Margaret Howell
My first exposure to Margaret Howell - the clothing, brand and person - happened while I was living in Japan.
When I saw her pared-back, tradition-inspired workwear in a shop in Daikanyama, it felt both familiar and new at the same time.
Why?
Possibly because in America, Howell has kept a low profile. Or because when we lived in the UK, we had a membership to The National Trust and made regular visits to home farms and heritage sites. Or because in Japan, between the two collections (Margaret Howell and MHL.) there are something close to 100 stores.
Truth is, I don’t really know.
But when I saw a listing for a podcast interview with her, I listened to try to understand the resonance better.
This conversation, with home design impresario Matt Gibberd on his program “Homing In,” finds Howell late in her career, both successful and contemplative.
She talks about the origins of her design aesthetic (early childhood memories of family life) and clothing company (making shirts in the kitchen of her home). And I would say she generally opens up, talking about her various methods (hand making, organic materials) and preferences (the informal, the unstructured).
Despite the templated format of the interview, one in a series in which Gibberd gently pries into his sitters’ top three favorite favorite living spaces, Howell managed to pack-in more wise thoughts about design, craft, and living with purpose than I think I have ever heard in a single conversation.
On both clothes and spaces, Howell is plain-spoken and clear. Her thoughts are voiced quietly. There is nothing extra or decorative. On any given topic (materials, partnerships, inspirations) her words ring both specific and universal. It lead me to the thought that she was the brand before there were any products.
My goal with this post is to get you to listen to the interview, so I won't give away much more.
Only this.
There is a short section where Howell talks about about using archival research to scout for designs to ‘renovate’ that will get even the stuck-est person unstuck.
OK, one more.
Howell follows Gibberd's direction and names her three favorite architectural spaces (The Red House, Snape Maltings Concert Hall and Martello Tower Y).
My favorite among hers is Snape Maltings Concert Hall. SMCH is a music education and performance space, and site of the annual Aldeburgh Music Festival. It started life as a maltings factory but became derelict, and through the vision of composer Benjamin Britten's and (his partner) singer Peter Pears, was adapted for re-use and modernized.
As a music person and someone who lived in the UK for a few years, I’m sorry this is the first I've heard of the SMCH. The next time I am in London (fingers crossed for a Wimbledon 2024 debenture) I will do what I can to make a jaunt up to the Sussex coast to see the hall and hopefully catch a performance.
Listen and read more here ...
https://shows.acast.com/the-modern-house-podcast/episodes/28-margaret-howell-designer
https://www.themodernhouse.com/journal/the-modern-house-podcast-margaret-howell/
https://www.haworthtompkins.com/work/snape-maltings
PS. As mentioned, this podcast is part of a series of more than 40 interviews, hosted by Matt Gibberd of The Modern House. After listening to Margaret Howell, you may also find the interviews with Cereal magazine founder Rosa Park and minimalist architectural designer John Pawson of-interest too.
