Duralee's Roberta in the wild...

New window treatment. It's definitely Duralee.

Tonight we celebrated some downtime by installing two large roman shades in the kitchen. Perhaps the best compliment you can give of a decorative fabric if you are in the industry is that you'd chose it yourself for your own home. That honor goes to Duralee's new aviary print, Roberta in the Springtime colorway.

Roberta is a classic looking bird print in a soft color scheme of neutral transitional colors. The large golden plumage plays nicely with a kitchen chandelier and the white and rich wooden windows and window frames are made even more beautiful by Roberta's complimenting coloration.

Duralee has quite a few exclusive prints that I've been placing with designers and manufacturers: Dalesford, a two tone Ikat print, Bardo, a multi-colored ethnic pattern, the bold geometric Loop de Loop, and of course quite a few selections from the Thomas Paul II Collection- which most certainly should be turned into an outdoor collection for next summer... but my favorite pattern of the moment is Roberta- a timeless classic reborn!

ITMA Showtime 2011

It's almost June which means it's almost time for ITMA Showtime. This is the second time I'll be in attendance since I left my last company, where from 2003-2008 I was an exhibitor with a large booth in the temporary spaces.

Showtime is an opportunity to look at a segment of the American textile industry, but not as large of one as I would like. On the showroom floor you will find a number of fabric companies, importers really, who bring in thousands of rolls of cookie cutter cloths with generic patterns and constructions, in all of the typical colors. I shy away from this type of fabric because it never excites me.

With my last company, I learned how to buy the very best for aggressively cheap prices and then move these prestigious high end fabrics through wholesale channels to retailers all across the country. I've always felt that fabric stores would do well by stocking the best fabrics they can afford instead of whatever it is that passes for fabric on the low end.

Showtime is also a chance for me to see my friends within the industry, an industry that is always in flux but always in some way familiar, and a time to visit my family, who also live in High Point. My grandmother is quickly approaching 80 years old. Where has the time gone?

Stout Brothers: Embroidery Expressions Book 1254

My friends at Stout Brothers just sent me three new sample books of Spring 2011 collections. I wanted to take a moment to say how much I like some of the embroideries in their Embroidery Expressions Book.

Simple and to the point, but it feels great...

Embroideries are a dime a dozen these days, typically you find them in silks or polyesters. I really couldn't care about polyester taffetas embroidered or not because they look and feel cheap. Stout's collection features light weight cotton, linen, and viscose cloth with rayon embroidery. The result is a much more sophisticated textile that strikes the correct balance between weight and drape. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the color range is right on key with what's going on in upscale interior design these days- and that is cool neutrals and earthy elemental tones- almost biomorphic textile hues.

There are many stand-out patterns in this collection, which is over 50 pieces deep, and I suspect this will be a good collection for Stout. I'll spend the rest of the weekend looking these pieces over and making them available for purchase at www.draperyrow.com

Overall Grade: A-

More Trade Secrets Soon!

Drapery Row's Trade Secrets is a hand selected collection of high end designer fabrics made available for a limited time at well below wholesale (and sometimes below the original cost to manufacture). I litterally spend several hours every week coming high end fabric house collections to pluck these beauties out of their respective bins. Today, I've made a deal with an ultra-high end Virginia fabric boutique to offer even more selection of ultra-high end exclusive designs. Thanks to our partnership, Drapery Row will offer the internet's best kept secrets, one-of-a-kind high end designer fabrics at prices you've come to expect.

I'm excited to enter this, the next chapter of our fabric story.

Coming In: Dalesford by Duralee

Duralee really seems to like going big lately in their prints. I'm bringing in a trie of Ikat/ Kilim type prints called Dalesford. Dalesford features a 13.5" x 13.5" size abstract design that seems to be paying a little bit of a tribute to the classic arabesques of old but retaining a mid-century modern feel to it. These prints are printed on a linen/ cotton cloth that is 55% linen and 45% cotton. You get a slight linen texture from the blend, but the overall effect is lightweight and breathable.

As for the pattern, Duralee seems to be going for maximum impact. Whether you choose to use Dalesford for draperies, upholstery, or pillows, there is nothing understated about the scale and the stark contrasts, which play with light and draw the eye into the grainy print texture. From a distance the pattern almost looks woven into the cloth.

It's easy to see why this and Loop de Loop were the cornerstones of the Walton Exclusive Prints Collection, they continue Duralee's run of trend forward designs at reachable prices.


