Our story

At a time when the most exciting furniture designs in the UK were imports from Italy and Scandinavia, and frustrated by the lack of modern design in British-made furniture, designers Tristram and Hazel Mylius founded Hitch Mylius with the specific aim to design simple, well-crafted upholstered furniture for both contract and domestic markets.

Starting with a work bench and sewing machine in modest north London premises, their first design was the classic hm11 followed in 1973 by hm31. These have evolved over the years to become today’s hm18 and hm34, so the essential concept of these two very simple, well-proportioned (and much imitated) generic designs has been in continuous production for over forty years.

Liberty of London was a key customer during the early years, where hm11 became an instant hit. This first design was exhibited widely, displayed at the Design Centre in London and awarded the Design Council’s kitemark of approval for design excellence.

Following his success with Habitat, Terence Conran opened the Conran Shop in London’s Fulham Road selling hm11, hm31 and hm41.

Gillian McLean’s hm40 became the Conran Shop’s best selling sofa, holding this title for many years.

The company outgrew its premises again and acquired Alma House, a run-down 1950s factory building in Enfield. Architects the Pike Practice were commissioned to transform it into a modern factory and showroom (featured in Architects’ Journal, September 1995). The move enabled the workforce to double in size, providing employment opportunities for the Enfield area.

As part of a small team headed by Sir Terence Conran, Tristram Mylius designed and furnished President Jacques Chirac’s suite of offices for the Anglo French Summit at Canary Wharf – Tony Blair’s so-called ‘sofa summit’. The BBC’s Newsnight team loved the furniture so much that, as soon as the Summit was over, a suite of hm29 chairs was taken directly from Canary Wharf to the Newsnight studio and was used on-air every night for several years.

Architect Nigel Coates’ Oyster House won the RIBA’s ‘Concept House for the 21st Century’ competition. Furniture specially designed for the house included the iconic hm61 Oxo seating which quickly became a best-seller.

Architect David Chipperfield approached Hitch Mylius to develop seating designs for a private client, from which hm991 was born. The collaborations with Nigel Coates and David Chipperfield led to the range expanding, successfully combining in-house designs with collections with both established and up and coming designers and architects that continues today.

Three new directors – Chris Carmichael, Ian Ashley and Robin Phillips – were appointed to oversee the future of the company. Hazel Mylius retired from day-to-day duties.

We were proud to take part in the debut year of Clerkenwell Design Week, exhibiting in the iconic Farmiloe Building in the centre of London’s design district.

Kenneth Grange was commissioned to develop a new seating collection addressing the particular requirements of care homes and the needs of the elderly. The Edith chair, hm82 was launched at his retrospective at The Design Museum.

Hitch Mylius celebrated its 40th anniversary with a party in the stunning setting of Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, Spitalfields.

Further expansion required the company to take on another warehouse, immediately adjacent to the factory in Enfield, so that warehousing space within the factory could be converted to production.

Collaboration with designer and Central Saint Martins lecturer Magnus Long sees the launch of his elegant ‘Quiet’ bench collection hm106, as well as sofa designs for the recently relocated University of the Arts in Granary Square, King’s Cross.

hm102/Mosaic designed by Massimo Mariani was presented during Clerkenwell Design Week. The range consists of perfectly proportioned, beautifully upholstered building blocks, acting as a simple grid to generate all kinds of seating typologies and functional compositions.

Two Hitch Mylius products were awarded Design Guild Marks, given in recognition of British manufacturing, design and innovation by The Furniture Makers Company. Magnus Long’s hm106 Quiet collection and hm221/Level designed by Timothée Mion. With Mion an alumni of Central Saint Martins and Long one of his former lecturers, this made receiving the awards all the more special on the night.

London Design Festival saw the launch of a comprehensive new sofa collection hm108/Plump by Magnus Long, our second collaboration with the designer.

Our third collaboration with Magnus Long, the simple and elegant Quiet Surfaces / hm107 collection was launched during CDW in May.

October 2018 saw us open our new showroom in the heart of Clerkenwell. Located on the second floor of the Fabric building, in Greenhill Rents (off Cowcross Street), our new permanent space showcases a selection of our designs for living and working environments. We still make all of our furniture in our north London factory, nine miles from the showroom.