Knoll Luxe & Trove's fabulous collaboration

Trove announced their partnership with KnollTextiles back in June as their stunning wallcoverings entered the Knoll Luxe Showroom in the DDB. But last week, we checked out the official launch and reception for the Vivid Collection, and were nothing but impressed.


Trove designers Jee Levin and Randall Buck discussed their design process with attendees and spoke to how they made the prints come alive.



“Designers have been thrilled to see Trove in the D&D, love the use of color and feeling of whimsey in the collaboration they have done with KnollTextiles,” said Cannon Schuab, Knoll Luxe Showroom Manager.


Intrigued? Take a look back at the collection in detail in our previous post and stop by the showroom, Suite 1702, for a peek!

Meet Iris Apfel at Stark during Fall Market

After enjoying the DDB's Fall Market keynote presentations by Michael Boodro of Elle Decor and Wendy Goodman of New York Magazine, don't miss the chance to meet a style, and industry, icon. On Thursday, October 11, Stark Carpet will host "Accidental Icon: A Discussion with Iris Apfel", founder of Old World Weavers, and Huffington Post Style Senior Editor Brie Dyas.

Iris Apfel’s penchant for mixing influences from all over the world into her own, personal aesthetic is legendary. Apfel’s work is imbued with a look that is unmistakably hers. Dyas will interview her about everything from her eclectic approach to design to the story behind Old World Weavers, the legendary fabric house Apfel co-founded with her husband Carl Apfel and that was acquired by Stark in 1993. Apfel is a one-of-a-kind storyteller. A cocktail reception will be held after the discussion. Event is invitation only. In anticipation, we're revisiting a great discussion with Apfel from earlier this Spring at Sotheby's.

Jane Churchill channels illustrations and Scandinavia for newest fabrics

On Monday, we offered a taste of what's coming from Colefax & Fowler this season to Cowtan & Tout showrooms. Here are some highlights of the walk-through with designer Sarah MacGregor of the new collection.

"Jane Churchill is always known for being playful and this season that includes 1) the illustrative and 2) more Scandinavian references.
Silverly is a design that was first printed using handmade lino blocks. Brightwood, a cotton-linen blend, is an adorable country scene seen here on the shade.


Here's Willowbrook, available as both a cotton-linen blend fabric as well as a wallpaper:


Jane is known for her love of aquas and this year it's complemented with a fresh range of pinks. The curtains are in linen-blend Hayden.


"Vintage Daisy was inspired by a textile document we actually bought on a trip to New York."


Thinking back to those practical weaves that we seem to snap us here in the US, there are 28 colors of polyester-blend weaves and 11 colors of a windowpane woven, which are certain to be hits with their durability and good price points.


Two new chenilles: embossed Kirkley and the slightly gauffraged Samford.
Lisson is a lovely Italian cotton with a slightly vintage finish that we know will be snapped up for upholstery, and in such a lovely palette, seen here on the red pillow at the bottom of the stack:


Craving something more neutral? Leafield is pictured on the chair at left, and Tellina on the right:

Don't miss the cotton check and stripe book, which feels quintessentially English. There are pinstripes and ginghams in nine colors, including two sizes of checks, some of which are seen in these adorable stack of pillows. Don't you just want them all?




And the candy-like decorative velvets, like Medley Spot that channels Paul Smith, and Honeycomb with a nod to David Hicks' favorite shape. We bet you can pick them out of this stack:


The chair is upholstered in a vibrant Furrow Stripe, which is available in six colors and a fun way to add movement to a traditionally boxy chair shape:


Stop by the Cowtan & Tout showrooms at the PDC (Suite B647), DCOTA (Suite B254), and DDB (Suite 1020) to see the entire wonderful new collection.

Brand new from Colefax & Fowler

Last week we told you about our recent quick visit to London. One of the highlights was the time we spent at Colefax & Fowler, where we spent a couple of hours catching up with Trudi Ballard, Head of PR and Advertising, and C&F's designer Sarah MacGregor.

They were kind enough to walk us through the new collections, including Jane Churchill, which we'll share with you later this week. Apparently we were the first international press to see it! The C&F photography is always sublime and does quite a job capturing the textures of the collection. The curtains pictured above are in a dramatic color of Bovary linen embroidery.

Sara did a great job capturing some of what distinguishes the US from the UK market, something that is clearly important when you're a storied UK company who needs to make sure to keep up with what a large market like ours in the US is ordering.

