Inspired by fragments of cloth found on their travels, Linwood’s design studio has created a new collection of prints that retain the handcrafted characteristics of block printing.
Join Linwood on a journey across the ancient silk routes to discover the decorative prints of Uzbekistan. Since the 11th century communities of skilled artisans – weavers, wood carvers and dyers – have produced colourful block printed fabrics adorned with ornamental floral motifs.
Presented on tumbled linen for a relaxed feel, the five homely designs enjoy a considered palette, from classic red and black to earthy blues and greens.
Charming and mysterious, Bibi confidently draws on the past to create a collection for today.
About The Linwood Fabric Company Ltd
Our Hampshire-based family business puts excellence at the heart of everything we do. We straddle the worlds of creativity and innovation to produce distinctive collections of fabrics, wallpapers and cushions that are bursting with fresh ideas, while retaining the quality and artistry we are renowned for.
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As a teenager the founder of Chatelaine Interiors Stephanie Douthwaite worked in a fabric shop and studied textile design at university. After working in the software industry, following a suggestion from a friend, she began making curtains and founded Chatelaine Interiors. Ten years on and Stephanie has a list of both trade and private clients; their commissions include country houses, boutique hotels, town houses and apartments.
Inspired by my mum and grandmother’s love of sewing, I fell in love with sewing and fabrics at a young age, spending countless hours creating a mixture of soft furnishings. As a teenager I worked in a fabric shop where I really flourished with the experimental nature of fabrics. The emotion that it evokes in myself and others led me to further my passion for interior design where I studied textile design at university. Interior design offers a unique experience mixing both creative and structured environments, throughout the years of working in the interior design I have witnessed the evolution of trends, technology and fabrics which has always interested me.
As an interior designer who specialises in soft furnishings there are several factors that contribute to my love of interiors. My favourite element is meeting the client and the consultations throughout the project. The feeling when you find the perfect sample to go with a colour scheme. The Unique challenges that each job has and the reward along the way.
I also love working with fabrics, the ability they hold to transform a space completely to the clients desire and personality is so unique.
My most memorable career highlight from the past year has to be the numerous whole houses we have worked on, from Listed Properties, to houses in the centre of London there is a big sense of achievement when a large project is completed to the schedule and the client is happy. Reaching a such significant milestone in my business journey has been the relocation to our new spacious workroom and the expansion of our team. Witnessing the growth of the business in this manner has been an immense source of pride and fulfilment.
I enjoy working on a variety of different projects because they all have their own unique challenges. I mostly enjoy projects where we have done work at the property previously and the clients have remembered us years later when they want to redecorate another room. Working with other interior designers and clients who are very creative allows for new opportunities for us to create something truly unique. However, any positive impact on a clients life makes a project enjoyable for me regardless of the size.
There are a variety of different aspects within interior design which are challenging. Project coordination and time management are key to ensuring that a project runs as smoothly and on-time as possible. Thankfully, we have a very experienced project manager who is always ensuring that all the components of a project have been meticulously planned out and ensures that the clients expectations are always set realistically. Furthermore, if there are any delays then the client knows of them straight away and can adjust accordingly. Finally unforeseen challenges are the most challenging because you never know when to expect them or the magnitude of them until they arrive.
How important building a network of reputable designers, suppliers and contractors is, they are all critical to interior design projects and are needed in every project. Having someone who you can rely on for part of the project can take lots of the stress and time away from you which will leave you to do the more important aspects of the projects. Additionally, to recognise how important your brand identity is with your marketing and to always ensure that you have professional photographs taken.
Do not be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and to embrace every opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills. With the field ever moving it is important to stay on top of developing techniques and technologies by taking every opportunity to learn, build and grow. Ensure you attend lots of networking events to find reliable contractors and suppliers to help you on your journey.
I see the design industry continuing its push towards being more sustainable and eco-friendly. Last year I visited Rapture & Wright which was an incredible experience to see how they make their fabric and the processes with the paint creation and breakdown after use. I believe other fabric houses will be following suite creating a more sustainable and futureproof design industry. I feel certainly from clients that they have been more conscious of where everything comes from and if there are better alternatives that can be chosen within their budget. I also think from COVID-19 that lots of clients have been trying to alter their spaces to be more versatile to many different needs such as trundle beds in offices.
Being an accredited interior designer by the SBID holds great personal significance to me and my business. It represents a significant achievement, as it demonstrates that I have successfully met the rigorous standards and criteria set by a respected professional organisation in the design field. Being accredited reinforces my credibility and assures clients that they can expect a certain level of quality and professionalism when working with me and my business. Additionally, the access to value researches that the SBID provide help to keep me well-informed with trends and aids me in collaboration with like-minded accredited designers.
