The flora and fauna of the British Isles has always inspired textile designers and printmakers, meaning chintz is synonymous with English decor. This season, heritage brands and newcomers alike are finding fresh ways to reinvent this enduring aesthetic
Liberty Fabrics
The ‘Botanical Atlas’ wallpaper collection draws on Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty’s expeditions to Japan, China, Persia and India and an archive of more than 55,000 designs. Head of design Genevieve Bennett and her creative team took a supersized approach to reinventing these vintage patterns, making them ‘the hero in the room’.
Describing prints such as ‘Magical Plants’ and ‘Silk Tree’, she declares: ‘It’s this idea of fantastical trails – where you feel as if you’re amid the pattern– that lends itself to modernity’. Finishes add to the prints’ effect: ‘We printed on pressed paper with a mica on the surface to add lustre’.
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Bennett advises picking a secondary colour from within your chosen Liberty print when decorating, and applying it as a solid hue or stripes to modernise the historic patterns. ‘The wallpapers are all strangely versatile. You’ve got three or four colours that are evenly distributed throughout, so you can easily pick out paint, plain fabrics, drapery, carpet – it just works.’
A scientific precision underpins these apparently informal designs, she explains. ‘We thought about why pink and green look so good together in a room. It’s because it’s seen in nature. If you replicate those rules, an interior will feel calming and serene. We are constantly learning from the natural world.’ libertyfabric.com
Soane Britain
Housed in the attic of the brand’s Pimlico Road showroom, Soane’s archive proved fertile territory when it came to launching a selection of fabric designs and wallpapers for the new season. Based on a French design in one of Soane’s precious 1830s Mulhouse pattern books, ‘Berlioz’, a densely patterned wallpaper, takes its name from the romantic, rhythmic nature of the composer’s music.
Meanwhile, two printed linens – ‘Mazzolino’ (‘posy’ in Italian) and ‘Trellis Twine’ – take their inspiration from 19th-century floral patterns and play with those traditional motifs.
There’s an unexpectedly modern feel to ‘Espalier Square’ – a trellis-style design that suggests a geometric tiled wall. Its roots go way back, however, to the old horticultural technique of ‘espalier’, in which fruit trees were trained across garden walls, pergolas or into tunnels in 19th-century kitchen gardens.
Covering walls and curtains, any of these designs would create an enveloping bower of flowers and foliage, ideal for enhancing the cosiness of a smaller room such as a snug or guest bedroom. Want to make the impact more cutting-edge? Why not take the pattern across the ceiling and curtains too, for full-on floral sensory overload. soane.co.uk
Morris & Co
From ‘Strawberry Thief’ to ‘Willow Bough’, Morris &Co’s timeless designs are as radical today as when the Arts & Crafts visionary dreamed them up 160 years ago. Now, fans can anticipate a collection featuring one of the highest numbers of new and rediscovered designs this century.
Created in collaboration with the Emery Walker House, and named after this historic location, the collection is a testament to the enduring friendship between William Morris and Sir Emery Walker. Walker decorated his home with designs made for him by Morris, and the building still houses one of the largest selections of original Morris & Co patterns in the world.
Jessica Clayworth, lead designer at Morris & Co, explains that pairing heritage prints like these with the right furniture is key: ‘Natural materials, exposed skirting boards or timber details, such as accent chairs, really allow the designs to speak for themselves and build a harmonious interior.’
The patterns in this range can absolutely work in modern homes, she adds. ‘If you have wooden panelling, consider a small-scale design or a chintz to sit above it as the focal point of the room. In homes with lots of natural light, you can be braver in your choices.’ Ultimately, the beauty of Morris’s designs is ‘they look as contemporary or heritage as the environment you put them in’. morrisandco.sandersondesigngroup.com
House of Hackney
If there’s one brand responsible for bringing the joy of chintz to a contemporary audience, it’s House of Hackney. Never tame or twee, its prints often look to the darker side of the natural world.
When decorating with its new ‘Superbloom’ collection, co-founder Frieda Gormley urges fearlessness. ‘Go big: with “Floribunda” you can have the most incredible impact by using it on a large sofa or to create floor-to-ceiling curtains, which, when pulled, will have a dramatic effect.’
The continuous print blends into one and has an extraordinary level of detail, meaning it suits modern spaces. Gormley recommends making a utility curtain for a kitchen or upholstering a contemporary piece of furniture in what she calls ‘these more stereotypical “granny florals”,’ explaining, ‘it’s playful, elevating and adds a spark of colour’. ‘Nature-inspired English floral prints defy trends,’ she argues.
‘Whether on a cushion or enveloping a whole room, nature never goes out of style.’ And there’s a deeper significance to the flowers in these designs: ‘With our new English-garden-inspired prints we hope to bring joy into people’s homes and encourage them to think about our joint home, the Earth, which now more than ever needs our support. We think these prints are “flower power” for a new generation.’ houseofhackney.com
Laura Ashley
A moment, please, for the brand that kickstarted the 1960s Victoriana revival that led to today’s ‘cottagecore’ trend. Raised in the Welsh countryside where she also based her business, Laura Ashley was passionate about reviving traditional techniques such as quilting, and looked to the natural world and antique textiles to inspire her designs.
Head of design Helen Ashmore describes the woman behind the brand as ‘a trailblazer and icon’, and notes that ‘naturalistic colours and tones, botanical flora and fauna all form the DNA of the Laura Ashley brand’.
To mark its 70th anniversary this year, the company delved into the Cheshire salt mine where its 100,000-strong archive of artwork and textiles is preserved to create a series of limited-edition collections based on classic prints.
Our favourite updated pattern is the 1990s classic ‘Tulips’. Its original plaster-pink, chambray and taupe palette captured the sunny optimism of the decade but, resized and recoloured, its nostalgic charm feels just right for now.
How to use it without recreating a full-on 90s interior? ‘Floral curtains look fresh and modern when combined with bold colour blocking,’ advises Helen. ‘Paint door frames and skirting boards in a contrasting colour. Large-scale florals can also be modernised by styling with smaller-scale micro-patterns to create contrast.’ next.co.uk/laura-ashley
