MILAN — The designs of Luke Edward Hall, the U.K.-based artist and designer known for infusing his playful aesthetic into storied brands, have found a home in the world of luxury transport.
On Monday, Venice-based heritage textile maker Rubelli released the images of its latest collaboration with Hall for the interiors of the Britannic Explorer. Britain’s first luxury sleeper train, which launched in 2025, is part of Belmond, the luxury travel company and brand owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
For the collaboration, Hall’s hand-drawn designs were transformed into digital patterns by Rubelli’s team. Motifs include seagulls and sandcastles, sailing boats, the Welsh dragon, and blooms that mirror the landscape and landmarks through which the Britannic Explorer travels.
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In one guest suite, the walls are adorned with a bespoke version of the vivid Diamond Stripe fabric from Hall’s earlier Return to Arcadia collection with Rubelli. Elsewhere, a custom version of Rubelli’s Rousham fabric features prominently. For the project, the design was infused with Hall’s signature drawings of an Arcadian garden, inspired by Rousham House and Gardens in Oxfordshire, England.
The collaboration marks Rubelli’s second foray into the world of luxury train travel, having developed and produced bespoke fabrics for Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express suites in 2025.
In recent years, Rubelli, which was founded in 1889, has been working on incorporating contemporary style into its orbit and attracting a new generation of consumers. Hall and Rubelli’s creative direction by Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Milan-based Formafantasma studio has very much been a catalyst of that strategy.
In 2024, Rubelli unleashed the first collection of wallpapers created for the company by Hall. Named “Parade,” the collection is composed of designs inspired by ancient Greece and Rome that were originally hand-sketched with Hall’s elegant yet cartoonish flair.
Throughout the home and fashion industries, Hall is known for balancing painting, drawing, writing, interior design, knitwear design and home decor. The U.K.-based designer first spiced up Ginori 1735′s porcelain lineup in 2019 with “Il Viaggio di Nettuno” — which is Italian for “Voyage of Neptune.”
The Britannic Explorer, which started taking reservations in 2025, offers an exclusive slow travel experience throughout England and Wales with curated on- and off-board experiences.
