By Kit Kemp, published by Rizzoli New York
In my book, Interior Design Master Class, the American decorator Jeffrey Bilhuber observed that it is “near impossible to think of English designers without a reference to their brazen competence with color.” Kip Kemp’s new monograph arrives as kaleidoscopic proof — and then some. Color here is not decoration; it is her raison d’être.
Design Stories, written with Country Life and World of Interiors editor Giles Kime and photographed by Simon Brown, is Kemp’s first Rizzoli monograph. Leafing through its pages, you can’t help but notice the bespoke details: here, nothing feels bought off the shelf; every choice is in conversation with the next. Kemp understands that a room is a story, and Design Stories makes that philosophy explicit.
Her introduction is candid. “Pastiche is never OK,” she writes, a declaration that doubles as a design philosophy and a standard she demonstrably meets. She credits a remarkable range of collaborators — craftspeople, artists, sculptors, and now her daughters, Willow and Minnie, who have joined the family business — and the book is all the more alive for it.
Simon Brown’s photography is equal to the material. In true British fashion, he avoids the wide, airless shots that make a room look like a real estate listing, instead finding the corners and details where Kemp’s sensibility is most concentrated.
For those who have never needed convincing about maximalism, poring over Design Stories offers confirmation and inspiration in equal measure. For the unconverted, it makes a persuasive case that restraint is not the only path to sophistication. Sometimes more is simply more.
Kit Kemp: DESIGN STORIES, from Rizzoli New York
Principle Photography by Simon Brown
Available from The Rizzoli Bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound.