31_Nick Munro_muk.qxp_Grid 20/01/2022 17:56 Page 31
DESIGNER FACE TO FACE: NICK MUNRO
Multi-award winning British designer Nick Munro – whose numerous high profile commissions have included designing a teapot for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee - is currently turning Sheffield cutlery on its head. With a debut Spring/Summer 2022 range for Carrs of Sheffield about to go into Harrods, Progressive Housewares caught up with Nick to discover what sets his designs apart.
Inset: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee teapot.
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ention Nick Munro’s name in design circles and there’s an instant connection with beautiful, desirable, practical, award-winning British design. He has supplied the world's best hotels, bars, restaurants and cafés, along with many of the world's top retailers, and is also the Royal Academy of Engineering’s visiting professor of design at Imperial College London. As a young design graduate in I988, his first client was Habitat, where he used bed springs to make spiral egg cups that became iconic; he is credited with taking Wedgwood from conservative to cool in the Noughties, with his take on Jasperware prompting Wedgwood to approach other leading designers of the day to include Paul Costello and Jasper Conran. In fact, over the decades, Nick has partnered with an impressive ‘who’s who’ of leading global brands – from Bugatti to P&O Cruises – with a recent example being Burberry’s new café concept (which launched in Shenzhen in August 2020). “It was a brilliant collaboration,” recalls Nick. “We worked on bone china, silverware, cutlery and accessories, to include cake stands, with the Thomas’s Café concept now so successful that Burberry is planning to roll it out all over China.” A more recent ‘East meets West’ design collaboration has been a range of versatile cast iron pans, in a Bauhaus colour palette,
Below: One of Nick Munro’s early glassware collections featured silver plated fish on blue crystal, with unique pewter handle detail.
for premium international cookware brand Winnington last year. “We created the brand name Versatiron,” explains Nick. “It’s an artistic concept that translates to the East as well as the West, a combination of European art and East and West cuisine, while elevating functionality and blending traditional and modern forms.” But currently, it’s his collaboration with prestigious premium cutlery company Carrs of Sheffield that Nick is most excited about. It’s a contemporary, nickel and silver range of silverware that’s been designed and made in the UK, fanfaring British style, quality and values. “It’s a new concept, something really different to the
silverware produced by other leading companies,” Nick highlights. So, what inspires him and keeps him at the top of his profession? “Staying curious with an appetite for life,” he responds. “You can sit down with people all over the world who get it and align with that philosophy. They want to support you, challenge you and champion you.” He continues: “Additionally, working with so many of the biggest brands in the world has definitely been at the core of our success, with other doors opening as a result. In fact, our portfolio is unique because it’s so diverse. It includes designing for high technology in association with air quality, right through to designing pans and cutlery, as well as designing whole nutrition chocolate that’s about cocoa as a superfood.” What’s been his favourite project to date? “I have invested in them all emotionally,” he points out, “and I don’t like to look back and rest on my laurels. I’m interested in what comes next, so I guess my favourite project is going to be the next one!”
Nick Munro: the lowdown l Engineer and artist Nick Munro began his professional career in the late 1980s, establishing the Nick Munro Studio in Chester in 1999. l Married to fellow designer Ali, they have two sons, with Nick and Ali big fans of the Northern Soul dance scene. l Competitive table tennis is a family passion, with Nick’s other sporting hobbies including cycling, skiing, sailing and tennis.
Inset: Designer Nick Munro with Versation cast iron pans by Winnnington.
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