The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native to Great Britain. Britain not only provided the base and intellectual background for the Art Nouveau movement, which was adapted by other countries to give birth to local variants; they also played an over-sized role in its dissemination and cultivation through the Liberty department store and The Studio magazine. The most important person in the field of design in general, and architecture in particular, was Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He created one of the key motifs of the movement, now known as the 'Mackintosh rose' or 'Glasgow rose'. The Glasgow School was also of tremendous importance, particularly due to a group closely associated with Mackintosh, known as 'The Four'. The Liberty store nurturing of style gave birth to two metalware lines, Cymric and Tudric.

Archibald Knox was a defining person of these lines and metalware of the style. In the field of ceramic and glass Christopher Dresser is a standout figure. Not only did he work with the most prominent ceramic manufacturers but became a crucial person behind James Couper & Sons trademarking of Clutha glass inspired by ancient Rome in 1888. Aubrey Beardsley was a defining person in graphic and drawing, and influenced painting and style in general. In textiles William Morris and C. F. A. Voysey are of huge importance, although most artists were versatile and worked in many mediums and fields, influencing them all to an extent. Because of the natural evolution of Arts and Crafts to Modern Style, lines can be blurred and many designers, artists, and craftsmen worked in both styles simultaneously. Important figures include Charles Robert Ashbee, Walter Crane, Léon-Victor Solon, George Skipper, Charles Harrison Townsend, Arthur Mackmurdo, William James Neatby.