Questions answered by:
Stephanie Douthwaite
Founder, Chatelaine Interiors Ltd
About Chatelaine Interiors
Founded in 2012, Chatelaine Interiors offers a personalised service to clients with commissions including country houses, boutique hotels, town houses and apartments from Berkshire to Chelsea and Wiltshire. Whether working with property owners, developers, or interior designers, Stef and her team provide a first-class service using high-quality fabrics to create luxurious made to measure curtains and soft furnishings.
Dedar’s 2023 collection explores the nuances that emerge when colour is asked to lower its presence discreetly. At the same time, it celebrates variety through themes of the brand’s ongoing research, which are either being introduced or renewed this year and are inspired by a love of materials, sensorial aspects, and great art.
The first of these themes, the new White Writings family, unleashes the countless possibilities of white: a unique colour that contains and embodies all others and because it lets in the light – a lesson imparted by stratifications of symbolisms passed down to us over thousands of years. Not an indistinct white: it is textural and stands out against a background of striations, unexpected nuanced effects, and expressive strokes. The fibres are interwoven in an arpeggio that multiplies dimensions and sensations; the indispensable ingredient of this process is outstanding textile know-how.
Colour comes back strongly as one of the protagonists of this year’s collection by Dedar. It plays a vital role in the informed yet passionate colour pairings of Playful Stripes, a deliberate plunge into the game with references to the fashion accessories world. Similarly, Plain Classics affirms the relevance of waves and textures through a range of refined and delicate shades in a composition of fibres, including a rare and highly precious baby alpaca wool. Also, in Contemporary Archives, colour often appears as a tool of a distinct and assertive graphic stroke. However, more frequently, it is a driver of emotion, luminosity, or elegance worthy of being in the most scintillating jeweler’s shop.
This year, Dedar ventures into the labyrinth of the Archives to conduct far-reaching research that toes the line between a form of artistic expression associated with the historical period of Abstraction and the sensations recalling nature or non-European cultures. Assertive signs, often evidenced by the graphic use of colour, stem from lines that may be either softly curved or precisely geometric. With their invitingly soft hand feel, these fabrics owe much to the presence of velvet, flanked by satins and enlivened by jacquard weaves.
Playful, but with the air and bearing of a new classic. The bold stripe has already been creatively developed by Dedar in various other collections, constantly evolving interpretations and being a textile archetype.
Combinations of lines, colours, and details represent a challenge for all those wishing to play and dare to respond to the provocation. The simplicity of materials contrasts with a vivid chromatic impact. You can’t help imagining these playful stripes used in interiors that give the textile element the significance it deserves.
A plunge into luster and abstraction, an immersion in white that takes us along a trail of discovery. The protagonist is a classic of interior decor and high fashion but also “eternally misunderstood” by those who would deny it the status of being an actual colour. Instead, Dedar celebrates white as a colour in its own right, an expression of luminosity.
White Writings is a collection imbued with the energy of the dawning light, but this is undoubtedly no indistinct glare: this is a faceted and textural white. Sensorial references range from plaster and stuccowork to the irregularities of stone and wood to form delicate shadows and nuances. The five fabrics of 2023 — dressed in all shades of white and created with a nod to the various themes of Abstract Art – pursue artistic research along the same lines as that of Magnolia last year.
This is a textile family poised between couture, painting, and sculpture. In sync with the conceptual research of an Arp or a Mondrian in some cases, a Manzoni or a Dorazio in others, the expression of each fabric reflects the nature of the yarn or the technique. The fibres and processes are the elements that leave their mark. Embroideries, jacquards, and graphic strokes break loose from detail in a great abstract narration endowed with the urgency and propulsion of Art.
The eternal return: the appointment with plains in the broadest sense of the term is always one of the stops on the exploratory Grand Tour undertaken by Dedar, intent on touching on the primary themes of the textile culture.
This year’s research on plain fabrics is particularly attentive to the features of the materials, from the close encounter with a yarn that is both noble and highly seductive, alpaca wool, to the ground-breaking technical achievement of fibres that flank visual and tactile appeal with extreme practicality and freedom of use.
Two new fire-retardant shantung fabrics in extra width combine the charm of silky iridescence with functionality. A generous offering of new colours renews some of the best-loved fabric ranges, including merino wool satins and linen basket weaves.
