Viva Brighton Issue #65 July 2018

DESIGN
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Black Parrots Studio
Club tropicalia
“I’m certainly in love with
Brighton,” says Sarah Mitchenall,
who, with business partner
Alexa de Castilho, runs interior
design studio Black Parrots.
“If it wasn’t for Brighton I
wouldn’t be living in England.
It’s like an island down here.
People are flamboyant and
open-minded, interesting and
colourful…” she says. “The
Pavilion is my favourite place.”
“It’s bonkers beautiful,” says
Alexa.
“I’d live there,” adds Sarah…
“Just a wing!”
Sarah and Alexa are longstanding
friends. They set up Black
Parrots in 2016, amid a rush
of attention created by Sarah
winning BBC2’s Great Interior
Design Challenge.
“It was really intense,” says
Sarah. “I didn’t expect, at any
point, to win it, but when
you’re on that rollercoaster,
you can’t hop off.” For Sarah,
this meant working all week
to brainstorm a brief, obtaining
all the décor, lighting
and furniture, then driving
across the country to film on
Sunday before starting all over
again. The hard work paid off,
however, and Black Parrots
are still enjoying a slew of jobs
from the coverage thanks to the
series being made available on
Netflix.
Sarah’s background is in garden
design, while Alexa’s is in
jewellery and products. The
pairing works well because they
have different skills but share a
similar sense of style. The Black
Parrots aesthetic is heavily
influenced by the 1970s and
tropicalia - largely informed by
Alexa’s upbringing in Rio de
Janeiro. “It was sheer glamour,
all the time,” she says. “That’s
how I translated it.”
Together they have created
a product line featuring bold
banana leaf print wallpaper and
monstera wall lights. Another
specialty is working with the
interplay between home and
garden.
“People tend to think of
gardens and interior design
as completely separate,” says
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