Inside Georgia Palmer’s East London home
PHOTOGRAPHY KATE MARTIN
STYLING DENA GIANNINI
From the runway to the living room, British model Georgia Palmer launches her own furniture label defined by sculptural forms and a quietly subversive spirit. At home in East London, she reflects on interiors, inspiration and building a world of her own.
A standout piece of furniture in Georgia Palmer’s apartment in London’s East End is her Spider Chair. It’s made from black leather and bronze metal. The low-level, four-legged design is fitted with long, belt-like leather straps with functioning buckles. In spite of its naturalistic name, there’s an industrialist bent to the piece, with perhaps a nod to BDSM.
Soon, the Spider Chair — which Palmer is currently comfortably reclining into — will be part of the debut of G-Oi Design, a considered edit of furniture and other objects that she’s set to launch. “G-Oi,” she says, pronouncing her business’s name as “joy”, for delight, bliss and a sense of euphoria. “I think it’s really exciting to be able to put my creativity into something solid,” explains Palmer, when we meet in her light-flooded home, housed in a converted Grade II-listed Victorian school. “It’s been a long process. I am quite an impulsive person, but I wanted to make sure it’s perfect.”
Getting her collection ready took Palmer and her team, which includes specialist makers based in Poland, more than two years, and she has big plans for the brand. “You just want to create a community, like a world around G-Oi,” she enthuses. “It’s for people who want character in their home.” G-Oi Design is going to encompass limited-edition furniture, like this Spider chair and a glass-topped coffee table, but also accessories that are “more affordable for the girlies,” she smiles.
Design, furniture and interiors have long been a passion of hers; an interest she cultivated while pursuing a hugely successful career as a model. Signed to Kate Moss’s agency, she frequently collaborates with photographer David Sims and has starred in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Mugler and Messika, among others; coupled with international fashion weeks, she travels the globe for months at a time. “It’s weird, being a model,” she muses. “You get long periods of time just being home and not doing anything, and then all of a sudden you’re on the chaos train again. Which I live for! I love being stressed and working and it all coming at once.” Keeping to a routine keeps tiredness at bay, she says. “I burn incense at home, and I usually travel with it, to give myself a sense of relief when I arrive somewhere else.”
GEORGIA WEARS TANK TOP, VINTAGE. COTTON JEANS,PHOEBE PHILO. SHOES, GEORGIA’S OWN. WHITE-GOLD EARRINGS AND RINGS, AND WHITE-GOLD AND DIAMOND EARRINGS, ALL HANNAH MARTIN, WORN THROUGHOUT. BRACELET, GEORGIA’S OWN, WORN THROUGHOUT
GEORGIA WEARS SILK-ORGANZA SHIRT AND MATCHING PANTS, BOTH MATIÈRES FÉCALES. LEATHER SHOES, CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN FOR MATIÈRES FÉCALES
Palmer’s incense of choice is Indian Nag Champa, a blend of sandalwood and floral notes, or Palo Santo. For her, making a house a home is a multi-sensory task. “A sense of home is always about creating a balanced space, where you feel comfortable, safe — and chic,” she says. “It’s getting that feng shui right,it’s getting the lighting right. Creating somewhere that feels like a real sanctuary for you.”
Here, in her home, her most cherished belongings include her collection of blown glass, and artworks made by her friends, such as the Ukrainian artist Sonia Trava. There are oil paintings and sculptures by London-based talent Ranny Cooper. Elsewhere, there are pieces from Palmer’s collection of vintage furniture: A Flipper coffee-table by Matthew Hilton, Tractor stools by Rodney Kinsman, and a space-age chair by William Andrus. A mid-century glass and aluminum table, known as the Propeller table for its striking base, is by Knut Hesterberg for Ronald Schmitt. It’s pieces such as these, designs from past decades, that really kick-started her new furniture venture. “I actually started off wanting to do interior design,” she explains. “I’d source all this great vintage designer furniture, intending to sell them, but I ended up keeping it all.”
A sense of home is always about creating a balanced space, where you feel comfortable, safe — and chic. It’s getting that feng shui right, it’s getting the lighting right. Creating somewhere that feels like a real sanctuary.
Georgia Palmer
Is there a particular room, or space in her London home that she considers finished, perfected, even? “I’ve never really viewed anything as ‘complete’. Everything is always changing and evolving. I’ve moved house every year for the past eight years, and some years twice. Right now, I love my house, but I know there are things that I’m probably going to change, and things that need to be updated.” A more sobering reason why Palmer’s interiors are in a state of flux is that, six months ago, a fire erupted inside her home. Unsurprisingly, it’s had an effect on how she views possessions. “I think materially, I don’t really have that mindset any more; that idea of caring too much about stuff,” she says. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have an appreciation for things that are well designed and made with care.”
I’ve never really viewed anything as ‘complete’. Everything is always changing and evolving. I’ve moved house every year for the past eight years, and some years twice!
GEORGIA PALMER
PHOTOGRAPHY KATE MARTIN
STYLING DENA GIANNINI AT A CREATIVE PARTNER
HAIR JOHN VIAL
MAKEUP ADAM DE CRUZ
NAILS SASHA GODDARD AT CAREN USING PLEASING NAIL POLISH IN INCRÍVEL MARROM FOSCO
AND PLEASING HAND + NAIL BALM
INTERIORS STYLING MARIANNE COTTERILL
LIGHTING DIRECTOR MICHAEL FURLONGER
DIGITECH ROGER BOOL
STYLING ASSISTANT MACY RICHARDS
FASHION INTERN EMMA SACCO
TALENT GEORGIA PALMER AT KATE MOSS AGENCY
WITH THANKS TO NORDIC KNOTS
“When I think about it, I’ve never not been performing,” Ramla Ali brings her fighting instincts from fashion to film “When I think about it, I’ve never not been performing,” Ramla Ali brings her fighting instincts from fashion to film
“When I think about it, I’ve never not been performing,” Ramla Ali brings her fighting instincts from fashion to film
Lindsay Perryman is the American photographer documenting trans-masc tenderness, togetherness and top surgery Lindsay Perryman is the American photographer documenting trans-masc tenderness, togetherness and top surgery
Lindsay Perryman is the American photographer documenting trans-masc tenderness, togetherness and top surgery
How Timothée Chalamet and A24 redefined movie promotion How Timothée Chalamet and A24 redefined movie promotion
How Timothée Chalamet and A24 redefined movie promotion
The new vanguard of British painters The new vanguard of British painters
The new vanguard of British painters
Potent, playful, and political: Catherine Opie on her landmark UK exhibition Potent, playful, and political: Catherine Opie on her landmark UK exhibition
Potent, playful, and political: Catherine Opie on her landmark UK exhibition
Do you have to be online to be relevant? Do you have to be online to be relevant?
Do you have to be online to be relevant?
“I know I will be making art till the day I die” Tracey Emin takes to the Tate “I know I will be making art till the day I die” Tracey Emin takes to the Tate
“I know I will be making art till the day I die” Tracey Emin takes to the Tate
From Sinners to One Battle After Another: Meet this year’s BAFTA EE Rising Star nominees From Sinners to One Battle After Another: Meet this year’s BAFTA EE Rising Star nominees