This is Francesco, a luxurious cotton-silk blend damask on a satin weave for a textured ground:


"The woven category is really important, and increasingly growing, especially in the US where it still seems everyone wants plains and solids. We're moving the emphasis away from embroidery, and presenting a velvet book that includes not just solids but lots of bold patterns. In the UK, because we don't have showrooms and rely on our traveling salespeople, we need to think of groups -- we have the constraints of needing to introduce enough of something so that it can make up a whole book."

Can you say wow to these velvets - chair upholstered in a rich color of Marlowe velvet with pillow in Wilde?


"This season, blues are big for us, which continues to be the US's favorite color. It's new for us to use it as a ground color and not just the complement or accent color. There are also a lot of smaller designs this go, which are still strong enough to be the lead design in a room."
Witness this Aqua colorway of of Cressida with its three-dimensional cording and embroidery:

How about this Heywood paper, printed in the UK as are all of its designs, with an ottoman in the cut velvet Marlowe and pillows in Keats velvet and Hugo linen-cotton blend:


We loved the color Sara described in as endearingly British "lettuce head yellow". There's also this divine silk Lucerne, which is available in 60 different colors.



We just wanted to offer a little tease here. You really must see it for yourself, and they'll be at the Cowtan & Tout showrooms at the PDC (Suite B647), DCOTA (Suite B254), and DDB (Suite 1020) over the next few weeks.

Cowtan & Tout introduces vinyls

For the first time in the company's history, Cowtan & Tout will offer a line of vinyl wallcoverings.

This is Shagreen, available in two colors:


Twenty-six patterns capture a variety of textures, like wood grain and shagreen and even mimic materials like leather, raffia and linen for a wonderful trompe l'oeil effect.

And Summer Tree:


Best of all, since they're vinyl, they're perfect in damp environments like bathrooms, and since they simply wipe clean, they're perfect for households with young kids.

Raffia Damask really captures the look of an embossed fabric:


For a more masculine look, try Quadro, available in two colors, which mimics a wood veneer:


Stonework, at back, comes in two colorways; Shagreen sits on top:


More great news? They're available NOW at the PDC (Suite B647), DCOTA (Suite B254), and DDB (Suite 1020).

Indulge in faux fur at Christian Fischbacher

We might be barely into Fall, but you know colder weather is right around the corner. Both residential and commercial designers will enjoy the soft touch of faux fur for the projects. Now available at Christian Fischbacher at the DDB: Tessuti By Lazarine. Moscow in Arctic.

The ultimate way to ensure "sweet dreams" - how about a headboard or throw made of beautiful faux fur? New laser-cut designs in a variety of styles and colors are available through the Swiss company known for its prints.

Can you say rich? Try Mink, pictured here in Camel:


If you're in the mood for a texture, try Caiman:


And even monochromatic, black and white purists will love the touch of Alaska:


Or, for true feline fans, Cheetah:


Stop by Suite 411 and don't be surprised if you idle away the afternoon stroking all of the options!

Kravet Asks Alice...

We love the seasonal Kravet Inspired.News newsletter, the most recent of which debuted last week.
The "Ask Alice" column is always a favorite. Written by Alice Guercio, a 15-year Kravet veteran who is Vice President of Product Coordination, the column shares her expertise on specific fabrics. Maybe it was all of the Fashion Week happenings in NYC last week, but we found ourselves thinking of Chinoiserie. Turns out Guercio had already offered this distillation of its rich history, which we wanted to share:

"Recently I attended a meeting in which one of my colleagues told us all about the origin of chinoiserie. As he was telling the story to others in the room, I saw how they were enjoying his animated story of its history and I thought it would make a wonderful column.



The Western fascination with all things Oriental began in the mid 17th century with trade between Europe and China. Imported arts and crafts had an exciting and different beauty from those made in the west, especially Chinese porcelain and lacquer. In the early 18th century, the term “chinoiserie” was used to describe the European fantasy vision of China and the Far East. It is actually a French word for “Chinesery” or “Chinese-esque.”

It is an invented fusion of Asian motifs and European sophistication created by designers and craftsmen in the West. Since they knew little about far-off Asian cultures due to limited exposure, early chinoiserie is characterized by the use of imagery of a China that could only be imagined with pagodas, fabulous birds, monkeys, dragons and figures in exotic costumes. Decorative scenes may show a mythological creature in an oriental landscape, or an elegant lady with a Chinese parasol and Parisian hairstyle. Chinoiserie is often eccentric but most of all it is a fun mixture of fact and fiction of what seemed incredibly exotic to the people of Europe.



This new playful style was popularized when the French court of Louis XV found the curves and whimsy of chinoiserie integrated beautifully with Rococo architectural features. It soon spread throughout Europe and could be found in the interiors and gardens of the royal palaces.

