Everyone wants to know how to sleep it. What are the best ways to improve each trip to the land of nod? Which is the superlative bed, mattress or pillow? What are the most efficient – legal – sleep aids? How do you cure insomnia and, in order to optimise each second spent horizontally, how late should you eat? 

This issue considers all these questions and tries to offer sage advice. First up, we’ve asked the world’s leading designers all about the perfect bed: which frames they recommend to clients, who makes the softest duvets, and how big – super king? emperor? – is too big. Obviously, sleep preferences are a personal matter. There remain deep divisions between those on team goose down for their pillows and those who swear by memory foam. I’m also grateful to discover that not all our experts insist on exorbitantly costly mattresses. God bless Rita Konig, who observes that her own “was given to me by my mother – and it came out of a rental of hers. I don’t care that much about mattresses. For me, it’s all about the bed.”

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The health benefits of sleeping mean it is now well recognised as one of the great wellness tools. Sleep helps us manage stress, digestion and boost our heart and brain health, for a start. But what happens when insomnia hits? In the latest chapter in his longevity quest, Alex Bilmes goes in search of nocturnal peace. When I’m cogitating in the small hours, I like Professor Jason Ellis’s instruction to count back from 1,000 in increments of seven. As I am especially poor at mathematics, the energy and focus this requires usually has me unconscious before I hit the halfway mark. Additionally, commercial sleep aids can be invaluable for night owls who can’t quite totally switch off: I’m a big fan of magnesium tablets and squirting Dreem Distillery Into the Deep bath oil (with natural CBD) into my evening bath. 

Sleep is chic. And no one understands this better than Tekla’s Charlie Hedin and Kristoffer Juhl, who co-founded their cult bedding brand in Copenhagen in 2017. The pair have cracked a nice niche in the market for simple yet elevated bedsheets and bath towels in interesting colourways that feel relevant and cool. Now, with plans to double revenues by 2028, they’re beginning a global retail expansion programme and broadening their apparel range. I am obsessed – obsessed! – with Tekla’s brushed-cotton pyjamas, which I wear religiously. Tragically they are currently unavailable, having been put on hiatus for a while. I use this window of access to make my feelings known: I hope they hear my tiny plea to get them manufactured once again.

Lastly, I found a kindred spirit in Gwyneth Paltrow when she said in a recent interview that she likes to eat by 6pm. I too am a fan of the early dinner, and ideally get it done by 8pm. As Ajesh Patalay discovers, there are clear health advantages to dining early in the evening: our digestion isn’t overtaxed, our sugar levels aren’t exploding and our heart rates have settled down by the time we hit the sack. Even so, the memo has yet to hit the fashion industry, which loves to schedule dinners that start waaaaay past my bedtime. Maybe Paltrow can shift things: I would love to get the early-bird menu trending before fashion month begins. 

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THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

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