Set Design & Set Building in London

Hello, we’re Francesca and Claudia, set designers and founders of Alston Work Studio. From our workshop in North London, we design, build and dress sets for commercials, photoshoots, music videos and live performances.

If you don’t want to think about it, we do. The research, the drawings, the building, the painting, the hunt for that very specific prop. We can take care of the whole thing, or join you for the part you need.

Projects

Explore

Production Design & Set Building

We like making things. A lot. Between us, we come from fine art and fashion, and our work usually involves a mix of research, drawing, testing materials and getting our hands dirty.

We take care of production design, art direction, set building and dressing, working with our carpenters Daniele and Roberto. We’ve been making things together for years. We know each other well, we care about the work, and we’re good at figuring things out together.

Bring us a finished treatment, technical drawings or an idea you’re still working on. We’ll help you work out how to build it.

Our crew for Arsenal FC Christmas Campaign. Set building by alston work studio.

Costume Design & Styling

We love a good costume. The research, the fabrics, the tiny details you might only notice up close.

Claudia studied womenswear fashion design at Central Saint Martins, and her graduate collection appeared in Vogue, The New York Times and i-D. Together, we design, make and source costumes and put looks together for shoots and performances.

We enjoy styling different bodies, with a particular love for curvy styling. Clothes should work for the person wearing them.

Egg Dress by Claudia Gusella and model Francesca Landi.

Hand-Painted Backdrops & Props

We spend a lot of time thinking about colour and texture. Then we spend even more time painting.

Our hand-painted backdrops are made in our North London workshop and available to hire for £220/day. Need a particular colour, finish or a prop you can’t find anywhere? Tell us what you have in mind. We make custom pieces too.

Hand Painted Blue Sky backdrop available for hire.

Clients

2024

Augustinus Bader
Captain Morgan
Pepsi
Warner Music
Monkey Shoulder

2023

Gucci x Bafta
Gucci
Balvenie
Glenfiddich
William Grant & Sons

2022

Myles Morgan
Soft Launch
Madness
Fontaines DC
Royal Blood

Let’s Build!

What are you working on? Send us your idea, your dates and your budget. References, sketches and half-formed thoughts are welcome too. We’ll have a look and work out what we can do together.

About

Set building for Augustinus Bader.

Services

Production Design + Art Direction + Set Building
Costume Design + Styling
Hand-painted Backdrops + Props

Locations

London

Recognition

Shortlisted for Best Rock Music Video 2023, UKMA

Clients

Arsenal FC
Pepsi
Warner Music