Colours of Arley
Louisa Tratalos on how her hunt or the perfect stripe led to the creation of bespoke fabric company Colours of Arley
Stripes used to be favoured by those with a mature aesthetic but lately they’ve found a new audience with twenty somethings looking for a cheap yet cheerful way to brighten a space on a budget. It’s something interiors and portrait photographer and Colours of Arley founder Louisa Tratalos quickly realised.
‘Over the past few years, my friends and I have been decorating our own flats, studios and small-business spaces. I saw the yearning of these young(ish!) creatives, who were looking to add something bespoke and unique in a ‘perfect’ colour but couldn’t afford a hefty price tag,’ she recalls.
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‘I was on the hunt for a colourful striped fabric to upholster a bed for my rescue dog, Patch, and it was so difficult, I commissioned my own stripe. I was so pleased with the result, I decided to launch my own brand, giving others the chance to do the same for their headboards, sofas and home accessories.’
Tratalos started her fabric companyColours of Arley, which manufactures its materials in a family factory in Cheshire, in 2022. Up until a few months ago, when she opened its first brick-and-mortar store in east London, the brand had been an industry secret. It has since expanded to include 180 shades and three stripe widths.
Colours of Arley’s playful colour combinations can now be found in the changing rooms at the new Rixo flagship store onKing’sRoad,as well as on a series of striped cushions for Glassette. ‘We don’t have a typical customer, as there’s a stripe for everyone,’ explains Tratalos. It’s a motto that has served her well so far, so watch this space. coloursofarley.com
File Under Pop
Founder JosephineAkvama Hoffmeyer discusses expanding the reach of her tiles, wallpapers and paints
Founded by musician-turned-entrepreneur Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer in 2015, Danish surface brand File Under Pop is a one-stop shop that produces handcrafted ceramic tiles, hand-painted wallpaper and (at the time of writing) more than 90 shades of its ever-growing paint range.
‘We work holistically and relationally with paint, tiles, wallpaper and fabrics, down to the subdivisions of colours and tactility,’ says Hoffmeyer, who is Danish-Ghanaian. She feels that her dual identity and heritage drive forward her multidisciplinary process: ‘I believe I carry with me the tension of these two different cultures, and that this premise drives me and my work.’
Thanks to its emphasis on adventurous, intense colours, File Under Pop has enjoyed a cult following since its launch; the brand has a litany of high-profile fans including the fashion designer Stine Goya and artist Helle Mardahl, who recently used its paint on the walls of her studio.
Its burgeoning popularity is evidenced by the fact that the company has just opened its second Copenhagen Color Lab where, according to Hoffmeyer, it will provide ‘a completely new approach to colour consultation and spatial guidance within surface solutions’.
Situated in Carlsberg Byen, the former Carlsberg brewery that is Copenhagen’s buzziest neighbourhood (3 days of design hosted its closing party in the area), the second outpost will ‘offer a whole new way to interact with the File Under Pop range of paint colours and qualities’. Plans for expansion don’t stop there, though: Hoffmeyer wants to go global and, ‘see Color Labs in various cities around the world’. fileunderpop.com
Common Room
Upcoming artist Zoe Gibson shares how a chance encounter with Common Room led to a unique opportunity to create a collection
In January of last year, wallpaper and homeware brand CommonRoom posted a photo of the late painter and designer Peggy Angus on its Instagram. The post happened to be spotted by Angus’ great-granddaughter and fellow creative Zoe Gibson. After seeing it, Gibson, who was in the middle of exhibiting her design ‘Solstice’, got in touch with the brand.
‘I saw that ComonRoom had shared something on Instagram about my great-grandmother’s wallpaper designs, and it happened to coincide with my first solo show. Because I had printed the design using the same technique as my great-grandmother, I thought they might be interested in seeing it,’ she explains.
‘I sent them a picture and it went from there.’ Fast forward to June 2023 and the 28-year-old collaborated with Common Roomto release two wallpapers and two fabrics in four seasonal colour options. Each roll has the same sun-and-moon motif printed all over, creating a maximalist look that would brighten any space.
Common Room’s partnership with Gibson is nothing new however; the brand’s forward-thinking business model relies on relationships with upcoming and emerging artists. ‘Common Room is structured on the idea of collaboration, and for every roll sold our artists receive a share of the profits,’ says Sarah McClean, who joined the brand in 2015 after a chance meeting at an antenatal class with founder Kate Hawkins.
The brand’s arty wallpapers – which have benefited from the resurgence in maximalist decorating – are designed to create narratives. ‘For us, pretty patterns are not enough; we want to make much more than just surface print.’ commonroom.co
