This recently launched Sanderson 50’s collection combines original 1950’s designs from their archive with designs from contemporary artists who have taken inspiration from this era.

Blue50swallpaper

We’ll be seeing a lot of 1950’s inspired design this year as the South Bank Centre celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain.  But then 50’s design never really goes away between revivals.  Would we have Orla Kiely’s current designs without those avant-garde Calyx textiles for Heals by Lucienne Day? Hard to believe now, but Heals was skeptical about retailing such radical designs until they won praise nationally and internationally.

What is it about this post-war period that keeps pulling us back?  Is that the designs are aesthetically pleasing and now pleasantly familiar?

Or, as the Design Musuem writes; “The Days (Lucienne and husband, Robin), like many architects and designers during the optimistic post-war period,  believed in the transformative power of modern design to make the world a better place.”  Maybe when design derives from a genuine desire to improve society it has longevity.