Tucked away above a raucous bar along Brixton high street lies one of the most serene, Mediterranean-inspired offices we’ve ever had the fortune to step foot inside.
‘It’s a space that feels like a holiday. We really wanted that sense of calm. What was really important for us is that we walked you to be able to walk in and kind of take a load off,’ explains luxury pyjama brand Desmond & Dempsey co-founder, Molly Goddard.
The Australian entrepreneur launched her now-famous printed nightwear brand with her partner, Joel Jeffery, in 2014 a year after moving to the UK and finding herself at a loss as to what to wear when relaxing at home. ‘I came with an assortment of very girly, stringy pyjamas and had moved in with Joel and his friends at the time. He was essentially like “not in front of my friends, we can’t be wearing those”. So I started wearing his shirts.’ Following a shopping trip to Selfridges during which she struggled to find loungewear that wasn’t white nor made of silky fabric, Goddard decided to launch her own brand.
Earlier this year Desmond & Dempsey’s moved into its first studio, designed with the help of interior designer Deidra Hogson. ‘Originally we’d picked up the conversation to do a shop, but decided before we get our dream shop space we needed our dream studio space,’ Goddard explains during ELLE’s My Style My Space video. ‘What I’ve learnt from working with an expert is how important the foundations are. How important the functional use of the space is.’
‘Having a space that’s such a manifestation of the brand is a huge win. I still pinch myself every time I get to come in here and this is D&D’s studio,’ she continues, pointing out the Maker&Son couch (‘it’s more comfortable than my couch at home’) in the entrance, a white chair sourced from Facebook Marketplace, and a coffee table from the online vintage supplier called, Scene By Chloe. ‘It was really important people got a sense of D&D without us having to explain it,’ she says of the informal and functional space.
A manifestation of the brand, the Studio is a testament to the company’s exploration of its team values, design ethos and community, from the way its employees gather for monthly home-cooked Friday lunches together or gather in the kitchen during office days. ‘I love it at 12.30, 1pm when everyone comes in and it becomes really loud and feels like a family kitchen,’ notes Goddard, pointing out the Moroccan vases and artwork found in a flea market that help to make the Studio feel more like a home than a workspace.
A true celebration of the brand’s achievements, from its conception in the founders’ flat almost a decade ago, trinkets on display include original block prints used to make the brand’s first fabrics, candleholders from Brussels, a shell from Australia, brass bookends, and pages torn from Goddard’s own journals framed on the walls.
Stacked photography books from the likes of Peter Beard and Helmut Newton, which have helped inspire the collection and marketing shots, sit in a dividing wall, opposite large floor-to-ceiling cupboards finished with waved handles.
‘We always talk at D&D about making the ordinary extraordinary. One of the things that describes it best is the magic of what butter does to toast, and that’s what we celebrate at D&D,’ Goddard explains. The Studio operates a hot desking rule, with a wall of storage lining one side of the office, containing boxes of strike offs, trims, buttons and labels, and rails of samples.
The pièce-de-résistance of the space has to be the site’s boardroom – a large, expansive, naturally-lit room that’s visible through reused glass windows from the company’s previous office. The room and entryway are covered in ‘Calico’ Bauwerk limewash paint. ‘The texture that comes with it makes a difference and brings the Mediterranean vibe.’
‘This room is full of bargains,’ says Goddard, pointing out the sanded Facebook Marketplace table, white chairs (;I don’t think whoever was selling them knew how great they were'), and a hand-painted wardrobe that contains a rail of new sample. ‘We wanted to reimagine how D&D’s prints came to interiors.’
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
