Design of the times

It may be autumn outside but in the world of interiors it’s still spring, and cross-pollination is in the air.  Some of fashion’s biggest names are teaming up with interior firms to offer inspired, exciting and edgy designs for autumn - which promise to have even the most sedate of us salivating.   Think Christian Lacroix and Designer’s Guild, Diane von Furstenberg and Kravet, Matthew Williamson and Osborne & Little – and that’s just for a start.

“Designers like Armani or Ralph Lauren have been creating fabrics for their own home collections for many years,” explains Eileen O’Connor, project director at Hong Kong-based Laurel Group, which designs and manufactures bespoke furniture for high-end corporate clients.  “It’s only recently that independent fashion designers have collaborated with established textile brands to develop more distinctive designs.  I think designers who love textiles enjoy the diversification of using stronger fabrics and designs yet still using their skill and knowledge from the fashion world”.  What this means is the glorious apparel we see strutting down designer runways is subtly impacting interior trends, dictating colour, pattern and style. 

Animal print is on the prowl this season, and has seamlessly made the transition from runway to interiors.  In early May, fashion exemplar von Furstenberg announced a partnership with United States fabric house Kravet.  Von Furstenberg’s bold use of colour, shape and signature animal prints has formed the inspiration for a line of bright and exotic fabrics, trims and draperies.  Using on-trend inky blues, with white and black - highlights of the collection include her Funky Zebra and Spotted Cat fabrics.   Both parties say the collaboration has been a match made in heaven. "Diane is an icon in the fashion industry," explains Kravet creative director Scott Kravet. "Her bold and fearless style and use of colour have translated beautifully with this collection of fabrics for the home."  Kravet is not the only fabric firm pouncing on animal print.  French interior house Nobilis has also embraced the trend for autumn with its sumptuous new Carthage fabric of Empire-inspired leopard prints in shades of aqua, taupe and rich plum. 

Another trend seen on many autumn/winter runways – Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino – is for all things bohemian and folk inspired, with intricate handcrafted touches.  Once again, this is being mirrored in the season’s fabrics and interiors.   Take Designer’s Guild Pashan fabric line – with bold ikat patterns intricately stitched onto silk in bright pinks, blues and greens, or block printed Fathom by Christopher Farr cloth in natural slubbed linen.  Matthew Williamson, who has created glorious fabrics and wallpapers for Osborne & Little for the past year, has also embraced the folk trend: his Samana Mustique fabric and wallpaper is an intricately woven pattern of blue, grey and black, while his Providencia linen fabric consists of rich reds and oranges in bold, block patterns.

Williamson is no stranger to setting trends in interiors, his spring/summer collaboration with Osborne & Little heralded in-vogue tropical prints complete with butterflies, palm trees and exotic birds. O’Connor says this trend continues for the autumn/winter season.  “Florals are always popular, for autumn and winter we are seeing a resurgence with botanicals in a range bold and bright colours – they are becoming ever more popular especially in cotton prints with blooms and plant-based motifs based on historical botanical books”.   Taking inspiration from tropical bougainvillea, French designer Christian Lacroix’s Bataille de Fleurs - Bougainvillier  embroidered fabric for Designer’s Guild, explodes with colour from deep pinks and grass greens to pale blue and black. French designer and aesthete Jean Paul Gaultier has teamed up with fabric house Lelievre to create a modern take on the botanical trend.  Using a printed photographic image of dark, twisting tree branches overlaid with luscious white blooms, his Vagabond linen fabric is simply sublime.