In Conversation: Mary Celeste Beall and Seb Bishop

Seb Bishop is the CEO and Creative Director of Summerill & Bishop which specializes in luxury linen tablecloths and thoughtful home accessories designed to foster connection and celebrate individual style. 

Mary Celeste: Your professional story has spanned industries, including marketing, philanthropy and e-commerce. What personal experiences or skills from outside the world of design have unexpectedly shaped your approach at Summerill & Bishop?

Seb: My sense of purpose guides everything I do. It is a constant driving force and provides direction and motivation to move forward every day. At Summerill & Bishop, creativity has a purpose beyond beauty. We’re here to bring people together; that’s our purpose. Every time we sell a tablecloth, we know a family or a group of friends will unite around the table. In the last few years, we estimate that close to a million people have gathered around one of S&B’s tablecloths. This stat makes me very proud and is how we determine

success. My background in advertising is where I learnt the power of storytelling. It taught me to think from the outside in – to begin with emotion, not just product. That skill influences how I drive design at Summerill & Bishop today: I don’t just think about how something looks, but how it makes people feel.

MC: Was there a moment in your career journey when you felt out of your depth but chose to dive in anyway? What did that teach you?
S: I’ve never been one to tread the safest path. I’ve never chosen to stay within the same industry for years at a time. That, for me, isn’t how you challenge yourself. My career has taken me into the worlds of advertising, online search marketing, philanthropy, e-commerce, physical retail and now music. Each industry is a new lesson that you learn from the ground up, but that’s also what makes it so interesting, no two days have ever been the same. I’m driven by change, disruption and ideas.

When Mum passed away unexpectedly in 2014, though, everything changed. My purpose changed. Up until that point, my career trajectory was entirely in the digital space. I had previously worked in advertising, was at the helm when search marketing was first developed in Europe and helped establish both GOOP and (Product) RED as their CEO. I welcomed the advent of the digital age very much in the driving seat. Bricks, mortar and physical product were completely out of my comfort zone. So, it was the first time I’d made a business decision with my heart, rather than my head. I stepped in to take Summerill & Bishop in a new direction for Mum and for June, to act as a custodian for their vision and to continue the legacy of this beautiful brand they had created. It taught me that you should take risks, especially if it involves your heart. If you love something, always fight for it.

MC: You wear two hats (or likely more!) as both CEO and creative director at Summerill & Bishop. How do you balance the strategic with the artistic?
S: Both lenses inform one another, and it’s a constant juggle to look at projects with equal perspective. I naturally tend to sway toward the creative. Strategy ensures relevance; artistry ensures resonance. One gives direction, the other gives depth, and it’s in their dialogue where the magic happens.

I evaluate our output both quantitatively (Does it move the needle on engagement or sales?) and qualitatively (Does it elevate the brand’s meaning and aesthetic?). Sometimes I’ve loved a design for its personal connotation to me, but after review with the team, it’s clear that it doesn’t make sense for the business. So, it’s really a constant, ongoing battle in my head to make sure we are doing what is best for the brand. The left side of my brain usually prevails!

MC: Your brand operates at the intersection of art, craftsmanship and luxury design. How do you consider the balance between functional utility and aesthetic expression within each product?
S: Our goal is to design products that people do not just use, but keep, because they connect to both mind and heart. We are creating modern heirlooms to be enjoyed, cherished and passed down through generations. The table is a place to come together and to connect; it’s where life and all its big decisions and conversations happen. So, we want to encourage people to put away their digital devices and be fully present with one another. Setting the table, even if simply, is a form of art that we can all do at home. For us, tablecloths and tableware are more than just humble objects. If they encourage people to sit and stay at the table for longer, then they are the catalysts to conversation and mental wellbeing. Take our Handblown Glass Mood Tumblers, for example. We created these glasses with a specific purpose: to encourage conversation. Each glass is emblazoned with a different “mood” so that children and adults alike can pick a glass that best represents how they feel that day. So that they can share their feelings, happy or otherwise, and download their anxieties together at the table. We realize that words don’t always come that readily, so we wanted to create something useful to help.

