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Blinds & Shutters speaks exclusively to top British designer Jeff Banks about his recent collaboration with Sunway Blinds
 It might at first glance seem surprising that someone so famously sniffy about celebrity design collaborations has embarked on one himself: on the eve of the launch of Kate Moss’s first Topshop collection in 2007, he questioned whether Moss knew how to “sharpen a pencil”, betting that she rather just “turned up at Topshop’s head office in Oxford Street for a quick hour’s briefing with the in-house designers”.
But there are important distinctions in the case of Jeff’s collaboration with Sunway Blinds, the UK-based window blinds manufacturer. First, far from masquerading as such, Jeff is one of the country’s foremost designers of fashion, jewellery and home furnishings. Secondly, as someone who started his first business at the age of 11 in a bid to raise money for his school uniform, he has a fierce work ethic which he attributes to his working class roots. Sacked by Sears for being disruptive in meetings after the retail giant took over his Warehouse high street chain, he’s not going to sit back and let anyone else make the decisions.
“I love being hands-on with the design process, from providing the inspiration, working on colours and trends to selecting the final product,” he tells Blinds & Shutters. “It’s important to me to be in close contact with the process and meet regularly with our licensees.”
 In case you were wondering, Jeff more than got his school uniform; aged 15 he sold his business, the proceeds of which helped him open his first clothing store, Clobber, six years later. It was 1964 and Jeff had arrived on the cusp of Swinging London through hard work as much as talent.
Since then he has put his design and business skills to a variety of uses, creating the British Fashion Council in 1970, being named British Designer of the Year in 1980 and 1982; presenting the BBC’s long-running The Clothes Show and launching its surviving spin-off event, the Clothes Show Live; branching out into corporate clothing, interiors and even make-up. Taking inspiration from his travels (hence the name), 14 years ago Jeff launched Ports of Call with a selection of designer wall coverings and the collection has since grown to include rugs, cushions, paints, curtains and, now, blinds.
“I have taken inspiration for this brand new, exciting and innovative collection from my latest ladies’ fashion line,” says Jeff. “Absorbing the styles, designs and colours on the catwalk, I have selected looks which will create the most inspirational range of interiors.”
 When he’s decided that a design can make the transition from fashion to furnishings or, to put it another way, that this dress would look good on that window, he works with his licensees to transform them into “contemporary and commercial designs”. This way, he “found they worked especially well on the roller fabrics.”
Launched at Decorex in 2010, the range includes five different blind styles: woven woods, metal and wood venetians, patterned and plain roller blinds and the multishade, a clever fabric that gives the appearance of slats. The patterns used for the roller blinds are exclusive Jeff Banks designs while in the case of the other blind styles, Jeff worked on the colour selection together with Sunway’s Laura Pearse. Colour plays an important part in the range, with the collection book divided into six mini collections based on a colour theme and overall look:
- Opulence – purple, silver and black
- Nature Made – fresh green and yellow
- African Ribbons – African designs with a modern twist
- Riviera – turquoise and soft blue
- Muse – fiery red and browns
- Archive – warm grey and taupes
Within each mini collection are a number of blinds that will coordinate, the idea being that a consumer might choose the roller blinds for their living area and the corresponding multishade for the kitchen, the woven wood for their conservatory and so on, thus creating a harmonious feel throughout their home.
Asked to sum up the mood of the collection, Jeff volunteers, “Fresh, vibrant, rich and bang on trend!” – although he is quick to add that it’s a collection that can adapt to suit “any home and all tastes… We ensured that we covered the trends for all homes.”
And the results speak for themselves; Sunway’s rich heritage in producing exclusive made-to-measure window blinds has combined with Jeff’s eye for design and populist approach to create something rather special. As he puts it himself, “This is the first time I have produced an extensive range of blinds and the resulting collection is fantastic!”
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