation at Coats provides a vital blueprint for the wider textile and apparel sector. True sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. As Dearing emphasised:
“Cross-industry collaboration is the engine of meaningful change. Brands, machinery suppliers, chemical providers, and fibre producers must act as an interconnected ecosystem”
Today’s customers demand superior product quality, real-time data visibility, and lightning-fast turnaround times.
For large-scale garment decorators, managing these expectations while balancing seasonal demand fluctuations - such as the massive surges seen during Black Friday - presents a monumental challenge.
"Relying on transactional vendor relationships and outdated legacy equipment is no longer sufficient to secure long-term stability and growth.”
Printing method is never a secondary detail. It shapes the entire life cycle of a product, from concept to customer. In today’s fashion industry, where margins are tighter and speed matters more than ever, technical knowledge has become a competitive advantage.
“The future of textile design belongs to professionals who can combine creativity with execution, aesthetics with practicality, and vision with production reality”.
Are we witnessing the reinvention of Merch driven by adaptive, digital technologies?
The commercial opportunity presented by printed, personalised merchandise is already a lucrative revenue stream; it is the core driver of growth in a multi-billion-pound industry. And the mandate for print businesses is clear: automate, adapt, and offer undeniable added value, or choose to gradually lose market share.
Powderless DTF is an important area of innovation. It deserves research, investment, and thoughtful development.
“But at its current stage, it often feels like the industry is attempting to commercialize the concept ahead of the underlying chemistry and system readiness”.
All Apparel Manufacturers face an Urgent Mandate: “Automate or be Left Behind”.
Industry leaders like Super Nova Sports and Ryozo International were struggling with severe pre-press bottlenecks and unsustainable fabric waste. By integrating AI Sublimation Software into their workflows, these forward-thinking businesses eliminated manual variable data entry, boosted fabric efficiency to over 80%, and reduced delivery times by more than half, establishing a highly profitable, agile, and environmentally responsible production model.
The Future of Manufacturing belongs to those who Embrace Connected Digital Ecosystems
“Whether you produce garments, car interiors, or home furnishings, the transition from creative concept to production-ready product often remains fragmented. Design teams work tirelessly to develop compelling materials, yet technical teams struggle to interpret these visions without losing data along the way.”
The European digital wallcovering marketplace is expanding at an impressive rate.
“For print professionals and interior designers, this transition presents a distinct set of challenges. Achieving flawless colour consistency, managing complex substrates, and meeting stringent environmental standards are no longer optional extras; they are fundamental requirements for commercial success.”
If you're looking to optimize your website for AI search, hang onto your cowboy hat. It's the Wild West out there. Former (and current) SEO companies see the handwriting on the wall as more search moves from traditional SEO to AEO (answer engine optimisation). Opportunists are popping out of the woodwork.
(There are good options out there, but vet them carefully.)
A swimsuit might start life as a sketch. By the time it reaches the shop floor, dozens of hands have touched it - designers, dye houses, printers, trim manufacturers, quality controllers. Each one interprets colour in their own way, under their own conditions, with their own tools. The result is often a product that looks nothing like the original vision.
Praesent id libero id metus varius consectetur ac eget diam. Nulla felis nunc, consequat laoreet lacus id.
Donec id justo non metus auctor commodo ut quis enim. Mauris fringilla dolor vel condimentum imperdiet.
Commodo cursus magna, vel scelerisque nisl consectetur et. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper.
Sed purus sem, scelerisque ac rhoncus eget, porttitor nec odio. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
Vivamus pellentesque vitae neque at vestibulum. Donec efficitur mollis dui vel pharetra.
Praesent id libero id metus varius consectetur ac eget diam. Nulla felis nunc, consequat laoreet lacus id.
Donec id justo non metus auctor commodo ut quis enim. Mauris fringilla dolor vel condimentum imperdiet.
Vivamus pellentesque vitae neque at vestibulum. Donec efficitur mollis dui vel pharetra.