A WINDOW INTO THE WORLD

I’m not sure if it’s prescient or just the way my eye works, but two of three trends spotted at the late winter/early spring markets in Europe are based on travel and large-format visuals. Considering the timing of this issue, when most of us are tucked away in our homes, a look at the beauty offered by the wider world is something to treasure.

BY SUSAN SCHULTZ

Setting the Scene: Wallcoverings

Once the provenance of old-world brands like Zuber & Cie, wallcoverings have made a comeback in recent years. Technology has played a huge role in this resurgence. Wide-format digital printers now output in much finer detail. High-resolution scanning is available to capture more detail from antique and vintage images. Finally, the tools for retouching, reworking and manipulating these large files are now more accessible.

But for a variety of reasons, and not just the technical ones, wallcovering murals are now widely available in styles ranging from classical to contemporary.

Armchair Travelers: Patterns

“Exotic” patterns and designs have long been a go-to inspiration source for textile collections, but many brands are digging deeper. What this means is that there’s a stunningly large collection of designs that range from the whimsical to formal, from definitely “ethnic” to “where did that come from” and everything in between.

Technical Achievements: Fabrics

Another aspect of innovation in textile design and production can be seen in the fabrics themselves. Highly advanced weaves are now possible due to more sophisticated looms coupled with improvements in fiber and spinning techniques. Oftentimes these incredibly complex fabrics (from a production point of view) appear remarkably subtle, while in other cases, the techniques are right there, designed to be admired.

On the other hand, there has been a resurgence in hand-blocked patterns on the market, including new brands that have started working directly with artisans and heritage brands that have gone into their archives to reintroduce, or sometimes reinvent, past patterns. This ancient, hands-on process requires a completely different type of technical expertise. V

The Mansfield Park collection from Osborne & Little features two mural designs, including “Palm House,” a wonderfully detailed depiction of a Regency-era greenhouse, complete with towering palm trees, climbing vines ,and variegated foliage, set against white-painted ironwork and a gently ombréd background. The detail on the print is such that shadowing and layering make the flat surface almost look 3D.

Paisley is an eternal classic, and de Le Cuona has some of the best designs on the market. The newest addition to their paisley collection, “Victoria,” combines a bit of fantastical architecture with the traditional boteh motifs in a wool-cotton woven that uses 14 colors to achieve its richly detailed design. According to a de Le Cuona rep, the pattern development and production took more than four years to get right.

Read an expanded version of this article at wf-vision.com.

Pierre Frey has been producing exceptionally strong travel-inspired collections for the past several years, and January’s 2020 collection is perhaps the most impressive yet. Rêveries Orientales features influences from all along the Silk Road. “Ararat Rose” (right) and “Astara Vert” (above right) are two ikats from the collection. “Ararat Rose” is a traditional warp-printed ikat, while “Astara Vert” is a jacquard. The designs, drawn from Pierre Frey’s archive, also appear in the colorful “Manisa” pattern (above left).