Crystal clear vision: Lee Broom
With a background in theatre and fashion, Lee Broom, designer of interiors, furniture and products, has combined elements of both worlds to create a unique brand that is advancing in an intriguing upward trajectory
Words Max Fraser
Portraits Ivan Jones
Lee Broom might have been an actor. Ten years at theatre school from the age of seven and you might assume his path was determined. At 17, however, he won a fashion design competition through which he encountered fashion legend Vivienne Westwood, for whom he subsequently worked. Plunged into an altogether different creative discipline, he replaced stage with studio, rigging with runway, costumes with couture.
Broom's interiors for the Lost Society venue spawned calls from clients wanting to replicate the look. Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom
Moving from Birmingham to London in the mid-Nineties, Broom's experience with Westwood gave him an early insight into the workings of a pioneering fashion studio and led him to study the subject at Central Saint Martins. But on graduation another quirk of fate turned his tables when he found himself designing bar interiors, which gave rise to his first company - called Makilee Design - in partnership with his friend Maki.
His first collection, Rough Diamond/ Neo Neon (2008) took on a revivalist approach to vintage furniture and accessories. Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom
Rather fortuitously at the time, the duo scored commissions designing bars and restaurants for a few years, propelled to success by the interior of the incredibly popular Lost Society in Clapham. 'I'd been contacted by pub companies wanting to replicate the look in a hundred different venues in the UK,' recalls Broom. 'They'd offered great money and it would have set us up. I was on the treadmill of wanting to keep working, but then I questioned what the hell I was doing. I didn't want to decide where the fruit machine was going to be positioned!' They closed the company and Broom set out on his own in 2007.
His first collection, Rough Diamond/ Neo Neon (2008) took on a revivalist approach to vintage furniture and accessories. Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom
His focus switched to his current guise, designing and producing furniture and products under the label of Lee Broom. Not for the first time, Broom was stepping into the relative unknown with a sense of freedom, albeit with a solid grounding in the realities of running a studio: 'My intention at that point was to just do whatever I wanted in the hope that it would be successful and sell.'
His first collection, Rough Diamond/ Neo Neon (2008) took on a revivalist approach to vintage furniture and accessories. Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom
He makes it sound easy but there were some key enablers in the early years. 'Initially it was essential to be multidisciplinary,' he admits. 'To begin with, I was running the interiors side of things alongside product design. Had I just been doing products, it would have been nigh on impossible to continue because there's that period of about three years when you're not making money, you're just about covering costs and you're wanting people to recognise your name and your products... With design, this takes time because it's always a considered purchase.'
His first collection, Rough Diamond/ Neo Neon (2008) took on a revivalist approach to vintage furniture and accessories. Photo: Courtesy of Lee Broom
His first collection, titled Rough Diamond/Neo Neon and released in 2008, took on a revivalist approach to vintage furniture. Classic bentwood bistro chairs and dishevelled baroque Louis XIV armchairs were transformed with the addition of neon lights flowing along the familiar contours of these iconic antiques.
For last year's London Design Festival the Lee Broom shop was transformed into The Flower Shop, with floral displays set around the space and stock. Photo: Luke Hayes
The buttons on the ubiquitous Chesterfield club chair were replaced with LED light fittings and capped with fairground bulb casings, resulting in 'a juxtaposition of the very formal gentleman's favourite with end-of-the-pier entertainment'. These designs were sold as high-end edition pieces and attracted attention from the design scene to which Broom was a newcomer.
For last year's London Design Festival the Lee Broom shop was transformed into The Flower Shop, with floral displays set around the space and stock. Photo: Luke Hayes