Patterns from the Walton Collection can be purchased at www.draperyrow.com  keyword: "walton"

Thinking about Modernism: Louis Kahn

I've been working on a magazine article about the modernist architect Louis Kahn. Louis was one of the foremost monolithic modernist architects of the twentieth century. His timeless Salk Institute campus is featured in the current Lincoln MKX television spot and is the backdrop for this screen capture of the Lincoln website:

No offense to the good folks at Lincoln, but I hope their current crop of luxury automobiles are more reliable than the 2005 Lincoln Navigator I used to drive.

It's a beautiful pitch, luxury in the midst of brutalist architecture. I can imagine the iconic Kahn, straight laced, wearing his suit and iconic glasses looking at the sculpture of these vehicles and I wonder what he'd think of this built work being used as the backdrop of a salespitch. I like the ad because of its tone and imagery- but maybe that's the Pavlovian impulse in me to praise works that I recognize.

Kahn was also featured in a brilliant documentary called My Architect: A Son's Journey. This 2003 film follows Kahn's son Nathaniel as he retraces the trajectory of his father's career to find what, if anything, is left of his father in the world. It's a journey that touches me because I will never know who my father is. Following Nathaniel's journey allowed me some measure of satisfaction of seeing someone in a similar situation as myself discover where they came from.

But more than these two instances, I've been thinking about Kahn because the big questions about modernism. Are these great monolithic buildings real? I imagine when they were built they were unlike anything ever conceived. I'm sure that they were shocking to some. Kahn was asked by my alma mater, the University of Virginia to design a modern chemistry building- but those plans were rejected.

We are now fifty, sixty years out and Kahn's designs have become iconic. We've somehow bridged that distance in time where the revolutionary became historic. Now Kahn's masterpieces are the anonymous backdrop of a Detroit sales pitch.

I'll keep working on this magazine article as I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. Some days the mind is aswirl with ideas and nothing is clear or straightforward.

Another new wallpaper and it's magnificent

Sometimes samples just don't reveal the true beauty of a pattern. I've known this my entire career, but it's worth stating. I remember going to trade shows with my last company taking with me boxes of 6" x 6" squares on rings trying to convince savvy buyers that they were looking at fantastic designs that would fly off of their shelves. It takes a great deal of imagination and some serious trust in the salesperson to take that leap of faith. Being on the other end of that equation, I can't tell you how many patterns I've been told are the best selling patterns in this or that collection. Unsavory salespeople and antiquated anecdotes aside, I have to you about a pattern that I bought, practically sight unseen.

As you know by now, Schumacher is done with its Williamsburg Collection, which it produced for nearly 70 years in partnership with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. I was sent several samples as they were clearing out obsolete designs, one of which was called Jones Toile. The sample I was sent was of typical size and revealed a hint of neoclassical decay which is quite common for these 18th century historicist patterns. I was unsure about it, however, the printing, while good seemed overly dark. It overwhelmed the sample and I was afraid that it would be a tough sell, even at a discount.

I took a flier on it anyway, feeling that if I was going to be wrong at least I wouldn't have all that much of it- there were only sixteen rolls left anyway. Well, it came in yesterday and BOY.WAS.I.WRONG.

Jones Toile turns out to be the most amazing toile wallpaper I have ever seen. The repeat is nearly two yards long and the larger than life scale revealed quite a few "secrets" that the sample didn't allude to. For starters, there is a gorgeous peacock with long flowing tail feathers. The trees and columns thrust vertically in the air with confidence and assuredness. This really is quite a fantastic design. Tonight I'll work on the imaging and post the pattern for sale... that is unless I decide to keep it for myself. It's that good.

I Bought Some Schumacher Wallpapers

Continuing my trade secrets theme, I picked up a select handful of high end Schumacher wallpapers. I picked up a good mix of designs, a few came from the now defunct Williamsburg Collection- those being two color ways of The Aviary (Indigo and Moss) and two color ways of Jones Toile (Black and Brown). I picked up a tropical striped toile paper called Child's Play. The pattern was so sophisticated and festive that I didn't even recognize it as a children's pattern. However, my two favorites are these:

 

Colombes et Sanglier Wallpaper by Schumacher 

and

La Fete Champetre Wallpaper

La Fete Champetre is about the most detailed toile print I have ever come across. It features a huge sweeping 36" vertical repeat and depicts a towering water fountain, immersive vegetal features, and playful theatrical motifs. This paper would be so excquisite done up on a wall that I should make it a requirement that the designer or do-it-yourselfer that buys this wallpaper MUST send me a photo of the finished work. This is museum quality at a budget price.

