Interview with Sarah Ludlam, Designer for Ryalux Carpets

Contract Floors talks to Ryalux designer Sarah Ludlam about William Classics, British design and future trends for carpet.

EJ: William Classics was showcased at NFS last year, as well as a revamped luxurious Ultimate collection. What was the inspiration behind these and where do you generally look for inspiration?
SL: We generally get our inspiration for range development from numerous and diverse sources, for example inspiration for William Classics came in part from the work of our founder William Lomas who was known throughout the industry as a carpet innovator and quintessential English gentleman. For aesthetic and trend inspiration we visit the Milan Furniture Show, Maison et Objets, Decorex and London Design Week, anywhere where new ideas, colours and styles are previewed and fully embraced. In addition to this we spend time at art exhibitions and galleries such at the V&A (a fabulous place for inspiration), and try to take in graduate design shows as this often adds freshness and attitude to our developments. In terms of carpet development we look at new yarns, fibres, construction and manufacturing techniques which have been essential in the development of the new Ultimate range.


William Classics Bedroom Set

EJ: What steps mark the process from the initial idea to a fully realised collection on the stand?

SL: To develop a range is a complex team effort; first we find our colour samples which can be in the form of paper, fabric, yarn or any media really. We then match all the colours and make changes so that the range has a cohesive feel as well as individually lovely. Once we are happy we manufacture the product, create the point of sale and launch the range – easy when you look at it on paper! The reality when you are launching such a complex collection as Ultimate in time for Harrogate is that things get a bit last minute especially as we have completely re-designed our presentation concept and launched this at the show too.

EJ: What do you feel is missing on the carpet market, in terms of design, and how is Ryalux filling that gap?

SL: We are taking a multi level approach to this, we want to put the retailers at the heart of all our developments, we have listened to what they want and designed products and specifically points of sale that they have asked for. We have simplified our message, showing much more product on the point of sale, introducing beautiful photography and the creation of ‘inspiration boards’ to help our retailers talk about carpet as part of the whole interior scheme. We have also researched the preferences of our end consumer and have tried to make our presentation stylish, accessible and full of new, well designed and truly desirable products. We want to lead the way in terms of design and development, creating new and different products in fresh and stylish shades in order to increase the profile of our product and make it a creative force in any interior design scheme.

Part of the Ultimate collection

EJ: Your William Classics collection is a celebration of Britishness. What makes British Design so exciting in your opinion?

SL: I am passionate about British Design; I love the shock of the new combined with intelligence, intrinsic beauty, innovation, heritage and great humour. British design tends to be fresh, directional, quirky and it combines a rich shared design history though fashion, architecture, wallpapers, fabrics, furniture, and product design with free thought, a desire to innovate, a willingness to embrace the future and an unending need to improve our everyday lives, all of which results in iconic design recognized globally.

EJ: Scarlet Opus Trend declared the Ryalux stand to be the best at the show, because of its inclusiveness: portraying flooring in a complete interior design context, not in isolation. What trends do you see for interiors in the next 5 years and how will they be reflected in carpet design?
SL: Yes I met Victoria from Scarlet Opus for the first time at the show and was really pleased to read her blog about our stand. We feel it is so important to place our product in the context of the end consumer - the carpet is an important part of any scheme as a whole and is never viewed in isolation in the home so it felt very natural to us to use furnishing on the stand. For Ryalux, key trends for the next five years will be a move towards colour; this can be as subtle as new mauves, silver greys and cool aquas or for dramatic effect black, reds, oranges, teals and violets as we see our people becoming more confident and self expressive in terms of interior design schemes. Texture has a large part to play as the feeling of a room can be changed purely through the choice of twist pile, velvet or loop pile carpet. Stripes will be an important look as they offer groups of colours to style around and an element of practical pattern in an extremely usable way. We want our product to be as exciting a choice for our end consumer as any other part of an interior scheme.