In 2020 she launched United in Design with the interior
designer Alexandria Dauley, an initiative to address the
lack of diversity in the British interior design industry.
“The idea came about right after George Floyd’s death,”
Ashby says. “Everyone had posted a black square on Insta-
gram and I had a long hard think about myself and my
company and what we could do.”
While moving, redecorating and helping reshape an
industry, the couple have also spent the past few years
working on new creations for their respective brands.
“The idea for the interiors product I’m doing with Sister
came out of my obsession with having a shop,” Ashby
says. “It’s always been my dream, and being with Charlie,
who has his store on Chiltern Street, made me want
one more. I looked at places near him, but I wouldn’t
have had enough space to do what I wanted.” Instead,
Studio Ashby is now in the vast, early-18th-century
‘Moving here was
great because it has
let us be more daring
with the interior than
we might be if it was a
forever home’
Blewcoat School building, near Buckingham Palace,
which was previously home to a wedding dress shop.
And the ever-growing Sister range is online.
Casely-Hayford remains busy at his Chiltern Street
space and has been developing a capsule collection with
his neighbour Sunspel, as well as reintroducing womens-
wear, something his father was renowned for when he first
started his career. “We’ve seen the death of tailoring in
one demographic and the birth of it in another,” he says.
“The suit in the City is gone, but it has been adopted as an
anti-establishment way of dressing, so we’re expanding
what we do for women.” Ashby’s current perspective on
her work chimes with her husband’s: “It’s an exciting time
creatively for us, we’re all entering a different world and
everything is new. It’s a new chapter.” ■studioashby.com, casely-hayford.comLeft The chair in Gaia’s room was reupholstered
by Ashby using archive 1940s Aralia fabric by
Josef Frank. Reflected in the mirror is an antique
Murano glass chandelier. Above The top-floor
hallway outside Gaia’s room and the guest roomThe Sunday Times Style • 37