Ben Kelly (designer)

Ben Kelly grew up in the village of Appletreewick, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[1] Kelly trained at Lancaster College of Art from 1964 to 1969, and graduated in Interior Design from the Royal College of Art in 1974.[2] He was awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2007.[3] Kelly is an Honorary Doctor, and Professor of Interior Design at London's Kingston University.[4] In 2018, Kelly was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Art.[5]

He is cited by The Visual Dictionary of Interior Architecture and Design as a "hugely influential interior designer",[6] and by Kingston University as "one of the UK's most influential interior designers".[7]

Historic England has listed the Kelly designed Haçienda nightclub in Manchester as one of the 100 Places that tell the remarkable story of England and its impact on the world.[8]

Kelly's signature black and yellow stripes originated at The Haçienda

In 1974, manager Malcolm McLaren asked Kelly to refurbish a basement rehearsal room for The Sex Pistols in Denmark Street, London, which McLaren had bought from Badfinger.[9] Kelly had designed the store front for Vivien Westwood and McLaren's Seditionaries boutique. In 1977, Kelly was also arrested with Westwood and McLaren when police raided The Sex Pistols' legendary Silver Jubilee cruise, organised by Richard Branson to launch the single "God Save the Queen".[10] Kelly was also known at the time by his alter ego "The Photo Kid", and he still uses the name on social media.[11]

Kelly collaborated with the graphic designer Peter Saville on numerous projects who acknowledged basing much of his early work on Kelly's.[12] Kelly and Saville won a Designers and Art Directors Award for the sleeve of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's 1980 self-titled first album.[13]

Kelly is best known for his interior design of The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, which he converted from a yacht showroom in 1982, retaining its red brick façade, inner columns and large iron doors.[14] Kelly was recommended to design The Haçienda by Saville. Kelly also did much other work for Factory Records, including their 1990 company office in Charles Street, Manchester.[15]

In 1995, Kelly designed Saville's legendary Mayfair apartment in London that was also shared by Meiré und Meiré. The mood and mythologies of that space inspired and informed a shoot with Nick Knight for the July 2009 'Sex' issue of Wallpaper magazine.[16] Kelly has designed several gyms for Gymbox in London,[6] and is also a furniture designer.[17] Kelly has recently completed a number of collaborations with Virgil Abloh;[18] Josephine Nightclub in Paris,[19] and a DJ touring set that Abloh travels with and debuted at Art Basel Miami.[20]

• Coates, Michael; Brooker, Graeme; Stone, Sally (6 January 2009). The Visual Dictionary of Interior Architecture and Design. AVA Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 978-2-940373-80-2.
• Hessler, Martina; Zimmermann, Clemens (2008). Creative Urban Milieus: Historical Perspectives on Culture, Economy, and the City. Campus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-593-38547-1.
• Matovina, Dan (2000). Without You: The Tragic Story of "Badfinger". Frances Glover Books. ISBN 978-0-9657122-2-4.
• Nice, James (2011) [2010]. Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records (paperback ed.). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-84513-634-5.

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