We have just passed the last warm stretch of Autumn 2025. Cold has arrived in New York City, necessitating the first hats and gloves of the season. Fortunately, the week is also bringing something much warmer: the arrival of a special delivery from the British brand Birdie Fortescue. So we headed to the Interior Arts Building (IAB) in Manhattan to play welcoming committee.
Birdie Fortescue poses at IAB. Photo by Kitty Dadi Photography.
Who Is Birdie Fortescue?
Birdie Fortescue is the person whose impressive experience and thoughtful design mind drives the British interiors brand of the same name. She has become known for bringing a refined, globally-influenced aesthetic to pieces for the home that feel distinctly curated. And though some savvy spotters may have previously seen some of the brand’s products placed by designers with an international eye, this exclusive six-month showcase at the IAB signals a new era of outreach to the U.S. market.
This photo and following photos by Boz Gagovski.
What is NYC’s Interior Arts Building?
The IAB is an NYC design destination that seems very much at home among the showrooms, antique dealers, and art galleries of New York’s Upper East Side. In addition to longer-term tenants, the building features a ground-floor “arcade” space, which creates an opportunity for high-end brands to present vignettes alongside up to ten other purveyors of fine design, offering a footprint in the city’s bustling design scene. For about the next six months, Birdie Fortescue will be among them.
When one enters the IAB, the arcade entrance seems almost tucked away — a demure little door nestled behind a bench. It is not until one passes through its anteroom that the space reveals itself in all its high-ceilinged, design-decked glory. It is also here that I meet Birdie Fortescue herself. The designer’s tall, stillness projects a quiet grace; her handshake is firm and her nod is assured. We settle into the new Birdie Fortescue section of the arcade, where the finishing touches are still underway.
Hatching Birdie Fortescue
We start with a peppering of questions about Fortescue’s origins. Her career journey started at the interiors shop and design service Percy Bass. And she seems immensely indebted to the mentorship of Imogen Taylor, whose team she joined at Colefax and Fowler. She has referred to working with Taylor as a masterclass in understanding proportion, balance and color. And Fortescue credits Taylor’s encouragement for helping her blaze her own path as an antiques dealer and interior designer.
Fairly early in her career, Fortescue realized that her motivations were somewhat less mercenary than some of her contemporaries. Where they might be eager to snatch up pieces that might fetch a pretty penny regardless of their style, Fortescue sought out pieces that really spoke to her.
So, with many successful buying trips under her belt — plus additional study with the V&A Museum — Fortescue set up her own business in Norfolk in 2014. She originally focused on sourcing Scandinavian homeware that could not be easily found in the U.K. But before long, she found herself both seeking pieces from further afield and eventually creating designs of her own that would feel of a piece with her taste in art and antiques.
What Lets You Know a Piece is Birdie Fortescue?
Like so many of our favorite brands, what makes a piece feel like Birdie Fortescue is a unique mix. There is certainly an international feel to it — from the quintessentially layered feeling of English spaces to further-flung inspirations such as the textiles of India or the felted wool rugs of Kashmir. Fortescue currently offers two new collections a year in addition to a core collection. At the time of writing, the most recent was inspired by the Silk Road.
How else might one describe the brand’s sensibility? There’s a sense of refinement: a quite colorful palette that embraces rich reds, greens and blue but in quiet shades that speak to one another in thoughtful ways. But we also discuss how these fabrics and furnishings feel “lived in” in the best way—like brand new furniture pieces that could live comfortably alongside treasured antiques. Variations in the textures of surfaces or the patterns of block printing nod to the hands that shape them.
Fortescue may be at her most animated when leading the way through some of her favorite pieces in the space, highlighting details that help make the pieces special. We note the dazzling patchwork of the surface on a Havana Stripe Bone Inlay Coffee Table. We appreciate the distinctive surfaces of a Marble Top Crackle Console Table. There is an evident ease about a Woven Leather Dining Chair, waiting to welcome its next occupant. And we run our fingers over the texture of a rattan headboard, then trace the paths of patterns, colors and embroidery through a bevy of textiles. The pieces are beautiful, and Fortescue’s enthusiasm for their details makes them even more so.
The British Are Coming
Designers will be pleased to know that Birdie Fortescue’s presence at the IAB is part of a greater effort to bring the brand to projects in the U.S. marketplace. This includes practical steps like converting measurements from metric to imperial and also adapting pieces for the bedroom to suit our sizes, like king and queen. Importantly, there will also be a new era of interaction between the brand and U.S. designers, who — once vetted — will receive dedicated service and a significant discount. The goal is to make the product easier to spec and ultimately more likely to end up bringing product to homes across the nation.
Birdie Fortescue is slated to be at the IAB Arcade for approximately the next six months—by which time the brand will be introducing another exciting collection and we will have long ago put away our hats and gloves for another year. But hopefully in the meantime, this outpost will help more American designers embrace this beautiful British brand.
Reach out to Birdie Fortescue for more information on sourcing for projects or visiting at IAB.
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