The words ‘slow’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘zero-waste’ are rightly abuzz in the fashion world at the moment. But for Walid al Damirji they’re nothing new. Around 20 years ago the Iraqi-British designer, then working as creative director at Joseph, found himself despairing at the industry’s dictum of trend-led collections – and the culture of consumerism and disposability it encouraged. In reaction, he founded his own label, By Walid, in 2011, pioneering an approach to luxury clothing that incorporated reused and reclaimed textiles. He has ever since been turning fragments of 18th-century ecclesiastical garments, for instance, or 19th-century silks, into what he calls “wearable art”: jackets, dresses and more, notable for their contemporary silhouettes and tremendous textures. Guided by similar principles, By Walid’s first homeware collection landed in 2017, followed by ranges of patchworked footwear in 2019.
The designer’s inclination towards splendour, character and richness is, naturally, reflected in his private quarters. His bijou studio, which we visited in 2021, is a trove of exquisite textiles and trinkets; his home, near Holland Park in west London, though built in the 1950s, is filled with things of a somewhat more historical bent – think Aubusson tapestries, antique French furniture and stacks of pretty porcelain. Walid chose the apartment, he says, for the huge terrace, which can host a party-load of people. Having heard his Home Comforts, we’re now just hoping for an invitation…
My most recent home improvement…
I got the 18th-century chaise in my kitchen upholstered in Aubusson tapestry from the same period. It formed part of one of my homeware ranges; the chairs came from a French château. The Aubusson was very distressed and it took months to painstakingly reback it, stitch it down and clean it. It was a labour of love that took six months.
