A Look Inside Billy Cotton's Quietly Confident Soane Britain Debut

""I don't ever want the things I design to scream," says Billy Cotton. By prizing subtlety, proportion, and craft, the AD100 talent instead lets pieces sit in quiet conversation. Such is the case with his new collection for Soane Britain, the beloved British home-furnishings brand. Comprising more than 40 designs, including fabrics, wallpapers, lighting, and furniture, the line easily harmonizes without yelling."

""They understand what it means to make something soup to nuts, locally, down to the screws," Cotton explains of Soane Britain, a longtime source for bespoke designs. Throughout the project, he leaned on that expertise, with multiple techniques coming together in single objects. The Aquinnah lounge chair, for example, combines rattan, custom upholstery, metalwork, and more. Close inspection reveals that its metal frame has been wrapped in leather by a master saddler-a treatment used on several light fixtures."

"Cotton's focus on the small stuff appealed to Soane Britain cofounder Lulu Lytle. "He scrutinized every tiny detail of each piece through almost daily contact with our engineers and craftspeople," she explains. The line is likewise infused with Cotton's signature sense of balance, his rigorous industrial-design background tempering old-school decorator flourishes. The Collins dining tables and cabinet, accented with leather and brass rivets, recall 1930s British yacht furnishings."

Billy Cotton created a more-than-40-piece collection for Soane Britain spanning fabrics, wallpapers, lighting, and furniture. The collection emphasizes subtlety, proportion, and fine craft so pieces harmonize rather than dominate. Production used Soane Britain's local, end-to-end manufacturing expertise, integrating multiple techniques within single objects. The Aquinnah lounge chair combines rattan, custom upholstery, metalwork, and a leather-wrapped metal frame executed by a master saddler. The Collins dining tables and cabinet feature leather and brass rivet accents that evoke 1930s British yacht furnishings. Fabrics include basics alongside a licensed Tack Stitch folk-textile motif from Wallach.

Read at Architectural Digest