We’re delighted to welcome Rapture & Wright to The Finest Directory, our handpicked network of creatives whose work captures the feeling of home in all its rich and varied forms.
“Home is a combination of the personal and the practical”
Rapture & Wright was born from a desire to create a different kind of fabric company: one rooted in craft, quality, and considered design. Every fabric and wallpaper is designed, printed and finished by hand in their rural Gloucestershire studio, with a focus on sustainability and a light environmental footprint.
Founded by Peter Thwaites and Rebecca Aird in 2004, they made a determined team. Rebecca was a successful Graphic Designer, wanting a change from creating packaging for sweets and engine oil, and Peter, an illustrator, had been working around the world for interior designers, creating exotic murals and wall finishes.
Artisans at heart, together they dreamed of turning their brimming portfolio of patterns, designed over the years, into a collection of fabrics and wallpapers. Confident that they could save the dwindling British textile industry by themselves, they built a hand printing table in a leaky barn and sought out the best suppliers across the British Isles.
And their search was successful. Their studio is now one of the few remaining handprint workshops in the UK, where time-honoured techniques ensures every piece is timeless and made to last. With each design, Rapture & Wright celebrates the unique rhythm of handmade production, favouring integrity over mass production, and authentic character over trend.
Their practise is something to behold. In a world where the digital realm is taking up more space in age-old creative practises, it is their steady loyalty to their craft which keeps people coming back for more. Starting with their finished design, they copy this onto transparent films, and these films are used to ‘etch’ the image onto the printing screens (one screen for each colour). The inks are then mixed to match their standard colour chart, or a clients bespoke colour swatch. Meanwhile the unprinted base fabric is rolled out onto the print table and ironed down, where the pattern will repeat on the print table and set precisely, so that each section of the design will match up when they come to print. The first colour is printed and screen washed while the colour dries, and this process is repeated for the subsequent colours. Then the fabric is rolled and cut to the ordered length.
For many, waiting a day or two for two people to print 30m of fabric is a small price to pay for results that are beautiful and entirely unique. It is a demanding physical process, one that the team are proud of. “Our in-house manufacture and holistic approach allows us to maintain oversight and control of the entire production process, from weaving through printing, to dispatch and disposal of waste. Sustainability is part of every decision we make here at the studio.”
It is hard to deny the studios approach to sustainability is anything but incredibly admirable. “Hand printing requires precision and expertise, but little electricity – the main source of energy being biscuits! – but all manufacture requires power,” Rebecca tells us. The electricity for their print production and design studio is provided by solar cells installed on their roof since 2021, and the company have been net positive in electricity since 2022. No small feat.
While man-power and electrical power is taken care of, the team make sure their suppliers are environmentally sustainable too. “We work with our suppliers to formulate water based inks specifically for our sustainable production methods, mitigating the need for petrochemicals traditionally used to aid drying in screen printing. We print everything to order for you. This allows us to offer bespoke colour options or change base cloths. Critically, it also eliminates wasted stock.”
Not put off by challenge, Rapture and Wright were fully comitted to their sustainable approach. One major challenge in print manufacturing was disposing of wastewater and inks. In 2018, as part of their sustainable production, they developed an ecological print waste treatment system to break down their waste naturally, following the principle that “in nature there is no waste – one organism’s waste in another’s food.” This system of ‘living ponds’ not only cleans wastewater, but also creates habitats for local wildlife, including waterbirds, insects, bats, and larger mammals.
Today, their collections can be found in homes and interior projects across the world, recognised for their understated beauty, craftsmanship, and commitment to thoughtful, sustainable making.
And all the while, leaving no footprint on the earth at all- other than an awe-inspiring reputation, of course.
We asked Rebecca what “home” means to her.
“Home is a combination of the personal and the practical. A space that is particular to you and reflects your interests and the life that you live.”
Find Rapture & Wrights full details and services below.
GET IN TOUCH