A collection of pillows created from reclaimed silk from old dresses and screened with Murphy's seaside-inspired designs.
A 2008 graduate of Loughborough University, Zoe Murphy was educated as a textile designer. Her colorful and appealing revived mid-century modern furniture draws inspiration from her hometown of Margate, a resort town on the southeastern coast of England. From her studio space located inside a former pie factory, Murphy reassembles and re-veneers dressing tables, foot stools, side tables and wall pieces, adorning them with silkscreened imagery that pays tribute to British seaside town iconography—theme parks, mid-century cinema and Formica-clad cafes. For the upholstery on the cushions in her collection, she uses hand-dyed silk appropriated from old wedding dresses. To see more images of her bespoke pieces, make sure to check out our slideshow.
Margate Drawers, a re-veneered circa-1950s chest-of-drawers with drawings of the Margate seaside screened atop.
In this quick video, Murphy explains how she gives new life to old things:
The Patchwork Footstool, which is covered in hand-dyed silk garnered from old wedding dresses.
A simple chair, re-covered and re-veneered.
Murphy prints images of seaside menus and Margate signage atop old pieces of Formica and wood.
The Windbreaker Table, with a hand-veneered design of seaside windbreakers situated in a circle formation.
A pair of re-tooled bedside tables.