Cover image: TIGER BEAT – Jacquard velvet with tiger coat, col. 4 Papaya
Photography by Ilaria Orsini
About DEDAR
Founded in 1976, Dedar is a family-run fabric house located close to Como, in the heart of a manufacturing district. Dedar experiments and innovates to attain product perfection through an ongoing dialogue with those craftsmen and textile specialists who are most familiar with the techniques employed in the production of excellent fabrics. Characterized by seductive colour palettes and unexpected patterns, Dedar’s fabrics combine precious yarns with research into fiber technology to offer various solutions for curtains, upholstery and wallcovering of timeless elegance.
Riviera Home UK are a subsidiary of Rivera Home furnishings, a world leader in the manufacture of luxury quality textiles. Specialising in broadloom carpets and rugs for the UK market, they offer a unique twist on luxury naturally sustainable and ethical floorcoverings.
Our ethos and style of the brand at Riviera is all about function, suitability, sustainability, inspiration, fashion, and exclusivity. Our products include innovative flat woven collections, tufted wool loops in solid dyed and heather blends along with blended fibres such as Tencel and Bamboo. Our carpets and rugs are textured using plain, natural colour shades to easily fit in with today’s residential environment. The styling of Riviera Home’s carpets works beautifully with many on-trend colours and interior schemes. We want to be different from the mainstream and this is one of the main reasons we work so successfully with interior designers, offering their clients something which is unique to them.
Riviera Home began as a family-run business, with the first generation of the Singla family selling cotton fabrics from their own shop in India’s historic city of Panipat. In 1984 the third generation of the Singla family members ventured into the export of handcrafted products and earned the Gold Medal award from the Handloom Export Promotion Council. The UK office opened in 2013 and we are proud to be running our UK sales and stock operation from the home of carpets in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
The origins of the brand are embedded in design for functionality with style. At Riviera Home, we spend a great deal of time working on textured carpets in different effects, styles, options to offer something different and exciting to an interior design project.
We use soft, subtle, and natural colour shades which work fantastically well as a foundation base for a new interior design scheme along with the security of high-quality manufacturing in both handmade and machine techniques.
Relationships and developing strong trading partnerships are very important to Riviera Home, working very closely with interior designers who we encourage to work with our national network of professional flooring retailers (authorised dealerships), all of whom are highly skilled and experienced in floorcoverings and who can support them with handling and fitting of our carpets. This relationship is supported by our national network of sales professionals and our dedicated team working Riviera Home’s Head office.
We work with designers by utilising a professional display sample box which has a backup sample postage service. We also have a nationwide sales team which can connect, meet, discuss, and help where needed to maintain a constant dialogue and ensure we meet evolving project needs and requirements.
At Riviera Home, we can convert all our ranges into bespoke rugs available in the size of your choice. Utilising your choice of tape, finish, texture, colour, style, whether you’re utilising a wide border to compliment or contrast or discreet blind stitching for a unique finish. This service is hand-finished and offers endless options and flexibility. We provide the highest quality products and manufacturing processes, combined with knowledgeable sales staff.
Examples of recent installations are proudly posted on our Riviera Home Instagram page (rivierahomelondon), and we really value the support from all our partners. There is a consistent social media output to help further connect, present, and represent new design ideas and styles available.
Our products and services add huge value to an interior designer’s project by utilising carpet floor coverings and unique design solutions which are design-led, soft, hard wearing, and fashionable along with the greater exclusivity offered by the brand.
There are also a number of completely eco carpet ranges which utilise renewable materials and sustainable manufacturing techniques to create carpets which are biodegradable. We see the use of sustainable manufacturing increasing in the future as we all become more responsible towards our planet.
We see the latest trends heading towards a more natural style and look with renewable materials such as wool continuing to be important for warmth, wear, softness, and security.
We also see a return to some of the softer colours coming through in natural cream and champagne colour shades, along with some stronger sand shades to work with bronze and brass tones are becoming fashionable.
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About Riviera Home
Riviera Home is at the forefront of the design and manufacture of traditional handloom and contemporary luxury broadloom carpets and bespoke rugs, aimed at the premium end of the market. We are always looking to stand out from the crowd and to have a unique point of difference in the market. We will be showcasing all our products, including new range introductions at the very popular Design Central Luxury Interior Shows held in March and September each year.
SBID continue to explore the personal journeys of interior design professionals throughout the industry. This time, we interviewed the Head Designer at Evan’s Textiles, Bethany Grace Lewin, as she talks about her desire for creativity from a young age, the day-to-day life of a textile designer, and what it’s like working directly with interior designers!
Can you describe your current job?
I’m Head Designer at Evans Textiles which is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of soft furnishings to interior designers, specifiers and industry professionals. The majority of what I do is based in interior textile design and creating unique printed fabric designs that meet our clients’ interior design briefs – which can be for both domestic and contract markets. We’ve recently seen an increase in the popularity for our bespoke contract fabric designs and I’m very excited to say we’ve launched a new division which focuses solely on designing contract fabrics for healthcare and hospitality environments. Needless to say, my role and responsibilities are changing to meet this growing demand for our contemporary bespoke fabric designs.
