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At Home in the Modern World

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Design by Numbers

Simon Alderson and Tony Cunninham of London–based high designer purveyors twentytwentyone talk kitsch versus collectible and the integrity of good design.

cunningham tony alderson simon portrait

In 1993, Tony Cunningham and Simon Alderson founded twentytwentyone, a design store that sources, produces, and sells modern furniture, lighting, and products from a converted stable building in London’s trendy Islington neighborhood. Through their uniquely curated exhibitions they continue to make people aware of great design—–modern, vintage, and contemporary.
 

What inspired you to open twentytwentyone?

Tony Cunningham: The inspiration was really just a love of modernism and mid-century design, which led to a passion and interest in contemporary design as well.

What is your background?

Simon Alderson: I was a landscape architect; Tony was working in a bank. We met through our design hobbies and it progressed from there.

What’s best about your job?

TC: It’s a really great industry. There are a lot of creative people to work with, customers as well as suppliers and designers.

How do you define “good design”?

SA: If there were a simple formula, we’d have loads of design classics.

TC: It has to have a story or integrity to it—–and there needs to be a thought process behind it that can stand the test of time.

Is there anything you are embarrassed to love?

SA: One person’s kitsch is another’s collectible.

TC: It’s important that things don’t always have to be by someone or have a label attached to them.

super normal exhibit

Objects from the Super Normal exhibit at twentytwentyone in 2006.

You curate exhibitions as well as source and sell products.

TC: It’s valuable for bringing a particular company or designer to light. It was quite inspiring working with Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukosawa for our Super Normal exhibition.

How has the market changed since you opened the store?

SA: People now understand or know certain designers and their work—–like that of Charles and Ray Eames or George Nelson, designers who weren’t really known in mainland Europe.

ten bretland stephen candelholder

Candleholder by Stephen Bretland for TEN

Are there any young designers you’re watching?

SA: We did a project with a young group of designers called TEN and recently launched a range of products by them.

Why is London a good place for a design store?

TC: It’s always been a hub for antiques and design worldwide and a lot of leading architects and designers are based here.

Is your home like your shop?

SA: It’s a fusion, an interpretation. There are elements of things sold at twentytwentyone and others all mixed up together in a Victorian jumble.

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