Home & Giftware magazine is sorry to report that luxury British homeware brand, Designers Guild, as entered administration after 56 years of iconic, high-end design. The development has left 93 employees redundant with immediate effect.
Founded by English textiles and interior designer, Tricia Guild in 1970 and operating from a flagship store on the King’s Road in London, Designers Guild swiftly became a byword for high octane, aspirational design for soft furnishings and wallpaper.
A notice in the window of the King’s Road store said: “With great regret after 56 wonderful years on the Kings Road, The Designers Guild store is closed…very many thanks and much love to our many customers and friends for your support over the decades.” Those customers included illustrious names such as Mick Jagger, Dame Joan Collins and Felicity Kendal.
Designers Guild collections were influenced by royal properties and products sold for premium prices, with rugs fetching up to £2500 and sofas over £6000.
Post-Brexit bureaucracy which increased costs for its affluent European consumer base had a punishing effect on the business, which sold its brand name and design archive to Dunelm in April 2025 and continued operational trade under a licensing arrangement.
A consultation by administrators Rick Harrison and Howard Smith Interpath did attract interest from at least one prospective buyer, but a deal failed to appear.
Tricia Guild and her brother Simon Jeffreys – also the company’s CEO – said they were sad about the closure, with Guild telling the Telegraph that “Designers Guild….is my passion and my life’s work. The brand was built over decades with an unswerving belief I the power of creative design and a constant strive to achieve only the very best.”
The focus now is on helping affected staff whilst considering options to sell leftover stock and sell or liquidate remaining assets.