It is fascinating to learn how an interpretation from a world away many centuries ago turned into the exotic, stylish and often peculiar fashion called chinoiserie. I encourage you all to dig deeper into the history because I have only touched the surface; after all, there is only so much information I can put in my little column."

If you have a question about fabric for Alice, email her at askalice@kravet.com and it just may become the subject of a future article!

Shown throughout is Ralph Lauren Home's Chinoiserie Garden that Kravet distributes to the trade.

Stop by Kravet at the DDB (Suite 324), DCH (Suite 150), DCOTA (Suite B-180) and PDC (B624) and pick up your copy.

Dwell Studio does it again for Robert Allen

On September 5, Robert Allen hosted bloggers at its design studio on 42nd Street for a preview and luncheon to celebrate their third collection with Dwell Studio. Christiane Lemieux, the founder and creative director of Dwell Studio was on hand to walk us through the collection.
Lemieux has a degree in art history and says she drew inspiration for the saturated hues in this collection from painter Fernand Leger. Case in point, Landsmeer, pictured here:


"We have a signature animal every season. This time it's the gazelle. Any time we put a creature in a design, it sells really well. People love their animals." An earlier collection she tells us had a snake design that formed a trellis-like pattern. Apparently the Robert Allen folks were on the fence, and now of course they spot the snake pattern everywhere -- in magazines on HGTV. Lemieux jokes "Snake is code for 'trust us'."


The line features graphic florals, classic Dwell geometrics, and references from nature, like Malakos, which is pictured above. There are a variety of scales ranging from small to large. Lemieux says this helps the underlying principle behind Dwell Studio: the deftness with which the patterns can be mixed and matched. And even a geometric like Zebra Geo has movement:


Primary colors like blues and greens evocative of Leger's paintings are tempered by neutrals with an unexpected pop of cinnamon.

Kings Walk (below), a woven with lions was inspired by Scandinavian designs.



Throughout the line, Lemieux says,"We wanted the charm of handmade things without being hokey. There are no strong vectors in the geometric patterns, the result of original artwork that was hand drawn in the Dwell studio."

Witness Coco:


We love this linen with an overprint, which achieves the same look of a glazed linen at a fraction of the price.



Christiane's putting the finishing touches on her second book, and staying busy with the retail store that opened in SoHo this spring. She never stops designing, and she's already working on the next collection. We're sure there will be at least one creature in store, which gives a whole new meaning to creature comfort. This rich red color story is tempered by grey, for something fresh:



The collection will be in the showrooms by next week, so stop by the PDC (Suite B499), DCH (Suite 141), DDB (Suite 301) and check it out!

Hartmann & Forbes debuts natural blinds, wallcoverings

You might be familiar with HARTMANN&FORBES, award-winning maker of natural window and wallcoverings of sustainable natural materials. The 14-year-old, Oregon-based company has just launched its first line of Handcrafted Natural Woodblinds. The Walnut, White Oak, Knotty Pine and Linden Collections each feature sustainably cultivated, genuine species of American timber and are made in America.

Bark:


Inspired by the authenticity and quality of the American furniture tradition, each is custom finished using multi-step, furniture-grade techniques like cerusing, weathering, washing and distressing. This painstaking and precise approach results in heirloom quality woodblinds offered in an unrivaled range of custom finishing options.



As if that isn't enough, Hartmann&Forbes, is also introducing its first full line of Natural Wallcoverings. The Americana Collection features 46 designs made from sustainably cultivated and rapidly renewable materials such as ramie, sisal, abaca, jute and cork, and was inspired by American landscapes and landmarks.

Avenue:


The collection is made up of nine patterns, offering a range of natural textures in neutral color palettes. Highlighting the collection is the New York City-inspired Avenue Series, a first-of-its-kind design that features handwoven sisal fibers that are backed, meticulously trimmed into 3” strips, and then double handwoven into a striking basket weave. (Lexington, named for the famous Manhattan avenue, is pictured at top.)

Discover the entire line at Jeffrey Michaels Showroom at the DCOTA (Suite A-168), Culp Associates at the DCH (Suite 4018) and Hines & Company at the DDB (Suite 1010).

Beacon Hill tackles watercolors

Beacon Hill has created an enchanting new print collection: Watercolors. The four designs are Inspired by the textural and decorative elements of the finest watercolor paintings, captured on linen.With colors ranging from soft neutrals to bold, the Watercolors collection proves as captivating as the paintings from which it draws inspiration.

Alexis Audette, operating vice president of design for Beacon Hill, explains, “We wanted to capture the feeling of movement and depth that watercolors have so we created fabrics with loosely painted images and degrees of translucent color.”

