DESIGN
David Mellor Design is
celebrating 40 years on Sloane
Square. Corin Mellor talks to
Sophie Bishop about taking
over the family business from O
CTOBER 7, 2009 marks the 40th
anniversary of David Mellor Design –
the Sloane Square store famed for its
timeless kitchen accessories. It will also
be five months to the day since the
his late father founder David Mellor passed away, aged 78.
David Mellor was one of Britain’s pioneering
designers. His designs include the traffic light box and
the square edged pillar post box, as well as sterling
silver for the British embassies and stainless steel
cutlery for hospitals, prisons and government
canteens. A set of his 1970’s silver is in the permanent
collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Revered within the design world, David won a long
string of prizes and awards during his 50-year career.
In 1962, at the age of 31, he was elected the youngest
ever Royal Designer for Industry and went on to
become chairman of the Crafts Council and a trustee
of the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was appointed
OBE in 1981 and CBE in 2001 and in 2006 received
the Victoria & Albert Museum Lifetime Achievement
Award.
But it was in 1969 that he came to the general
public’s notice, with the opening of David Mellor
Ironmonger at 4 Sloane Square. Selling everything
from nails and screws to kitchenware and tableware,
the shop became a destination for stylish yet practical
household goods, as well as a gathering point for the
artists, designers, architects and writers of the time.
Princess Margaret, Jackie Kennedy and Mia Farrow
were among the store’s celebrity customers.
Forty years later and David Mellor is still thriving
and now under the management of David’s son
Corin. Brought up surrounded by his father’s designs,
Corin’s move into the world of design was, perhaps,
not surprising.
“I suppose I was brought up in a workshop, because
I lived in a very forward thinking, 1960s house in
Sheffield, which at one end was the house and the
other end was the workshop and design studio,” says
Corin. “And although I was born in Sheffield, I was
Far left: Corin Mellor with the
Herring basket - first stocked in
1969 and still on sale today
Left: Black handle kitchen knives
designed by Corin Mellor
51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84