35 Years of Creative Rebellion: Timorous Beasties Celebrate a Legacy of Pattern and Provocation
This year, Timorous Beasties is celebrating 35 years of being disruptors in the design industry. Having initially met at The Glasgow School of Art, Founders Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons launched the multi-disciplinary design studio in 1990.
Now in its 35th year, Timorous Beasties is known around the world for its distinctive and luxurious wallpapers and fabrics. With each design born as an original drawing or painting by the hand of either McAuley or Simmons, Timorous Beasties has been instrumental in the evolution of contemporary textiles and wallcoverings, effortlessly blending expertise in age-old traditions with modern capabilities, all the while playing with conventions.
Timorous Beasties Co-Founders, Paul Simmons and Alistair McAuley
Over the years, Timorous Beasties has worked on various bespoke and creative commissions with well-known names including Kate Bush and brands such as Nike and Fortnum & Mason amongst others. Timorous Beasties prints are also held in collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, Cooper Hewitt Museum – New York, Gallery of Modern Art – Glasgow and the V&A Museum – London.
With influences as broad as nature, society and art, signature motifs include the bee, thistle, and the widely recognised Glasgow Toile all of which remain bestsellers – the entire portfolio extends to over 500 original designs. Always with an edgy undercurrent and pleasing artful spirit, a light hand of historical references mixed with contemporary attitudes, have seen Timorous Beasties’ work adorn the interiors of cultural and civic buildings, hospitality venues, private jets, album covers, film sets, paper currency and residences across the world.
XL Jungle Wallpaper by Timorous Beasties
To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Timorous Beasties will present XL Jungle for Clerkenwell Design Week (20th – 22nd May 2025) at the brand’s London showroom on Britton Street. The dramatic 20m long wallpaper features a tropical inspired design that changes throughout the length. Digitally printed with an opaque white onto an embossed vinyl, the beautifully hand drawn trademark wallpaper features species of lizards, caterpillars and insects hidden amongst the intricate floral pattern.
XL Jungle will be part of a wider collection Straight Out The Jungle which will launch in September 2025; a richly decorative, innovative and exotic new range of wallpaper panels and fabrics that feature the same complex repeat allowing the designs to be cleverly mixed and matched to fit perfectly together.
The new wallcoverings and fabrics for 2025 are reminiscent of Timorous Beasties infamous and original designs, with Co-Founder, Paul Simmons layering years worth of drawings and meticulously piecing them together for the brands’ 35th anniversary year.
Below, McAuley and Simmons have selected their most standout designs over the last 35 years and those that truly embody the spirit of the brand.
Grand Thistle (1990)
Grand Thistle (1990) – Timorous Beasties first iteration of the Grand Thistle design was created while McAuley and Simmons were at The Glasgow School of Art in 1988. Later this was developed as a wallpaper and fabric but has also made its way onto rugs, carpets, credit cards, book covers, and its versatility is still in broad use by the studio today.
Glasgow Toile (2004)
Glasgow Toile (2004) – A grittier version of the French Toile De Jouy designs from the 18th century. On closer inspection, Timorous Beasties take on Toile De Jouy depicts vagrants and vagabonds misbehaving. All portrayed against a backdrop of famous Glasgow landmarks in a playful and provocative take on a familiar repeat pattern.
Kaleido Splatt All Over (2015)
Kaleido Splatt All Over (2015) – Here, stains and blotches form a beautiful and colourful composition, reminiscent of the patterns visible when looking through a kaleidoscope. This maximalist wallpaper is not for the faint hearted as it immerses the viewer in an intense world of colourful chaos.
Bloomsbury Garden (2015, reworked in 2024)
Bloomsbury Garden (2015, reworked in 2024) – In this pattern, plants including briars and fruiting vines swarm with butterflies and beetles, all illustrated by hand and digitally printed with a level of heightened detail and depth of colour.
Totem Damask (2019)
Totem Damask (2019) – Totem Damask is a kaleidoscopic synthesis of arabesques, splats and florals, structured around a geometric ‘digital’ stem. Familiar yet surprising, Totem Damask epitomises Timorous Beasties’ radical approach to pattern.
Moire Damask (2022)
Moire Damask (2022) – This complex, layered design was created by Timorous Beasties using digital software that allowed the brand to combine the familiar damask pattern with an overlaid geometric moiré.
Commenting on the studio’s 35th anniversary, Alistair McAuley, Co-Founder of Timorous Beasties says:
“Our values have always remained constant and this has been recognised by our loyal customers and clients. We will continue to stay versatile without compromising what makes us the company that we are today.”
Paul Simmons, Co-Founder of Timorous Beasties says:
“Throughout the years, all of our artwork has remained original, be that drawn with pen, pencil or paint. That has been crucial to the philosophy and our creative approach as a studio. As trends come and go, we have remained distinctly ‘Timorous’.”
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