Founded in 2003, the luxury interiors brand London & Avalon blends true craftsmanship with sustainability, sourcing the finest materials to create long-lasting, high-quality products. The brand emphasises the tactile experience of its products, believing that luxury should feel natural and elevate everyday life. In this exclusive conversation with the brand’s founder, Stephanie Betts, we explore how sustainability has been central to London & Avalon’s mission. Stephanie also shares how the brand navigates sustainability challenges, such as the water usage of cotton, and discusses the brand’s collaboration with Positive Luxury. Additionally, we discover how London & Avalon is taking action towards a lighter environmental footprint, through a deep respect for nature – and its innovative use of materials such as sugarcane.
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Can you tell us a little more about London & Avalon’s founding, and the story behind the name?
London & Avalon was founded in 2003, initially to research the best bed linen in the world. True luxury had to be sustainable by definition, so I set out to investigate the world’s finest suppliers in my quest for the perfect bed linen. This journey led me to a small company renowned for outfitting Pope John Paul II at the time – that was all I needed to know, and thus London & Avalon was born.
How would you describe the brand in three words?
Understated, elegant, nurturing. The idea is that true luxury whispers, is always elegant, and, above all, makes you feel different – better in every sense of the word (more comfortable, better rested, delighted). This is why we place such great emphasis on the feel of all our products.
What does luxury mean to London & Avalon?
True luxury should always include a rewarding element: it should make you feel supremely comfortable (there is no luxury without comfort) while also giving you the warm glow of spending your money intelligently, in a way that enhances your confidence, wellness, and quality of life. In London & Avalon’s world, true luxury feels natural, almost laid-back, allowing you to focus on the art of living. We take every detail of our products seriously, so our clients can enjoy them with the confidence that they have chosen the best.
For London & Avalon, how do the worlds of luxury and sustainability collide?
For London & Avalon, the worlds of luxury and sustainability have been intertwined since the very beginning. There is no luxury without sustainability, without a deep respect for nature. Nature has been our muse from the start, inspiring the colours and textures of our products, but the products need to ‘feel good’ emotionally too – which is why we always strive to take from nature sparingly, ensuring a light footprint to preserve our beautiful planet for all.
What do you currently see as the greatest sustainability related challenge and opportunity for the interiors industry?
The greatest challenge remains changing mindsets. People need to be shown that true sustainable luxury can be more enjoyable and more rewarding than wasteful products.
How do you plan to overcome this challenge?
Consumers need to learn more about where their products come from and how they are made to truly connect with the brands and with the experience of the product. Only then can they learn and love to look after them. Another challenge is that a number of brands will disappear – think of New York in 1901: no cars, just horses and carts. By 1911, it was all cars and just the odd horse. The world had changed. I believe that another turning point is coming, faster than people currently expect it.
How has working with Positive Luxury changed or informed your approach to sustainability?
Working with Positive Luxury has been an eye-opening experience, as we thought we were already very sustainable! The support has been incredible throughout what was an arduous journey, leaving no stone unturned. It helped us accelerate our progress, particularly with decisions on packaging (we switched to sugarcane bioplastic). However, the greatest impact for us concerns water – cotton consumes a lot of it, and this is our current focus. Our linen is designed to last 15-20 years, making our environmental impact at least 10 times less than brands that use inferior cotton for fast-changing products.
What’s next for London & Avalon?
We are working on extending our range of products to help our customers spend more of their time with the brand, nurtured by the brand’s products. This is something our customers have been asking for a very long time. Expect exciting newness, made in Britain!
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