Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1543791
P H OTO BY S A R A H B L A K E FO R D B C E R A M I C S style setter an eye beauty eborah Brett grew up between two very different worlds: a Swiss Alpine village and London. One offered the grounding beauty of nature, the other an immersion in culture. Together, they shaped an early appreciation of aesthetics rooted less in polish than in observation. "It was about the environment," she says. "The beauty in nature and the way it shapes how you see." If her eye was sharpened early, her appetite for fashion followed soon after. Brett's mother and grandmother were impeccably dressed, elegant without ever appearing studied. Style, she learned early on, could be instinctive rather than prescribed. The pages of Vogue, borrowed from an aunt at the age of 10, offered her first glimpse of fashion's more aspirational world. Those early magazines remain part of her personal archive today. Brett's early professional life unfolded at the height of 1990s British cultural exuberance, when London felt like the center of everything. Working in fashion journalism, she became embedded in the city's creative circuit, collaborating with photographers, stylists, and designers at a moment when British fashion felt fearless and unfiltered. "The parties were insane; the photo shoots were wild, the people extraordinary," she recalls. "There was no social media, no Internet, but a whole load of creativity. It was amazing to be in the eye of the creative storm." D Ceramicist Deborah Brett traces a path from fashion journalism to the studio, guided by instinct, craft, and an enduringly keen eye. BY BRENDA DÍAZ DE LA VEGA for A defining moment came on her first day at The Times, when she was left to run a shoot entirely on her own. "I couldn't believe it," Brett recalls with a laugh. "I had to trust my instincts immediately." Those instincts continued to serve Brett as she pushed on to explore new creative outlets. The transition was gradual, shaped by motherhood, shrinking editorial budgets, and a desire to reconnect with making rather than managing creativity. Years later, after fully stepping away from fashion journalism, Brett retrained herself as a ceramicist, immersing herself in clay, glazing chemistry, and process. Today, her DB Ceramics studio is where she feels most herself. There is a deep meditative quality to the work, when her hands are dirty with clay and she can't reach for her phone. Fulfillment comes not only from the solitude of making, but from sharing meals served on her own ceramics with friends and family. On Instagram, she shares glimpses of studio life through playful reels and behind-the-scenes moments. At the core of Brett's philosophy is a belief in craftsmanship as the anchor of timelessness. Newness, she says, comes not from trend but from reinterpretation—how an object is used, how its details are subtly subverted. When asked what she hopes people associate with her work, the answer is immediate: beautifully handcrafted luxury, made with intention. Deborah Brett in her light-filled London studio BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M