IT’S ABOUT WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE

It was remarkably refreshing to interview the Earl of Snowdon. Not once did I feel like there was a party line he needed to sneak into our discussion via his press strategists. Not once did I feel like there was anything other than authenticity in his answers, or any attempt on his part to amplify his creations to some heavenly height, which can be a tell that the designer isn’t convinced he or she is as good as they say they are. Snowdon, formerly and better known as David Linley, where the name of his eponymous interior design brand comes from, does not have that problem: he has been in the business long enough to come across as perfectly comfortable in his brand’s skin, and happy to let every cabinet, backgammon board and humidor do the work for him. The magic of Linley is that it refuses to pin itself to any particular genre of design, and would never compromise on the rake