Summer of 1989, a new interiors magazine hit the shelves of newsagents across the country. Unlike the rather traditional, grand and fusty titles already on the market, ELLE Decoration was a bold, bright breath of fresh air. With a focus on contemporary style, colour, design talent, global influences and directional movements, it paved the way for a new approach to how we furnished and decorated our homes, and curated a modern way of living.
To celebrate our 35th anniversary, I tasked my brilliantly creative team with recreating a 2024 version of that original issue’s cover (you can see both side-by-side above). It seemed the perfect way to show how groundbreaking that first issue was, and how those guiding principles of freshness, modernity and future-focus are still just as important when we create everything ELLE Decoration 35 years later.
We’ve even commissioned conceptual AI artist Charlotte Taylor to come up with what she thinks the same composition might look like in 2059, another 35 years from now. Read about this tale of three covers in our special anniversary pages.
What's everyone reading?
To further mark this milestone, we’ve created a dynamic scrapbook of some of the key moments in British design over the past 35 years, highlighting where ELLE Decoration fits into this vibrant and varied timeline. We’ve shot our favourite UK-designed pieces from here and now, the items we anticipate becoming the heirlooms of the future and, finally, we reveal the latest winners of our annual international design awards.
The passage of time is so strange. In some ways, it feels only five minutes since we were celebrating our 30th birthday back in 2019, and in other ways it seems decades ago. Undoubtedly, since the life-changing impact of a global pandemic and multiple lockdowns, not to mention rapidly accelerating technological advances, home and interior design has radically changed, but the exploration and analysis of all this involves is more relevant than ever. That’s why ELLE Decoration is still here, with its resonance only increasing.
Whether you’ve been with us since the start or are new to our take on stylish modern living, thank you for being on this journey with us. Bring on the next 35 years…
