Last month, the semiannual Parisian design fair Maison & Objet and the rival off-site exhibition Deco Off were put on hold due to a covid surge in France. Across the Atlantic, a group of like-minded textile brands banded together to produce a micro-version of the show. Previewed at both the New York Design Center in Nomad and the D&D Building on the Upper East Side, the latest products were unveiled to a select audience of industry professionals and press who previewed new fabrics, wallpapers, murals, and trim.
With Maison & Objet now scheduled from March 24 to 28, the New York presentations were a sampling of trends to come. We spied five outré themes that are sure to be in an interior near you this year.
Fifty Shades of Pink
Kay Thompson’s rallying cry “Think Pink,” from the 1957 film Funny Face is being flaunted yet again, though in a rehabilitated palette since the millennial shade peaked several seasons ago. Perceived as feminine, romantic, soft, and nurturing, the current hue runs the gamut from “nude to blush to dusty rose...and a bit of coral to spice things up,” says designer Lori Weitzner when listing the tints in Uplift, her recent fabric collection. British wallpaper brand Fromental also made a nod to the hue with their large-scale paper Deco Arches in Delano Pink. “Chalk pinks and nude tones from the ’30s have a delicate sophistication, tempering bold pattern and capturing light in a most glamorous way,” says Fromental cofounder Tim Butcher. New York designer Sarah von Dreele has her own take on the shade with Brian, a linen-cotton upholstery fabric shown in Heather. “It’s a pink for those of us who love gray,” she insists.
The Art of Marble
Today marble patterns are considered timeless and classic, especially when reproduced on wallpaper and fabric in a mix of hues. Originally invented in the 12th century in Japan as suminagashi, the fluid motif migrated to Turkey, eventually arriving in Europe in the 1700s in a more distinguished repeat. The design process was simple; the manipulation of pigments on a liquid surface were developed into swirling patterns and transferred onto paper. Modern iterations are being offered by British brands including Harlequin with their Marble, a wallpaper fusing metallics in three colors, and Zoffany’s French Marble in velvet, which would look chic upholstered on sofas or chairs. Included in the After Hours Collection by Pollack is Ebru, a fabric that takes its name from the Turkish craft and comes in seven colorways.
Scribbles and Scrawls
The combination of black on white pattern is versatile, easy to layer, and always evergreen. This season, an assortment of bold drawings and scribbles has landed on textiles, including a deconstructed homage to the classic animal print channeled by New York interior and product designer Christiane Lemieux. Sketches inspired by Erik Satie’s music are reproduced in Le Orchestra by Pierre Frey, while Clarence House introduced Bérard, a fabric created in the spirit of the Ballet Russe and French artist Christian Bérard from their 20th Century Collection.
The Shade of It All
The French expression ombré loosely translates as tones of color that gradually fade from light to dark. Traditionally used as a background in fabrics, contemporary variations are colorful studies produced in vibrant shades that can hold their own. Not to be confused with tie-dye—which is a resist-dyeing method that’s also having a fashion moment—new ombré patterns include Harlequin’s Re-wilded, manufactured using digital printing techniques and offered in four psychedelic shades, while Christiane Lemieux’s Montrouge for Fabricut is a more subtle watercolor stripe in three neutral colors.
Ancient Egypt
Agatha Christie’s whodunit Death on the Nile is getting a silver-screen reboot along with decorative flourishes and fabrics based on Egyptian works of art. The Merveilles d’Égypte collection was developed by the French textile house Maison Pierre Frey, who invited illustrator and artist Louis Barthélemy—known for work with fashion brands Dior, Ferragamo, and Christian Louboutin and who has a penchant for all things Egyptian—to create a line highlighting the history of the pharaohs while presenting a fresh look at ancient civilization. Frey’s in-house design studio also tapped the Louvre’s Egyptian archives, creating eight faithful reproductions encompassing fabrics, wallcoverings, and rugs all derived from the museum’s collections in celebration of the “Pharaoh of the Two Lands” exhibition opening April 28. Concurrently, Christiane Lemieux’s line for Fabricut also pays homage to the Land of a Thousand Suns. After visiting the collections at the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, Lemieux learned the ancient process of resist printing and created Montauban, a hand-painted medallion print inspired by Egyptian tiles. “The pieces clearly illustrate how long humans have been expressing themselves in textile art, she says, adding, “I was so inspired by the fragments and frescoes in the valley of the kings and queens that we wanted to honor them in this collection.”
