Photo: Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art VanIf Nigel Barker were a piece of furniture, he’d be a full-length mirror. But it’s not for the reason you’re thinking.It’s about self reflection for the English photographer and formerAmerica’s Next Top Modeljudge. In fact, remembering the influences and interests he had growing up in London, were what inspired him to finally create the furniture collection he’d been dreaming of for decades. “In school I was very interested in everything from woodwork to metalwork. I studied fashion design, pattern cutting, weaving. I never actually studied photography,” Barker, 44, tells PEOPLE.When he started traveling the world as a model, he would purchase a piece of art or even a large furniture item in every country. At 19, while shooting in India, he fell in love with a coffee table and had it shipped back to the U.K. “I slowly but surely built this whole collection of furniture that I have in my house to this day,” he says. “I’ve always had this great interest in any kind of design, but specifically I’ve always loved furniture.”Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art VanMany years later, Barker found his opportunity when he befriended Art Van, the founder of Art Van Furniture (the second largest retailer in the country) on a family vacation. Van asked Barker to shoot his catalog. He agreed. Barker asked Van if he could design a line for his stores. Van said yes, on one condition.“He said ‘let’s start collaborating and see how it all works,'” explains Barker. “In the mean time, he did an amazing thing: He started having me consult on all kinds of things throughout the company. He took me to the big furniture fairs. He was literally giving me this education on furniture for about two years. And then he sort of turned around and said, ‘Okay you’re ready to do your furniture line now.'” His apprenticeship complete, Barker set about combining his English heritage and the influences of his travels into a collection of furniture pieces, from Colonial-inspired fourposter beds to Japanese-influenced decorative objects.Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art Van“Throughout my house, you’ll see these fun, bright, expressive pieces that I’ve purchased from my travels, but then they work so well with these classic family heirlooms I brought from England,” he explains of his preferred eclectic, bohemian mix. “That traditional style works so beautifully with a Moroccan rug and a kimono made of gold thread I bought in Japan.”For Art Van, certain mementos were reinterpreted — a beloved brass letter opener in the shape of a dragon became a 2-foot sculpture in the line — and personal family heirlooms were reinterpreted. A worn Chesterfield sofa Barker remembers from his father’s office was reimagined in sleek gunmetal leather. The pieces, available online now and in stores across the Midwest October 6, all share a sense of ease and collectedness.Some of Barker’s fans may be disappointed that one personal piece didn’t inspire a replica in the collection: “The designer Pamela Roland gave me a chair . . . she had a photograph of me and she had it put all over in the embroidery. I keep it in my bathroom.”
Photo: Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art Van
If Nigel Barker were a piece of furniture, he’d be a full-length mirror. But it’s not for the reason you’re thinking.It’s about self reflection for the English photographer and formerAmerica’s Next Top Modeljudge. In fact, remembering the influences and interests he had growing up in London, were what inspired him to finally create the furniture collection he’d been dreaming of for decades. “In school I was very interested in everything from woodwork to metalwork. I studied fashion design, pattern cutting, weaving. I never actually studied photography,” Barker, 44, tells PEOPLE.When he started traveling the world as a model, he would purchase a piece of art or even a large furniture item in every country. At 19, while shooting in India, he fell in love with a coffee table and had it shipped back to the U.K. “I slowly but surely built this whole collection of furniture that I have in my house to this day,” he says. “I’ve always had this great interest in any kind of design, but specifically I’ve always loved furniture.”Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art VanMany years later, Barker found his opportunity when he befriended Art Van, the founder of Art Van Furniture (the second largest retailer in the country) on a family vacation. Van asked Barker to shoot his catalog. He agreed. Barker asked Van if he could design a line for his stores. Van said yes, on one condition.“He said ‘let’s start collaborating and see how it all works,'” explains Barker. “In the mean time, he did an amazing thing: He started having me consult on all kinds of things throughout the company. He took me to the big furniture fairs. He was literally giving me this education on furniture for about two years. And then he sort of turned around and said, ‘Okay you’re ready to do your furniture line now.'” His apprenticeship complete, Barker set about combining his English heritage and the influences of his travels into a collection of furniture pieces, from Colonial-inspired fourposter beds to Japanese-influenced decorative objects.Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art Van“Throughout my house, you’ll see these fun, bright, expressive pieces that I’ve purchased from my travels, but then they work so well with these classic family heirlooms I brought from England,” he explains of his preferred eclectic, bohemian mix. “That traditional style works so beautifully with a Moroccan rug and a kimono made of gold thread I bought in Japan.”For Art Van, certain mementos were reinterpreted — a beloved brass letter opener in the shape of a dragon became a 2-foot sculpture in the line — and personal family heirlooms were reinterpreted. A worn Chesterfield sofa Barker remembers from his father’s office was reimagined in sleek gunmetal leather. The pieces, available online now and in stores across the Midwest October 6, all share a sense of ease and collectedness.Some of Barker’s fans may be disappointed that one personal piece didn’t inspire a replica in the collection: “The designer Pamela Roland gave me a chair . . . she had a photograph of me and she had it put all over in the embroidery. I keep it in my bathroom.”
If Nigel Barker were a piece of furniture, he’d be a full-length mirror. But it’s not for the reason you’re thinking.
It’s about self reflection for the English photographer and formerAmerica’s Next Top Modeljudge. In fact, remembering the influences and interests he had growing up in London, were what inspired him to finally create the furniture collection he’d been dreaming of for decades. “In school I was very interested in everything from woodwork to metalwork. I studied fashion design, pattern cutting, weaving. I never actually studied photography,” Barker, 44, tells PEOPLE.
When he started traveling the world as a model, he would purchase a piece of art or even a large furniture item in every country. At 19, while shooting in India, he fell in love with a coffee table and had it shipped back to the U.K. “I slowly but surely built this whole collection of furniture that I have in my house to this day,” he says. “I’ve always had this great interest in any kind of design, but specifically I’ve always loved furniture.”
Nigel Barker/Courtesy Art Van
Many years later, Barker found his opportunity when he befriended Art Van, the founder of Art Van Furniture (the second largest retailer in the country) on a family vacation. Van asked Barker to shoot his catalog. He agreed. Barker asked Van if he could design a line for his stores. Van said yes, on one condition.
“He said ‘let’s start collaborating and see how it all works,'” explains Barker. “In the mean time, he did an amazing thing: He started having me consult on all kinds of things throughout the company. He took me to the big furniture fairs. He was literally giving me this education on furniture for about two years. And then he sort of turned around and said, ‘Okay you’re ready to do your furniture line now.'” His apprenticeship complete, Barker set about combining his English heritage and the influences of his travels into a collection of furniture pieces, from Colonial-inspired fourposter beds to Japanese-influenced decorative objects.
“Throughout my house, you’ll see these fun, bright, expressive pieces that I’ve purchased from my travels, but then they work so well with these classic family heirlooms I brought from England,” he explains of his preferred eclectic, bohemian mix. “That traditional style works so beautifully with a Moroccan rug and a kimono made of gold thread I bought in Japan.”
For Art Van, certain mementos were reinterpreted — a beloved brass letter opener in the shape of a dragon became a 2-foot sculpture in the line — and personal family heirlooms were reinterpreted. A worn Chesterfield sofa Barker remembers from his father’s office was reimagined in sleek gunmetal leather. The pieces, available online now and in stores across the Midwest October 6, all share a sense of ease and collectedness.
Some of Barker’s fans may be disappointed that one personal piece didn’t inspire a replica in the collection: “The designer Pamela Roland gave me a chair . . . she had a photograph of me and she had it put all over in the embroidery. I keep it in my bathroom.”
source: people.com
