Obit: Rosamind Julius

In the years after the Second World War, British designers had a welter of original ideas, but few retailers ready to buy them. Rosamind and Leslie Julius, almost alone among British furniture makers, gave modern design the commercial backing it needed to succeed. Guided by their belief in the freshness and potential of contemporary styles, they committed themselves and their company, Hille, to introducing Britain to innovative design.

With public taste initially resistant to the contemporary look, Julius realised that architects and their clients had to be convinced of its merits. Pitching to them directly — a bold move at the time — she successfully sold Hille designs to the new public spaces of the postwar reconstruction, from the Festival of Britain to Gatwick airport. There can be few who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s who have not sat on something made by Hille.

To read more of this content at The Times Online, click here.