The Hugh Devlin Foundation launches at The Design Museum

Named by Vogue as ‘fashion’s favourite lawyer’, Hugh Devlin, who passed away suddenly in 2023, acted as an adviser and mentor to countless creatives and designers, from Vivienne Westwood to Sam McKnight. He was one of the creative industry’s greatest supporters, offering his services freely to businesses and individuals that could not afford professional advice at the times they needed it most. Now, Hugh’s legacy of protecting creativity will live on through The Hugh Devlin Foundation, which launched earlier this week at the Design Museum. The Foundation aims to bridge the gap between UK-based creative talent and professional help, connecting them with like-minded lawyers and accountants who work pro bono and understand the complex issues that come with working in the creative industries.

The Hugh Devlin Foundation’s referral network includes lawyers from respected firms including Mishcon de Reya, Withers and Hilton Consulting. Graham Webster, Partner at Withers, has said, “The Foundation’s impact can make the difference between businesses failing or flourishing,” underlining the importance of this launch for the industry. Although the Foundation has already built a strong network, it seeks to continue expanding and encourages any professionals with the capacity to provide pro bono advice to step forward and join the community. A major benefit of supporting the Foundation is that you never know who you could be working with, or where they might be in five or ten years. It offers the potential to build long-term professional relationships with successful creative businesses.

This week, ILN CEO and SPHERE Digital Editor Lisa Barnard attended the launch of this hopeful movement at the Design Museum, where Hugh’s wife, Sarah Polden, introduced the Foundation to a diverse group of industry professionals and creatives who had long leaned on Hugh for support. “He was a problem solver. That’s how I view him. He had a passion for design, and it went very deep,” Sarah explained. “He was very knowledgeable historically, as well as with current trends, and he really respected creative people.”

Director and Chief Executive of the Design Museum, Tim Marlow OBE, also spoke fondly of Hugh and the continuation of his generous spirit through the Foundation: “I had a year working with him, a traumatic year, my first year here amidst the COVID crisis. Hugh was wise, supportive, someone that you could rely on when things got tough – and they got pretty tough that year. He’s someone whose work is often understated or has been unacknowledged, but hopefully that gets rectified to some extent. Because the important thing about Hugh’s generosity, and the fact that he gave up his time and his expertise, is that we need to find ways of carrying it on or continuing it, which is what we’re going to do tonight. So, thank you all for being here to see that design is a collaborative venture. Your participation and collaboration will help in the establishment of The Hugh Devlin Foundation and ensure that his work and legacy can be continued.”

The Hugh Devlin Foundation will act as a not-for-profit organisation and is funded through the generosity of individuals and companies. To find out more about the Foundation and how to support it, visit hughdevlinfoundation.org