Wigwam Magazine Issue No.2

DIVINE SAVAGES GO BOLDLY WHERE FEW DESIGNERS GO EVOCATIVE WALLPAPER PRINTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN A COLLECTION OF SUMPTUOUSLY SHIMMERING METALLICS. Let’s be honest. For most of the last 40 years wallpaper had a bad rep. Designs lost their edge and the only areas of growth were in the cheaper, mass-produced versions sold in DIY superstores. More recently, however, wallpaper has undergone a revival in its fortunes. The fashion for feature walls has encouraged a taste for larger, more assertive patterns while the development of digital printing and the revival of screen-printing has enabled artists and freelance designers to get involved. And the involvement of big names from the world of fashion, such as Vivienne Westwood and Ralph Lauren, has helped to make wallpaper the essential background for a bold 21st-century lifestyle. Divine Savages are at the forefront of this new wave of innovative designers. Forget mass-produced, boring and uninspiring design, company founders Tom Kennedy and Jamie Watkins are on a mission to deliver stunning wallpapers and fabrics, not to mention gorgeous home accessories, limited edition art prints and beautiful gifts. The duo’s eye-catching and eclectic designs are created using traditional techniques and fuse both the classic and the modern, and each of their designs offers the chance to turn any room into a living masterpiece. For their latest collection, Divine Savages have invigorated some of their most iconic wallpaper prints in sumptuously shimmering metallics. Wigwam caught up with the design duo to find out more. We started by asking them about their backgrounds. “(Tom) is the creative force behind Divine Savages having studied graphic design at university and then followed a career in fashion and branding. (Jamie) actually works in broadcasting, so very different to the creative industry we’re now in, but brings key skills on the business, marketing and networking side. Together we both bring a unique skillset that enabled us to start Divine Savages in late 2017. After beginning to decorate our own home with Tom designing some patterns and prints, we started to think about creating our own brand to encourage a bolder interior design, with pattern, colour and print and a goal of injecting more fun and personality into homes.”

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