Catalogue king Argos brings sense of style to home range
Last week I found myself poised over a plate of shaved asparagus with a cellist bowing at my side beneath a frosty Dale Chihuly chandelier.
Lunching in Claridges of Mayfair really was sheer spoiling. It had already been quite a day, courtesy not as you might expect of some high end W1 design house, but as a final delicious bite of the inspirational launch of the autumn/winter collection by much loved catalogue king – Argos.
Developed from the idea of the Green Shield Stamps Gift House in 1973, and with 737 stores across Ireland and the UK, there are few of us who have not heaved a stapled box, waltzed down by carousel, from an Argos warehouse.
Three-quarters of Irish households have this retail bible lying about the house somewhere. Still – it is after all Argos. Great prices certainly, but – a design team?
I had never paused to consider the aesthetic origins of the in-house home brand pieces, or their popular household furnishings and accessories.
An Irish posse of journalists, including yours truly, were invited to London to meet some of the faces in the seven-strong team of creatives and product executives, working on Argos’ seasonal collections.
Hands on, they personally presented and contextualised the genuinely aspirational Heart of House range – a top line for the firm, ranged over several elegant movements in the Music Room, on South Molton Lane.
The stagings arranged as Rustic Charm, Mooreland, Sophisticated Glamour and Modern Sanctuary mixed up the new products with recent releases.
Show stoppers include the Argyll armchair in Autumn Tartan (€569.99) in a 180 thread count and piping; the stunning Wildwood metal floor lamp with laser cut wisteria (€104.99); the Somersham oak bathroom furnishings, delivered assembled (from €106.99); and the Verona, Art Deco inspired mirrored bedroom furniture which comes with white-glove home delivery (from €199.99 for a stool).
There’s something for everyone from 1970s reactive glazes to tweedy country warmth and boutique hotel glamour. I was admittedly straining towards the punchy colour and sleek lines calling from the Habitat corner.
Iconic brand Habitat, established by Terence Conran in 1964, (and the loss of which he admitted on these pages, was one of his greatest regrets), is set to make a limited return to the Irish market, following the closure of its dedicated stores in Dublin and Galway in 2008. The iconic brand is now under the umbrella of the Home Retail Group, who also owns Argos.
PR manager for Habitat, Adam Crudgington, showed me around a selection from the 200 products we can now enjoy, which includes some Habitat classics, a new Memphis (1970s) inspired group, and some pieces unavailable in the EU and exclusive to Habitat UK.
“We have a design team in-house led by Polly Dickens, and we’re very excited to allow our Argos customers the chance to enter at an affordable price point.”
Sarah Wareburton, head of product design, explains: “With the 400 plus products of Heart of Home, we really want to shout out to our customers, and to show them things they may not have expected to find at Argos, quality pieces with clear style credentials.”
She guided the Irish contingent, enthusiastically poking around the staged areas and bouncing on the velvet button backed furniture, to designer Jessie Barrell.
Jessie showed us how her hand painting of a wide floral repeat in a melting ruby watercolour had made its way from careful prodding through Photoshop to become a bed linen in the Hero line.
“It takes time, and it’s something of a back and forward process. Like much of the development of a product, this tone took several attempts to create – from the initial brushwork, moving through round table discussion with the design team and the suppliers.”
Moving on, Sarah encouraged us to study a panel of the actual ‘tears’ used for Heart of Home (as in torn, and familiar as a mood board, to most of us).
This showed the accumulation of ideas for the season taken from everything from nature’s palace, remnants of embroidery, fabulous interiors, textured surfaces and splashes of paint colour.
Once the team has settled on the look for the season, a digital version of the tear is referenced in Pantone (the industry standard for colours for the interiors world), and then referred down to its key points to be realised as products.
“Inspiration comes from everywhere,” Sarah enthuses, “we spend a lot of time at trade shows all over the world, and I have to say we love Pinterest.”
I was struck by this remark, as it’s a clear indication that Argos, despite its reputation for a style-bypass, is genuinely reaching out to what we really want — Pinterest is such a vibrant communal forum.
Alexei Cowan is head of trends at Argos, and her former posts include the glittering halls of Heal’s.
“In developing these products, we reference how we can relate new pieces and colours to other accessories we already offer for the home.”
We stopped en-masse in a sort of Loony Tunes dog-pile at the work of Stephen Clarke. His Alston sideboard in oak veneer was a favourite for me, with its impressive height, in-frame drawers and doors, and horizontal planes. A touch of the 1980s, it’s another eye-catching win.
Frankly, even without licking the creamy sauces of Claridges from my lips, I’m impressed.
It’s great to see a high street retailer, even one of such gargantuan proportions, reaching up to meet our expectations on quality, design and materials, rather than hammering on the price point as its primary and all-embracing claim to fame.
Most of the products from House & Home, and over 200 Habitat pieces and new additions to Colourmatch, can be reserved at www.argos.ie and are all in-store on July 18.
Snatch up those stumpy pencils and charge!
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