Once upon a time, London’s A-listers called on interior designers who commanded almost equal celebrity. Mick Jagger, Bryan Ferry and Ringo Starr all have had homes designed by Nicky Haslam, who can equally accurately be described as a socialite as an interior designer. Meanwhile, Kelly Hoppen became such a byword for celebrity home style she even scored a cameo in the Ab Fab film. And while both are still major players in the design world and beyond, a fresh crowd of designers is quietly attracting a new style set and a different style, with many of their biggest name clients shielded by NDAs or sworn to secrecy. At the forefront of this group is Pimlico-based Rose Uniacke, whose refined sense of luxury has ushered in a fresh and understated look in the London homes of the Beckhams and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (which we crane to see more of in the back of every Instagram post). Uniacke doesn’t have the monopoly though; there are dozens of smaller studios capturing the imaginations of cool creatives who, as they get on the capital’s property ladder, are swapping their appreciation for shoes in favour of swatches. Here’s who they are calling in for guidance. There must be something in the water with the thespian crowd as Côte de Folk has just finished the London home of Fleabag’s hot priest, Andrew Scott, and is starting on Jenna Coleman’s. “We understand how artists live — how they need space for quiet, beauty, expression and sometimes retreat,” says studio founder, Sophie Rowell. “Our spaces reflect that rhythm, which appeals deeply to actors and creatives alike,” she adds. Folkestone-based Rowell used to be a fashion stylist before switching her masterful eye to interiors. Crowned a rising star by House & Garden in 2022, she has a predilection for vintage finds and injecting neutral-adjacent spaces with an unexpected pattern (hello, gingham lino) or material (cork for skirting boards? It’s a winner!) that feels authentically unique. Her signature skews soulful and elegant — never polished or overly designed. If you’ve found yourself hankering after a tiled worktop or an antique linen shower curtain, it’s likely because of Rowell’s influence. And as her client list suggests, you’re in excellent company. Joanna Plant is the designer to the stars who you’ve likely never heard of — so many of the House & Garden Top 100 star’s projects are bound by NDAs. She operates discreetly from her Camden HQ and has been designing under her own steam for more than 25 years. Interestingly, she recently downsized from Acton to Zone 1, transforming Amy Winehouse’s local off-licence into her studio, and lives upstairs with husband Nick, a furniture-maker and veteran of the London antiques trade. A client who is happy to shout about Plant’s talent from the rooftops is model Poppy Delevingne. Plant was charged with making the it-girl’s house a haven of “grown-up fun” back in 2017. And it hasn’t aged one bit in the years since: decadent and playful, the ground floor was inspired by “naughty hotel rooms” and features a navy-blue sitting room and a glossy red bar. Upstairs, the boudoir-like bedroom is powder-pink with an en-suite bathroom wrapped in handpainted wallpaper by de Gournay. In short, Plant ensured the decor was as fun-loving as the model herself. Beata Heuman, a petite Swede with big ideas, honed her craft under the inimitable Nicky Haslam before launching her own practice more than a decade ago. Ever since she won House & Garden’s inaugural interior designer of the year award in 2018 there’s been no stopping her. Her international client base is drawn to her eclectic eye; there have been brownstones in Manhattan, summer houses in Nantucket and London lofts. In 2023, Heuman decorated top model Adwoa Aboah’s west London house and it was ceremoniously splashed on the cover of Architectural Digest magazine. “She’s mega,” said Aboah of her designer, explaining how, “I’m prone to fluffy pink, Hello Kitty, leopard print — anything that’s repulsively tacky, so it’s quite good to have someone tone that down.” Heuman’s legions of admirers (ie, those without the hedge fund manager budgets) find comfort in her book, Every Room Should Sing, which takes pride of place on many coffee tables. And every so often, they splash out on a little something from her online “Shoppa” selection: a bow-shaped brass handle here, or a duvet cover there, in order to usher in a little touch of Beata magic to elevate the everyday. The model and TV personality Abbey Clancy wanted the capacious Surrey home she shares with her retired footballer husband Peter Crouch and their four kids “to reflect my life, my family and all the vibrancy and love that comes with it”. So to help her, she enlisted Martin Waller, founder of furnishings brand Andrew Martin, who has been in the game longer than Clancy has been alive. “Martin is a maverick, a trailblazer and I’m obsessed with everything he does. I’ve learnt from working with him over the years — he won’t settle with ordinary, so we have to search for the extraordinary,” she enthuses. The two have been antiquing around Paris flea markets to fill Clancy’s home with unique pieces, and he has also helped with the couple’s holiday home in Portugal. “He’s completely changed my outlook on interior design. He opens your eyes to the world’s vast cultures, styles, textures and how he arranges, mixes and layers things. I love that now when I walk through my house everything has a story.” Chudley is another whose high-profile clients — think music execs and actors — prefer to keep their names out of the spotlight, but blue-blooded couple Tish Weinstock and Tom Guinness were happy to share their London mews with the world a few years back. A dramatic setting where wall tapestries were suspended alongside mid-century seating, the Holland Park home typifies Chudley’s theatrical approach. Doing away with “rules” and preconceived notions of good taste, in Chudley’s world you can wrap walls in velvet, make your headboard wonderfully asymmetric, and double-down on a love for animal print. The kitchen in her former house (a derelict Victorian workshop which she spent a year renovating) featured a basement kitchen drenched in glossy midnight blue.