‘It’s consumers that decide whether something’s going to turn into an icon,’ said SCP founder Sheridan Coakley when we asked him about the enduring success of the brand’s ‘Balzac’ chair back in 2021.
One of the pieces on display for ‘The Imperfect Archive’ (showing at SCP’s Curtain Road store until 31 May) it was designed in 1991 by Matthew Hilton – one of a generation of then up-and-coming British designers that Coakley spotted early on – and was SCP’s first-ever piece of upholstered furniture. When Coakley first showed at the Salone del Mobile fair during Milan design week (the first UK brand to do so in its Modern Furniture Hall), the designs on display had been mainly constructed from metal and wood, but the ‘Balzac’ showed ambition.
Today, SCP has taken its prowess in upholstery a step further, creating designs – in collaboration with some of the biggest names in design today (Matthew Hilton still being one of them) – that are made using entirely natural materials. It’s a sustainable step forward that is not surprising from a brand that has always been looking to innovate.
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Focusing in on the story of this idiosyncratic furniture company and its founder, Coakley, ‘The Imperfect Archive’ allows access to four decades worth of original SCP material, including production designs, prototypes, one-offs, experiments, drawings, photographs and other selected ephemera that has, until now, been locked away in a barn in Hampshire.
Alongside now classic pieces (there are more than 90 designs on display), you’ll find a few lesser-known surprises. Look out for the furniture pieces created with artists – a daybed by Rachel Whiteread and pill-shaped chair by Damien Hirst and Jasper Morrison.
The show provides real insight into the workings of the company and of the many design luminaries that SCP has collaborated with, but also contextualises the development of the design industry in Britain. It’s part of a year of celebrations that will continue in Milan (7-13 April) with an update to its ‘The Boxed Collection’ – long-time collaborators Matthew Hilton and Jasper Morrison have created pieces that sit inside a shipping crate, as have a new generation of SCP talent including Andu Masebo, Alexandra Gerber and Philippe Malouin.
‘The Imperfect Archive’ will be open Tuesdays to Saturdays until 31 May at the SCP store on Curtain Road, London. scp.co.uk
