Allison Kettlewell on color

On Friday we introduced you to Allison Kettlewell, who's designing the textiles of Suzanne Tucker Home. She's pictured on the right, with her collaborator Vera Vandenbosch, who also works with Suzanne, and just happens to live up the street!

How awesome is this string ball wreath? It was hanging high on her wall, another example of the myriad examples of textiles that fill the studio.



We were dying to know how a designer conceives of color -- especially when there are so many possibilities. We've sprinkled in snapshots of some of the best-sellers. Here's what Allison had to say:



"Suzanne is so specific -- in a good way -- in her color sense. She absolutely loves color, especially pinks and lilacs."


"Most designers are still too fond of beige and neutrals, in my opinion."



"One color you'll never see here though is teal. Suzanne has a very specific blue she loves, it's between Wedgwood and robin's egg with a touch of aqua. Recently I found myself in an inky blue period." [Which is evident on her inspiration board].


"We're now at just 52 fabrics total in the line -- which is a number some houses would introduce every few months. But we know what we're missing–stripes for sure—and we're working on new prints."


"I'm hoping that Suzanne and I will plan a visit to India, where I know we'll find plenty of inspiration."



No doubt they'll also come back with suitcases full of antique textiles!



Be sure to see the collection in person at Thomas Lavin at the PDC and Holland & Sherry at the DDB.

Studio visit: Suzanne Tucker Home

A few weeks ago, we ventured out to Brooklyn to meet Allison Kettlewell at her studio. The textile designer responsible for the lovely Suzanne Tucker Home fabrics previously worked with Donghia and Zimmer + Rohde. We were eager to hear about the process behind creating a fabric line, designed in Brooklyn, for a San Francisco-based designer. This year happens to be the 25th Anniversary of Tucker & Marks, the firm Suzanne started with her husband that now boasts a staff of 26 people. Here's what Kettlewell had to say.



"I make monthly trips out to the office in San Francisco. Most of our designs start from what Suzanne says she can't find in the market. Suzanne and I have a shared love of antique textiles, hand-stitching and translating the inspiration we gather on travels. I'm really a hunter and gatherer, and Suzanne is so attuned to the details -- like the ground cloth of a print and its quality."



"Truly, if I had to describe what differentiates us, it's that this is really a textile lover's line. No detail has been missed."

[We couldn't get enough of the amazing samples that fill her studio - hanging, folded, and amazingly orderly.]


"Even our plains aren't plain - like Vanessa [pictured below], with very subtle colors that you don't see at first glance, which make them more livable, easier to integrate into a space because they can "absorb" surrounding colors in the room."


"And Gabrielle, I call a weaving miracle. This design [pictured below] came from a tiny sample Suzanne found in Coco Chanel's private atelier."


"It's such a treat designing this line, because before when I worked with big fabric houses, I was always on a budget. But we introduce something when it's right, when the hand feels good and maybe has a tumbled feel, and the color saturation is right. Suzanne isn't conservative, but she's very thoughtful. She chose not to go the license route when she launched her fabrics, which certainly would have been easier."

This cotton-velvet Duma, is a perfect example of a touch-me hand. It was inspired by Suzanne's trip to Africa.



Check back soon when we'll share the rest of our visit - including all about color.

Have a look back at their new introductions from earlier this summer and from this Spring. See the finished product of their collaboration at Thomas Lavin at the PDC and Holland & Sherry at the DDB.

New collection: Suzanne Tucker Home

San Francisco-based interior designer Suzanne Tucker, principal of Tucker & Marks, focused her peripatetic vision on Africa when designing Caravan, her latest Suzanne Tucker Home fabric collection. Eight new designs, ranging from cut velvet to silk jacquard and hand-woven ikat, pay homage to the vast continent and its visual splendors: desert, animals, and jungle. Cotton velvets Duma, a cheetah-inspired pattern, and Nomad, a geometric cut and loop pile, are made in the U.S., while the other fabrics come from Europe, India, Asia. Available at Holland & Sherry at the DDB and Thomas Lavin at the PDC.



(Above, from top: Sahara in olive, Serengeti in bark, Mirage in earth, Duma in pistachio and Sahara in cocoa.)



Below, at left: Marrakech in persimmon; stack, from top: Duma in chocolate, Marrakech in persimmon, Sahara in cinnabar and Serengeti in bark.