MC: Summerill & Bishop has built a reputation for its signature linens, but the collections are really diverse in theme – bold brights, quiet neutrals, lovely florals. How do you decide what belongs in the range?
S: For each of our designs to go into production, we always consider one important rule in our studio. We ask ourselves: Would we hang it on the wall as a piece of art? (Which many of our clients do!) I would say that Summerill & Bishop style lies somewhere between the contemporary, the classic and the cool. We offer something for everyone. If your heart skips a beat when you encounter beautiful table linens and thoughtfully crafted, one-of-a-kind items for your tabletop and your home, then you’re in the right place at S&B. Our designs are playful, bold and memorable, but also simple and usable – full of joie de vivre. Our roots are very much a mix of rustic and modern aesthetics – a true reflection of the personalities of our founders, June and Bernadette. Their partnership and shared love of entertaining informs so much of what we do.

I love that we nearly have a tablecloth for every flower, a table for every moment in any season, and an ever-growing S&B garden. You could pick a Mimosa tablecloth in mid-winter, collect a branch of its blazing yellow flowers from your local florist, and bring the table to life. We have olive print, L’Olivier, for the height of summer; roses, Rose Trellis, for late spring; Dahlia for the first frost; and the list goes on.

MC: The brand has expanded from table linens into glassware, ceramics, collaborations and more. How do you decide when to extend the product line, and how do you ensure consistency of brand DNA across very different product categories?
S:Each collection and collaboration must feel authentic, relevant and true to our brand. A product line extension only makes sense if it strengthens our relevance to clients, not just occupies shelf space.

MC: Are there specific cultures or traditions of entertaining that have influenced your work – either in subtle design choices or broader philosophy?
S: I grew up in West London, and family meals were a weekly mainstay. My mum was the warmest host, my father a brilliant raconteur. It really came so naturally to them, and they made certain that my brothers and I were involved in the “mechanics” of mealtimes. Whilst we weren’t always trusted to cook, (although I could always be counted on for a mean croque monsieur, which tells you everything about my culinary skill…), we were given the role of setting the table. We would go out to forage for fallen leaves (London Plane tree, the largest we could possibly find) to use as place cards. 

At my parents’ dinners, I was always encouraged to pull up a seat at the table. For Mum, the more the merrier. It’s here that I learnt the art of conversation: how to tell a joke, how to debate and crucially, how to listen. She had this brilliant way of getting me to engage by inviting people who, after mere moments of sitting next to them, I wound up looking up to and admiring, personally and professionally. I didn’t realize at the time, but she did. She taught me to really cherish what we have, as belongings aren’t necessarily ours. We are just enjoying and keeping them safe until it’s time to pass them down. This notion of togetherness and being present is really what influences me most.

MC: Tell me a little about your creative process. Do you start with a pattern or a color in mind? Or do you start with inspiration – a place, a season, a person – and develop from there?
S: Experiences and memories are my greatest inspiration; you have to get out into the world. Staring into the same old space will do you no favors. How can you design something if you haven’t felt it, lived it, had your senses awoken by it? I find the best ideas come to you when you least expect them to.

MC: You’ve turned the simple tablecloth into a statement piece. What does it take to elevate the everyday, and how do you balance tradition and innovation in your designs?
S: At the simplest sense, we sell time. Yes, our products are tablecloths and tableware, but ultimately, we are selling quality time, time together around the table. The more beautiful a table, the longer we linger. Sitting together for a meal is one of the oldest traditions, but today we are often distracted. Our modern world constantly entices us to swipe and scroll. We’ve become unconscious.

We want our designs to be beautiful and usable, but what the tablecloth represents is crucial. I find that our clients want to recognize the brand they have come to love, but also be surprised by it. Our most successful designs combine familiarity with something unexpected, a twist we have become known for. We are not interested in the fast or faddish; we have always been about slowing down.

MC: In today’s fast-paced design world, how do you ensure your work has both emotional depth and aesthetic breadth?
S: Our goal is always to create products that endure. When I stepped in at Summerill & Bishop, tablecloths were not described as current, covetable or cool. I saw an opportunity to reposition them as aspirational items. Now, we are seeing orders from all over the world: South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia, the U.S. and Europe.