Colombes et Sanglier is a neoclassical Beaux-Arts style print that features a host of vignettes and historical references against a small scale geometric background. This high end paper is rich in detail and color and packs ample wow power. Schumacher still runs two color ways of Colombes et Sanglier but DraperyRow.com is the only place to find this particular discontinued color.

I derive most of my pleasure in the fabric and design business acquiring beautiful pieces such as this at a bargain and then passing them on to savvy consumers. Along the way I have regrets about selling pieces I should have kept for myself. The toile may be one of those patterns. Don't miss your chance to take any one of these fantastic designs and do check out the rest of my trade secrets at www.draperyrow.com.

Trade Secrets: Drapery Row

It has always been my philosophy to invest my buying dollars in excellent design. I've never given into cynicism and followed the trend to their inevitable bargain retailer conclusion, nor have I ever mistaken a brand name for quality (even the best fabric houses make mistakes). Great design is timeless, intrinsically valuable, and, in my opinion, somewhat spiritual. A block print dating back to the founding of our country accurately reproduced in Schumacher's Williamsburg Collection ties us to our shared history and continues a legacy of textile and design innovation that led to the industrial revolution. A Fortuny print continues the mad-genius tradition of the textile version of Architecture's Gaudi, a one-of-a-kind process, unmistakeable and unimitable.

The Drapery Row Trade Secrets Collection is an evolving library of important textiles reserved for clients whose taste demands the best at a reasonable price. I comb the fabric libraries of America's best collections to hand select essential designs. In many cases, the fabrics in our collection are the last available examples of their kind- waiting for that discerning client- whispering that essential truth "love me now, or lose me forever".

Great design lasts forever, says the great Brunschwig & Fils. This is true, but these great designs won't last forever... not at these prices.

Drapery Row - Trade Secrets Collection

Last Chance: Williamsburg Collection by Schumacher

I have lived in Virginia for most of my life and the pull of Virginia's colonial past has always drawn me. Fifteen years ago I went to Colonial Williamsburg for the first time and

Since 1941, Schumacher and the Williamsburg Foundation have worked together to faithfully recreate and preserve the decorative arts of the early Americas. This partnership has resulted in hundreds of beautiful patterns and the realization that good design is timeless and that the threads of who we are can be traced back through the generations.

As the president of Drapery Row, I seek out unique and exciting patterns to add to my collection of "Trade Secrets"- high end discounted designer fabrics. I have chosen 15 patterns from the exclusive Williamsburg Collection- all of which are historically important, beautifully realized, and the last of their kind. This is your last chance to own a piece of history and have Schumacher's Williamsburg Collection in your home. Do not pass it up!

Drapery Row Williamsburg Collection

Two New Vervain Asian Prints Arrived!

The fun part of operating your own fabric business is the opportunity to pick up some of the most remarkable designer prints at a discount. These two Vervain prints retailed for approximately $200 per yard and were hand printed in Italy. Satsuma features nearly 20 hand printed colors and Komiko is a larger than life watercolor-like toile.

Komiko Toile Blue by Vervain

Satsuma Apricot by Vervain

The cheapest I've ever seen these is about $60 per yard. I'll offer them for 30% less- while supplies last.

Why We Should Not Categorize Morris and Gaudi

William Curtis makes a cogent argument in the very first words of Modern Architecture Since 1900 when he says, “There is a tidy and misleading analogy between history and human life which proposes that architectural movements are born, have youth, mature, and eventually die” and that “the historical process which led to the creation of the modern movement in architecture had none of this biological inevitability, and had no clear beginning which can be pinpointed with precision.” (Curtis 21)

This is a vital jumping off point when discussing any sort of cultural, philosophical, or scientist movement. Just as The Pixies and Talking Heads did not fit snug tight into the go-go 80’s music scene, a musical movement that slipped into the pejorative before reemerging in fashion more recently, and the Marquis de Sade’s Misfortunes of Virtue, Justine, and 120 Days of Sodom; works which can either be seen as the degenerate ravings of the French ruling class or as the vanguard of modern literature, malevolent works of violent eroticism which would eventually lead us to the likes of Phillip Roth and Erica Jong could scarcely compare to the gothic works of Anne Radcliffe or Matthew Lewis, the architecture of Gaudi and Morris cannot be tidily dissected and sorted into whatever shorthand version of Reform Arts & Crafts or Art Nouveau is en vogue at the moment.

