Natural History Museum’s relationship with Dunelm enters into third year with ‘Treasures’
The Natural History Museum’s acclaimed collaboration with Dunelm continues to grow from strength to strength. Now with four major product collections under their belts, all focused on vulnerable UK habitats such as wetlands and moorlands, this brand-new collection has taken a bold new direction. For the new Spring 2024 offering, attention has turned to the Museum itself, specifically the treasures housed there and secrets they reveal about our planet.
The Spring Summer 24 homewares collection consists of multiple themed ranges, each offering the consumer bold, nature-inspired prints with historic artworks given a modern twist. Metamorphosis, a creative direction featured on bedding, cushions and more, is inspired by the stunning art of Maria Sibylla Merian, a talented artist who was one of the first to observe and document the process of metamorphosis.
Kaleidoscope is another key theme that celebrates the incredible symmetry that can be found in nature. The exquisitely decorative endpapers found in many of the Museum’s historical books – a traditional technique used for hundreds of years in bookbinding – inspired the Marbling creative direction, which can be seen across bathroom accessories, blinds and home décor.
Hot on the heels of their success at the 2023 Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards where the collaboration picked up the Sustainability Award, the team are hoping to build on their initial success with this eye-catching new offering. Have exceeded expectations in terms of sales, all whilst raising awareness of key issues facing the natural world, they have reason to feel confident as it seems that there is a continued consumer appetite for heritage inspired homewares.
Maxine Lister, Head of Licensing at the Natural History Museum, says: “Our previous collections with Dunelm have shown us that the Dunelm consumer appreciates bold prints and quirky pieces, and we are really keen to continue delighting them with stylish homewares, inspired by the natural world, that help make a visually stunning interiors statement.”
Debbie Drake, Design Director at Dunelm, says: “The Dunelm design team continue to find amazing inspiration from the rich variety of the Museum’s collections – it’s a privilege to have such unique access to an extraordinary archive and to be able to use it to create homewares that both inspire and inform our customers.”
As well as inspiring nature-themed homewares, the Museum’s collection – a veritable treasure trove with over 80 million specimens –s is also used by the Museum’s 350 scientists to inform their research. They are in fact are one of the largest groups in the world working in this area and the Museum is committed to opening up its collection to help to find solutions to climate instability and biodiversity loss.
