MOVERS & SHAKERS
Design partnership Campbell-rey
The mere mention of colour – from canary yellow to bubblegum pink – sends Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey slightly giddy. ‘We crave colour – it’s so transporting,’ says Charlotte of the design duo’s bright and creative approach.
Duncan, who is Scottish and read law at King’s College London, and Charlotte, who’s from Sweden and studied fashion history at Central Saint Martins, met as co-editors of a Swedish culture magazine, and set up their studio in 2014. From initially working with brands, Campbell-rey branched out into interiors and product design, all focusing on ‘proper materials and things being properly made’. Their love of mixing uptown and downtown, traditional and avant garde, goes into every project, from pop-up retail spaces for luggage brand Away to a bar cabinet with Kartell and an awards trophy for Elton John.
Surprising layers and contrasts are a defining theme. ‘We love contrasts,’ says Duncan, citing Campbellrey’s series of side and coffee tables that debuted at Salone del Mobile in 2017. The tops were spliced with different marbles but joined in such a way that you couldn’t work out how it was done. ‘We like a hint of trompe l’oeil, or using a material like walnut but in green, so you have to look twice,’ he adds.
Similarly, the Cosima and Cosimo glassware collections are made in collaboration with Murano glass-blower Laguna B using, unexpectedly, industrial Pyrex. ‘They’re very durable and fun, with a clash of two-tone jewelled hues,’ Duncan says.
This sense of playfulness extends to their interior designs, too. Their taste – as seen in the teaming of antique tables, Josef Frank fabrics and Memphis movement sculptures in their office – is a constantly jostling juxtaposition of colours, periods and styles.
Campbell-rey’s current projects include a Mayfair apartment and a new-build house in Kent, with furniture, rug and fabric collections in the pipeline. As Duncan sums up: ‘We want to make things that elevate the joy of everyday living but also get better with age. We’re not designing for Instagram – we’re designing pieces, using the best makers we can find, for people to enjoy and pass on to their children.’