The line also demonstrates a range of art historical influences, from impressionism to modernism.
Soo Locks (pictured at top in Frost) is the pattern that inspired the collection. Clearly inspired by impressionist painting with its delicate, neutral color palettes. It boasts a oversized pattern, coming in at 59” wide with a huge 54” horizontal repeat and a 39” vertical repeat and is available in four colors: Clay, an earthy brown; Smoke, muted greys with glimpses of gold and tan; Frost, a range of icy hues that calmly meld into one another; Teak, shades of washed brown that bring the landscape to life.

Nila Ikat is an abstract take on a classic graphic ikat, is available in three bold colorways, all with a 26" vertical repeat: Moonstone, a cloudy blue; Indigo, a deep denim injected with rust accents, pictured below; Peapod, a zesty green.



A new take on a traditional subject, Songbird features a playful bird and tree motif in a grand scale at 59” wide with a 29” horizontal repeat and a 30” vertical repeat and comes in three classic colors: Rose, a soft petal pink, pictured below; Indigo, a range of easy blues; Jade, a lush, gem-green with peach birds and flowers.



Maricel recalls early modernist watercolors with a loosely painted composition of an architectural southwestern landscape. Maricel is large-scale at 59” wide with a horizontal repeat or 29” and a vertical repeat of 27.5”, and is available in three colors: Afternoon, a whimsical meeting of bright oranges, greens, and pinks; Indigo, a moody mix of navy and soft sky hues; Linen; a stunning sand.



Stop by the Robert Allen | Beacon Hill showrooms at the PDC (Suite B499), DCH (Suite 141), DDB (Suite 301) to get a dose of watercolor.

Opening soon at the DDB: Warp & Weft

Carpet experts Warp & Weft will open a showroom at the DDB next month. We're pleased to share a sneak peek of their brand-new designs.

This trio of carpets speaks to different interiors. All are woven in Nepal at 100 knots per square inch. Creeks II is pictured above. This is "Stonehenge":


And Glaciers:


The color palette feels just right as we come into Fall. We'll be sure to take you on a visit to the new showroom as soon as it opens.

Get MAD about jewelry

In honor of Fashion's Night Out, taking place today in NYC, we thought it was a fitting time to mention next week's opening night benefit of LOOT at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD). The benefit will take place next Tuesday, September 11, to kick off the exhibition and sale of one-of-a-kind contemporary jewelry made by 50 of the world's most innovative studios and individuals.

This bracelet was designed by the 2012 Graduate of the FIT Jewelry Design Program:


This zipper necklace was designed by Brooklyn-based Kate Cusick:


Or perhaps these rings from Scottish jeweler Marianne Anderson:


Click here to purchase tickets. It's guaranteed to be an evening surrounded by beautiful things. And proceeds support the museum, so it's a worthy cause!

For Kristie Strasen, Blue is Summer

As you know, we've been asking designers how they spent their summers. Today we're checking in with Kristie Strasen of Place Textiles. Here's how she spent her summer—and what's in store for Fall from Place:
"I didn’t take any vacation this summer. But, after 30 years of living in the thick of the crazy activity that is Manhattan, I moved to Brooklyn Heights. I bought an apartment in an 1850 brownstone that overlooks New York Harbor including Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry and the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan. The water of the harbor is now a part of my everyday life and it is endlessly inspiring. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest with a sweeping view of Puget sound and I did not realize how much I loved and missed seeing the water until I moved to Brooklyn Heights.

So -  my summer has been influenced by blue – the color of the water – the color of the sky. My few weekends out of the city have taken me to places heavily influenced by their relationship to the water – in Maine [pictured below] and in the Hamptons. And when my Brooklyn bedroom came together, it did so as a strong reflection of my love of blue. Things I have collected over the years – some beautiful blue bowls; a magnificent Inuit print of an giant blue-tailed owl; an old indigo-dyed bedcover and two exquisite bowls a friend made for me – all some manner of blue and all coming together for the first time in one room!

In October, Place has a yummy new collection coming out – produced from lamb’s wool and linen. The collection is called River Aire and is named for the river in northern England where the fabrics are woven and where the water comes  from to finish the fabrics."

"The River Aire Collection has a classic blue color called “North Sea” which is a deep, moody blue. I LOVE it! I have always loved blue and I will definitely explore different permutations of it in future Place collections but right now I am very excited about the River Aire Collection and its take on blue."

See the new assortment for yourself at the David Sutherland showrooms at the PDC (Suite B182), DCOTA (Suite C-450) and at Pollock at the DDB (Floor 17). Here's a look back at some of the Moon collection we shared this Spring (http://godesigngo.com/new-product-showcase/textiles-with-a-sense-of-place/).