30INSIGHTSALT

A TASTE OF ENGLAND Looking beyond surface pattern, London-based company Salt creates unique window coverings that use texture and structure to manipulate light. Jessica Hemmings speaks to owner June Swindell about her designs on the future

Photo: C harlotte Nation

Above: June Swindell,

of Salt

Top right:Beam Blind,

1997, photographed at

sunset to show how the

blind glows in the dark.

The design was awarded a

Millennium Product Award

for Innovation

Below right: Beam Blind

photographed at night

When weaver June Swindell

finished her education in 1995 she

observed that there “were few

textile design jobs in the UK because jobs

were going overseas.” Concerned by this

trend, Swindell determined that both the

design and production of her future work

would stay in the UK. Her education proved

a solid foundation of technical and creative

know-how to support this aspiration, first

with a BA in Fine Art fromthe University

of Liverpool, followed by an MA at

Nottingham University, providing solid

technical education in woven structures. In

1996 Swindell and her then business partner

Karina Tomas were awarded one of the first

Sainsbury’s Scholarships to fund a studio

space in London’s OXO Tower: Salt was born.

A decade on and Tomas and Swindell

have recently made an amicable split. Salt –

now under the sole direction of Swindell –

continues to thrive with its distinctive

collection of handwoven textiles designed

for interior windows. The business is

based on a collection of popular designs,

complimented by a successful commission

based business. Swindell now feels that

clients, whether demanding a one-off piece

or a fabric from the established collection,

are buying into a brand it has taken a decade

to establish.

Surface texture and an interest in the

contrast between “areas to look through and

areas to look at” epitomise the company’s

subtle aesthetic. The palette is clean with

minimal colour, and texture that is delicate

rather than demanding. Edges are immaculate,

tension and materials both functional and

experimental, with many of the structures

existing precisely because they are woven

by hand rather than machine.

“I was keen to produce a product, not a

textile,” Swindell explains of her initial

modernspring 2007