In the event you’re dreaming of a fall refresh on your house, textile artist Christiane Lemieux has just a few creations to encourage you. Drawing on classic prints and historic textiles, the inside designer and founding father of European-inspired life-style model Lemieux et Cie just lately launched a richly hued 83-piece assortment for luxe cloth model Calico.
To design the road, Lemieux started by learning the library of material paperwork she has spent a lifetime amassing. “I gather textiles the best way some individuals gather artwork,” she explains.
Earlier than learning design at New York Metropolis’s Parsons Faculty of Design, Lemieux earned a level in artwork historical past. It was then, she says that “I found that I just like the permanence of designing for the house, somewhat than the trend-driven vogue market. I additionally discovered easy methods to take inspiration from textile fragments and reinterpret the designs for contemporary utilization.”
As a place to begin for the road, she pulled collectively items she’d picked up on her travels: paperwork discovered on the Paris Flea Market, a swatch from a Nineteen Twenties-era gown, and a sample impressed by a visit via Egypt. Then, working intently with world textile firm Richloom, “our studio started creating designs by hand,” she says.
The aim was to place a contemporary spin on extra conventional designs, says Hannah Harvey, inventive director of Richloom’s Ornamental Cloth Division.
“We had been recreating appears to be like however not inventing them,” she explains. “For instance, we knew that the Luis tiger print can be essential (and never simply because it’s the Yr of the Tiger). It’s a motif in Tibetan rugs and is present in historic textiles in lots of types. We created a brand new surroundings for the tiger and positioned him in a area of fantasy florals.”
The textured sample of the animal’s physique was then used to dream up the geometric really feel of the Ellie print, which Harvey says “appears half zebra, half tiger.”
That very same diploma of thought went into every of the almost seven dozen textiles crafted for the Calico line. After learning tendencies and counting on her finely honed instincts, Lemieux crammed the gathering with wealthy autumnal hues reminiscent of saturated yellows, indigos, and jades.
“Christiane actually thinks concerning the room,” notes Harvey. “She doesn’t simply decide colours; she was designing for that aspirational house. She understood what the patron was responding to—the emergence of blush, the approaching of ochre.”
That perception led her to decide on shades that “marry nicely to wooden tones, stone finishes, and metals,” provides Harvey. The result’s a vintage-feeling palette that’s each soothing and complicated. Clients who fall for the designs can then pair the material of their alternative with one in every of Calico’s items of customized furnishings.
Lemieux’s intention, she says, “is to supply a range that evokes you and means that you can create your individual interiors, to seek out sanctuary there. You probably have that grounding of an attractive house, you’ll be able to create the remainder of your life in a extra considerate approach.”
Listed below are just a few of our favourite patterns from the gathering, together with some tips about easy methods to incorporate them into your house:
Christiane Lemieux Brooke cloth in Aegean
The fantastic thing about this richly hued cloth, accessible in 11 saturated shades, is its simplicity. A works-with-anything sort of velvet, it may be used atop a daybed or the Monica swivel chairs.
Christiane Lemieux Luis print in Orion
Impressed by a theme widespread in Tibetan rugs, this animalistic print, supplied in 4 colorways, provides life to any throw pillow. It’s a surefire conversation-starter used as a wall hanging or window protecting.
Christiane Lemieux Ellie print in Jute
The daring print makes impartial hues look something however boring, however it’s nonetheless adequately subtle to work on material or seating such because the Lynne chair.
Christiane Lemieux Mel print in Rose Madder
Christiane Lemieux Mili print in Carbon
Pair this geometric nature-inspired sample with different pillows to enliven a solid-hued couch.
Christiane Lemieux Mitra print in Graphite
This diamond weave shines brilliant in all three colorways (graphite, linen, or zinc). Nevertheless it’s refined sufficient to work on giant furnishings such because the Ebonwood chair.