What is your background and how did you get into textile design?
Since a young age I’ve been fascinated by art and design – the way it can influence a behaviour, tell a story or change a mood. I studied Maths, Biology and Economics during A-levels, but I always found myself gravitating towards art and design as I’ve always had a creative flair and felt strongly about using my artistic talent within my career. I went on to do a foundation degree in Textile Technologies, Photography and Fine Art & studied a BA (Hons) Fine Arts Degree at the Manchester School of Art. I have furthered my practice with a Post Graduate Certificate in Art & Design Education and a Master’s degree, in which I specialised in painting, print, drawing and illustration. I now use my qualifications and skills to produce high quality artwork for our interior design clients.
Describe an average day in your job role..
I’m usually up quite early around 6.30am and I’m in the office by 8.30am. As soon as I’m in the design studio, I check my emails for anything urgent over a coffee, then it’s straight to work. There’s never a dull moment and no two days are ever the same – that’s why I love my job. You have to be versatile and quite resilient within the team as the briefs can come in thick and fast and as we’re producing custom artwork daily on a variety of different base cloths, there can be a lot to manage as our clients have expectations and can often be working to tight timescales. I generally work up until 5.30pm but it’s not uncommon for me to take work home as we’re all about meeting our clients expectations.
Which elements of your profession do you enjoy the most and/or find the most rewarding?
I love to see the finished article come together in situ. It’s so rewarding to see the design I’ve been working on make a difference within an interior design scheme – and because our designs are hand-crafted and cannot be found elsewhere, they often take centre stage as the focal point in a room and give that ‘wow’ factor for our clients and their customers.
From concept to completion, I enjoy the work but it’s also brilliant when an interior designer repeatedly comes back to us with new and exciting ideas knowing the possibilities are endless with our bespoke design service and that we can and will deliver their project within budget and on time.
What’s the latest plans for Evans Textiles, is there anything new you are working on?
We’ve just launched our new division, Bespoke by Evans that specialises solely on performance fabrics for dementia care homes and healthcare facilities. We’ve created a core collection of FR contract fabrics that offer a contemporary take on the more traditional designs that you’re likely to see in standard pattern books. Plus, we have the option of our truly bespoke contract design and print services too within this division so there’s ample choice. All our designs incorporate patterns, scale, texture and familiarity so they can be used across a number of applications from bedding, seating, upholstery to drapery and more. With Evans having over 100 years’ experience in soft furnishings, the division is also able to tap into our core products like curtain lining, window blinds and curtain tracks meaning many of the essential elements for a redesign can be found in one place – saving our clients time, resource and money! I’m very excited to see what the future holds for our new initiative I think it’ll be very exciting for our clients too.
What do you find the most challenging aspects of your job?
Although it’s cliché to say, often it can simply be there’s not enough time in the day. Meeting our client’s brief is our top priority so we work around the clock to create concepts, colourways and designs. There’s no fixed rule for what signifies a good design as it’s so subjective, so if we receive an unclear brief or our clients’ customer isn’t sure, it can be quite difficult to understand and manage their expectations within a certain time frame.
What do you wish you knew before working with interior designers?
The granular detail. From the outside looking in, it’s almost too easy to think interior design is all about aesthetics but there’s so much more to it. The coordination of materials, safety, design elements and space are fundamental and as we work collaboratively with all our clients, we gain a deeper understanding into the demands and strain on their particular projects.
What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?
Trust your instincts!
What has been your favourite project to work on?
That’s a tricky question as every brief we receive is very different and the requirements of the client and their customer can vary greatly. There’s a botanical design that we worked on very recently for a care home it’s been a huge success with residents and staff alike. In fact, it’s been such a success it has been recognised for an International Design award by the Society of British and International Design. That’s a design I’m quite proud of.
What do you think is the biggest problem the interior design industry faces?
Due to the popularity of the internet and the rise of social media, I think the traditional way of choosing a fabric design has changed and many interior designers risk missing a trick by not adapting. The days of carrying around numerous heavy traditional pattern books with limited design collections is fast coming to an end. Nowadays, both savvy interior designers and indeed their customers take to websites, Instagram and Pinterest to find inspiration. This is something we’ve actively tackled with Bespoke by Evans. Our clients can showcase our range, request free swatches, an initial design concept or request a brochure for their customers all on our website. We’re also active on social media channels too so there’s always something new to discover.
If you were inspired by Beth’s story and want to find out more about interior design and the role of an interior designer, click here.
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