Wearing cowboy boots and a big Texan belt buckle, Alexander Reh doesn’t look like a gifted young furniture designer based in Brooklyn, New York. But, having grown up in Houston, the 28-year-old now describes himself as a “Texynite” – urbane but with country roots. And that includes donning a cowboy hat while hosting barbecues in his back yard.

His interest in design was nurtured by his parents; his father is an architect and his mother, originally a “stay-at-home mom”, went back to university to study to be an interior designer. He recalls her telling him not to jump on the Eames chair as a child – “it took me a few years to realise what that meant” – and she took him to local Houston museums, including the outstanding Menil Collection and the Rothko Chapel.