MC: I imagine it’s complicated to pick favorites among your designs. But is there a collection that feels particularly personal or reflective of your own inner creative style?
S: The first tablecloth that I designed, Bernadette’s Falling Flowers, was a way to commemorate my mother after she passed away. It was inspired by a floral motif that my mother would use to sign off on her correspondence. We trademarked her design to create our beautiful first collection, honoring Mum and commemorating her love for being surrounded by family and friends at the table. The design has now blossomed into many other products, including a serveware collection. Even though she may no longer be with us, the “Falling Flower” ensures that her presence is always felt around the table. This collection, which first launched in 2015, inspired me to take the business in a new direction and truly served as the catalyst for the beautiful statement pieces we create today.

Another design that is particularly meaningful is Lily of the Valley. It ignites vivid memories. As a young boy, my family and I would spend Easter in Aix-en-Provence, my mother’s hometown. She would send me to the flower market to buy fresh flowers to dress the table. At that time of year, lily of the valley was in abundance at the flower stalls. The beautiful scent of those flowers holds a special place in my heart, reminding me of the warmth and joy of our family gatherings in the South of France.

MC: Summerill & Bishop was founded by two extraordinary women. You are continuing their legacy as well as shepherding the brand to align with the evolution of modern times – something I can personally relate to! What keeps you grounded in the roots of what your mother, Bernadette Bishop, and June Summerill originally founded?
S: I want Summerill & Bishop to be thought of as a cult brand in its own right, and so, I’ve focused heavily on the development of our own branded product. Today, our table linen collections are at the heart of our business and are what is really driving the business forward. They are what we are known for, the reason why people come to us, our signature items. We see the laying the table as an art form that we can all do from the comfort of our own homes – a simple and creative way of showing someone you care. Everything else is secondary to the tablecloth – we both design and source tableware to complement the linen designs. Success at Summerill & Bishop is measured in how many people we unite at the table. We know Mum and June are looking down on us, watching us continue what they started, and I hope they’d be very proud of all that we’ve achieved in their name.

MC: I can imagine how much you miss your mom. Tell us about the first time you created a new piece for Summerill & Bishop that your mom would have LOVED.
S: I think she would love so many of our tablecloth designs, many of which reference our lives and memories made together. I know she would love the lavender scented folding cards too, which we pop into all our tablecloth boxes. That is basically the smell of our shop every time you open the box. I’d like to think she would think those are great.

MC: How do you nurture internal talent (designers, artisans) to develop range and skill as they explore their own journey in design?
S: Running a business, developing products, nurturing people within the organization and watching them grow is, of course, a special thing. You become close with your team, and every launch feels like such a celebration as you’ve poured hours of work into the product together. I am particularly proud of recently developing round tablecloths together. It really has taken us years to perfect – from the printing process, where the design needs to be precisely centered so that the design cascades in exactly the right way, to considering shrinkage and the warp and the weft of the linen. Creating a round tablecloth was a highly requested addition from our long-time customers, and I personally love it because it symbolizes inclusivity. What’s interesting about a round table is that there’s no head of the table. This aligns perfectly with our vision of fostering communal connection, allowing everyone’s voice to be heard.

When it comes to external suppliers, some of our most longstanding relationships go back over 20 years to when Mum and June would meet artisans on their travels and annual pilgrimages to brocantes, and so, we’ve nurtured the working relationship and friendship ever since. The approach today is very organic, and our teams do a wonderful job of building upon what Mum and June started. Whether we’re nurturing an emerging talent or working with an established designer, everything we create at S&B must be beautiful and thoughtfully crafted. There is a huge sentimentality attached to the craft of a product. From seeing the first sketches to receiving initial samples, you realize the amount of effort and work that it has taken on numerous people’s parts for that item to be in the palm of your hand.

MC: In the story of Summerill & Bishop, you share that for June and Bernadette, “the heart of a home was the table.” I could not agree more. How do you want people to feel when they sit at a table dressed by your brand?
S: I would like them to feel at ease, knowing that they can speak openly and honestly about whatever is on their mind, whatever the topic. It’s really that simple.

MC: To end, I’d love to ask a few fun rapid-fire questions! What’s something you’ve not yet designed but would love to explore? A wildcard idea, perhaps?
S: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to direct a feature length film. Watch this space!

MC: If your career were a mixtape, what would the title be?
S: “Feelings,” the name of my daughter Skye’s debut album. I drive my family crazy by never knowing the lyrics to songs, but I know every lyric of hers.

MC: What’s a design detail you’re currently obsessed with?
S: Authenticity.