Q&A | Emma Hayes

My parents both worked in the medical field yet were creative in their endeavours outside of work. My father is a talented painter and photographer, and I grew up with a mother and grandmother who loved to sew and knit. I always loved being around the fabric and fibres that filled our house. As I got older, I was interested in pursuing a creative field that would be commercially rewarding too.

I studied visual communication and worked in graphic design and advertising for many years, but it was the chance to design fabrics for the fashion world through my work at label Cybèle, and later at other brands, that spurred my love of seeing a design come to life on a tactile surface. It gave me the chance to think about design at a scale that relates to the body and to a space.

After that, I made my way into the world of interiors and set up my design studio in 2011. Wallpaper is a combination of so many things I love – pattern, print, surface texture, colour, and interiors.

Our New Zealand environment is my biggest source of inspiration – I often spend time outdoors in the forest or near the sea with my three boys.

Our collections tend to evolve with one design informing the next.

When creating a bespoke wallcovering, we are often working to a brief with a focus on subject matter, colour, or form. I enjoy having these starting points to respond to.

Both processes use experimentation with mark marking heavily across different mediums – predominantly paint, dye, and charcoal.

We were thrilled to be a part of the retail spaces for such an iconic, global brand. A series of our designs were selected to define different VIP areas within the stores. It is fantastic to see our luxurious papers in the luxurious settings that they were intended for, and how they elevate the space.

We want to continue to create beautiful wallpapers for beautiful spaces that make people feel good in their home or workplace. I like that we are taking our view of New Zealand to the world.

The benefits of biophilic design, increasing connectivity to the natural environment, are clear and a core influence in our work that we will continue to develop.

Textiles and wallcoverings as a design discipline has not had a huge focus in New Zealand; I’d like to think that what we’re doing as a business is bringing some more focus to it.