The Collective's items

For John Lewis's buying teams, working with the best designers is nothing new. The Partnership has collaborated with designers from Robin and Lucienne Day in the 1960s onwards to Celia Birtwell in the Noughties.

Now a new project called Design Collective is building on that tradition and highlighting the many experts and established designers John Lewis works with.

Bringing together a group of established homeware designers, Design Collective highlights John Lewis's emphasis on quality design.

From famous names in the industry such as Matthew Hilton and Nick Munro, to up-and-coming designers, Design Collective's products have been created exclusively, in collaboration with the Home buying teams, says Paula Nickolds, Director of Buying, Home.

'We've done collaborations with designers before, but this is not a vanity project. Design Collective is about serious design, working with experienced designers, and creating practical, commercial products that are beautiful and functional,' she says.

The golden Gehl

The current collection includes products in furniture, textiles, accessories and tableware, such as the Propeller cutlery range by Robin Levien, an established designer who has worked with John Lewis for a number of years; living, dining and bedroom furniture by leading Danish designer Ebbe Gehl, and cushions by Timorous Beasties.

But as well as having impeccable design credentials, the products have to be affordable and accessible too, says Dave Brittain, Head of Buying, furniture.

'The problem for shoppers is that much of the affordable homewares market is not exciting enough in terms of design and the premium end of the scale is too expensive for most customers,' he says. 'Design Collective is about affordable, desirable design.

'We've chosen designers we've worked with closely and intimately on new pieces - it's a very considered approach.'

Noah now

The Design Collective products highlight John Lewis's long-standing design credentials, while also offering good value at a real variety of price points, says furniture Buyer Sally Hudson.

These range from Bethan Gray's Noah table at £1,100, to the Farringdon desk by New Zealand-born, London-based furniture designer Leonhard Pfeifer, at £299. 'The benefit of working with different designers is the wide offer we can give our customers, with real differences between each product.

'This has been a real focus for the past two years, and we have made a significant effort to bring a real variety of timbers, glass, colours, metal and shapes to the assortment,' she adds.

Leonhard's Abbeywood collection was developed with Sally's input, featuring coloured panels based on the John Lewis colour palette. 'I've always relied on the colour of wood but working on this range gave me a lot more confidence in using colour more strongly,' says Leonhard.

'The buyers approached the project from the customer's point of view, with a real focus on what they would want, and that helped me to develop a cohesive range.

'Being part of Design Collective is exciting - it includes people like Ebbe Gehl, who is a really well-respected designer in the industry and it's exciting to be among designers of that level.'

Now we're talking

The project also builds on long-standing working relationships between designers and John Lewis buyers.

'We've worked with some of the Design Collective designers for many years but have not talked about them; they may not be as well-known as designers in fashion, but the products are very technical and they have great expertise,' says Paula.

Queensberry Hunt, run by renowned British ceramics designers Martin Hunt and David Queensberry, have worked with John Lewis for around 20 years; they've produced the division's bestselling bone china ranges, and a new range for autumn 2012.

Elsewhere, buyers took the opportunity to bring in new designers. Denise Phillips, Buyer, textiles and cushions, worked with Glasgow designers Timorous Beasties, on an exclusive collection incorporating their urban style, and with Fi Douglas, whose work under the brand Bluebellgray features a distinctive floral, watercolour effect.

'The colours and flowers practically burst off the cushions and fabric, and they also support a trend direction from our own design studio, so it felt like the right time for both of us to work together,' says Denise. 'The sales response has been instant.'

She and Head of Buying Lisa Hopkinson also worked with Maggie Levien to create a range of wallpapers, rugs and fabrics. 'The colour palette was taken from our core range of colours with some tweaks,' says Denise. 'The result is an easy-to-use, fully co-ordinated collection which will fit in many homes.'

John Lewis's in-house designers played a key role in the development process too, setting the seasonal colour palettes which many of the Design Collective designers worked from, and offering their expertise.

'Designers get a real commercial view from working with the buyers, and the in-house design studio team worked with the designers wherever required,' says Mockie Harrison, Design Manager, Home. 'We're happy to offer technical support or act as a sounding board for ideas.

'We've always worked with external designers, and this is great for working not only with established designers, but up-and-coming designers, too.'

That's something the Design Collective project will be tackling in the next phase, set to launch later this year. It will focus more strongly on supporting emerging talent, says Paula, which in turn will strengthen the business's ties with British design.

'We'll be working with colleges and newly graduated designers, who will get to know how to look at the market commercially, which is very important. It's very exciting, and that's where we should be going as a brand.'

So as well as working with the best in the business, John Lewis could soon be helping the next generation of designers to make their name.