The week in june we wandered through the gilded halls of Kensington Palace in the company of the fabulous fashion icon, Bruce. Everywhere we turned, we were struck by the sheer theatre of surfaces, the alchemy of walls, fabrics, and furnishings that shimmer, glimmer, and shift in the light.

These palaces and stately homes are treasure houses of surface alchemy. From silk damasks that glow like molten metal to gilded frames that flicker with candlelight, each material seems alive, colour-changing in its own subtle way.

But beyond their beauty lies a deeper story: of rare and fabulous things brought from the far corners of the earth. Silk from Milan and Venice, porcelain from China, lacquered screens from Japan, and spices and dyes carried along ancient trade routes. These treasures transformed English interiors into theatres of wonder, each piece whispering of merchants, voyages, and distant lands.

Every wall covering, every carved chair leg, every embroidered cushion carries the fingerprints of artisans across continents. Opulence here is not just gilding and grandeur, but the meeting of worlds: East and West, craftsmanship and commerce, tradition and innovation.

Walking beside Bruce, who knows more than most about the power of fabric and finish, we were reminded that surface is never superficial. It is, in fact, the skin of history: a shifting canvas of beauty, invention, and craft.

In the palaces of kings and queens, as in the catwalks of today, surface alchemy continues to astonish. It dazzles because it is alive, catching the light, catching the imagination, and taking the breath away!