SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
Designer Lucy Downes’ studio in south Dublin has the same considered aesthetic as her cashmere, says MARIE KELLY.
In the studio with designer Lucy Downes
An old granite schoolhouse near the Sally Gap sympathetically renovated by her parents in the 1970s was the birthplace of Lucy Downes’ Sphere One cashmere label. It’s a fitting beginning for a brand that has, at its heart, a passion for natural materials and a commitment to integrity of design.
Sphere One is also a brand built on storytelling; hand-embroidered contour lines on its “Cartology” cashmere cardigan reference the lines on an Ordnance Survey map of the locale where Sphere One was founded 20 years ago, while French knots replicate ancient cairns that lie about Lucy’s beloved County Wicklow.
The designer’s current studio, an equally aspirational, if more contemporary, lightfilled mews house in Dublin 4, tells many stories from within its four walls and gives a strong read on its owner, who exudes as much warmth as her textured cashmere.
The former three-bedroom residential property is now home to the Sphere One family: Lucy, and her small studio team. The most striking thing about the space is the exquisite light; it’s almost like another personality in the studio, such is the drama and mood it evokes. Designed by Scott Tallon Walker in the 1990s, the house was fitted with a circular roof light at the top of a central spiral staircase so that the interior could inhale every sliver of light. “Although the property faces south east on one side and north west on the other,” Lucy explains, “the central roof light delivers a clean, neutral light that doesn’t distort colours or cause deep shadows in photographs. I’ve often heard artists say that southern light is too yellow to work in and northern light too dark, but this property, with its dual aspect and circular roof light, is ideal as a creative space.”
For seven years, this three-bedroom house was both Lucy’s home and her workplace, and despite becoming overrun with colour cards, computers, cashmere archives and clothing rails since she began living in a small 19th-century red brick terrace in Dublin 7, the studio has retained a feeling of comfort and intimacy that is reflective of the brand itself. “People often think they need to buy a swivel chair to make a space feel like an office, but I don’t think so,” explains the designer.
The studio is filled with keepsakes and oddities that ooze character and reveal something intriguing about their owner. A 1950s English steel operating table, which the designer salvaged from Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital, serves as a quirky display area for Lucy’s flea market finds and holiday buys; a passionate environmentalist, Lucy is a keen thrifter, and one of her most loved possessions is a
Poul Kjaerholm chair picked up in London in the early noughties. “I love the idea of trying to buy the best and looking after those things. I give the leather chair a saddle soap clean and nourishing conditioner about once a year.”
The designer developed an interest in mid-century furniture during her ten years living in New York (where she worked for fashion designer Donna Karan). “In Ireland in the early noughties, there was only a very mild interest in mid-century furniture,” she explains, “and that hadn’t yet extended to utilitarian pieces like this operating table,” she says. “It weighs about two tonnes, so several couriers who looked at it said they couldn’t transport it. When it was finally brought to the house, it bent the doorframe as it was carried inside, and it’s never moved back.”
Art is another of Lucy’s passions, and a canvas by the “super-talented” Sarah Walker hangs above the fire grate. Lucy explains that Sarah, the daughter of Robin Walker of Scott Tallon Walker, is a childhood friend and this piece was swapped for one of Lucy’s cashmere sweaters. “I’ve been bartering my knitwear with Sarah since I was in NCAD,” laughs Lucy. “We both adore each other’s work.”
A stunning piece by the late Patrick Scott hangs by the bottom of the spiral staircase. Lucy explains that Scott was a close friend of her parents, and she inherited this piece from her godfather. The beautiful but weathered mobile hanging from the staircase was made by Lucy of lichen- and pinecone-covered branches that she collected around Scott’s house some years ago. “I love mobiles,” reveals the designer. “I think if I had a shop, I would fill it with hanging mobiles.”
She would also fill it with plants, no doubt, as she has the Sphere One studio. “I’m a fervent believer in the benefits of nature, and I love to be around plants,” says Lucy. “If I walk into a coffee shop
and see a plant on a windowsill, I’ll always take the seat right beside it.” Lucy’s studio is peppered with plants of different sizes and scale; a Hoya strains its way up the hallway with the help of invisible fishing line, while a Papyrus, a weeping fig, a hare’s foot fern and a couple of succulent Jade plants (cuttings from a famously large one belonging to Patrick Scott) makes the small entryway feel gently cluttered but cosy. Lucy says she’s forever trying to propagate and germinate, and now she’s taking this passion and incorporating it into the Sphere One brand by experimenting with a botanical aromatic postcard from the studio that could double as a sachet for customers’ wardrobes. Lucy has made an infusion from the roses she grows at home and is nurturing scented geraniums in the studio.
“It’s very important to me that the studio smells lovely too. I’m totally averse to chemicals, be it on my skin or to protect my cashmere. I think artificial air fresheners are the worst thing in the world,” she says. Artifice is not a word you’d associate with either Lucy or her brand; authentic is. Every last detail is as considered as the placement of that sun-trapping roof light. The brand’s logo, for instance, is an elegant and discreet circle hand-stitched at the back of the neck of each garment. There is no sewn-on label to irritate or tickle the skin. Both the brand and studio space are a sensory delight.
Sphere One will celebrate 21 years in business next year, while its first and longest-running Irish stockist, Havana in Donnybrook, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year (read our interview with owner Nikki Creedon on page 31). Both tell a story of quality and commitment that has ended with a happy ever after.
“I love the idea of trying to buy the best and looking after those things.”