As a matter of personal preference, I am reluctant to accept labels altogether. For one reason, I find that our need to classify and categorize is a direct function of our tendency to dismiss out of hand complex ideas- seeing as how Morris’s devout Socialism is scarcely recalled when looking at his elaborate wallpaper designs, or his Red House mansion and Gaudi’s fantastical and erotic architecture emerged from, and perhaps as a result of Gaudi’s asceticism- but who would know that when visiting la Sagrada Familia? After all, it is now a building in captivity and not an organic functional work. It certainly has not become what Gaudi anticipated.

I feel that we do these men and ourselves a great disservice by conflating their unique perspectives and ideas into movements which are in and of themselves artificial and hard to define. Sure certain Morris creations bore the weight of their “thinginess”, a term as ill-suited to describe his finished works as any other word you could summon- but the true quality of his work lies within the margins of an ideal not quite born in reality and not quite capable of coming to fruition- high quality expert craftsmanship of a caliber that only the wealthy could afford is not socialist, as much as it is an affectation of a socialist ideal.

Gaudi’s carnivalesque Casa Batllό (1887) with its colorful walls and fenestrations adorned with railings that resemble party masks undoubtedly inspired a generation of surrealists. There is a Disney quality to his architecture- or should I say there is a little bit of Gaudi in Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid. As with Morris, lumping Gaudi in with a school diminishes his work. It denies us the chance to take him on as an individual, with influences to be sure, but as a unique perspective.

I have always felt that the difference between architecture and construction is the “why” and the “how”. Great works are neither easy to conceive or to realize. The greatest artists in design all tended to die poor and anonymous- taking with them their vision- the spiritual difference between a box of windows and doors and a revered work. To categorize everything may make it easier for us to organize bits of trivia and objects- but I find that it makes it harder for us to truly see them.

Josef Hoffman and Design 9297

Early modernism brought to bear the philosophical question: What is to replace the old? The French style of Beaux-Arts had all but dominated most tasteful architecture with its heavy masonry, bountiful ornament, and blocky museum rooms filled with trinkets and heavy fabrics.

Josef Hoffman was an early proponent of shifting focus away from the literal and instead expressing human feeling through abstract geometries. His architecture was a foreshadowing of Frank Lloyd Wright. His angular buildings played upon notions of axis and direction, providing a space within which one could begin to appreciate modern art.

Design 9297 at www.draperyrow.com

Maharam has recreated one of Hoffman's unpublished textile works, Design 9297. Maharm's recreation is a satin weave with an elegant sheen and rich pure colors. The pattern is striking in its parabolic tear drop shapes and clarity of design.
 
This and many other architectural quality fabrics are available at www.draperyrow.com

Rectangles Dissolving Into Circles: Louis Sullivan and the Boxing in of Modern Architecture

Louis Sullivan, in an article published in the August 1892 edition of The Engineering Magazine “Ornamentation in Architecture” wrote that “by virtue of mass and proportion” a building devoid of ornamentation may signify something noble and dignified . Sullivan called for a period of cooling down in the application of ornament in modern buildings because he felt that in order to fully realize the potential of modern buildings, designers first needed to master a new grammar of forms. Any ornamentation, Sullivan suggests, must flow throughout harmoniously and embody a “singleness of idea”.
This position is clearly laid out in his seminal Wainright Building (1890-1891). The building’s tripartite construction and soaring pilasters emphasize the building’s upward thrust, projecting power and commerce. Organic details formed in terracotta provided some allusion to the building’s occupant, The Wainright Brewery Company. This quintessentially American architectural expression marked the epoch of St. Louis’ golden age, which culminated in the 1904 World’s Fair, celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clarke Expedition.

In thinking about the challenges of this era of architecture, I find myself in agreement with William Curtis, who points out that architects and city planners were faced with the challenge of creating not only new types of buildings and infrastructure, but also charged with developing a new style that best complimented the new building materials and technological capabilities. While many architects, would side with Sullivan and take a step back from ornamentalism and create a stripped down rectilinear vision of the future, some would take this concept too far and alienate, if not downright terrify those who did not know what to make of these humungous new edifices.

Tati offers rare glimpses of “Old Paris” in the sterile grey modernism of Play Time

I am reminded of the boxy monolithic buildings in Jacques Tati’s Play Time (1967). In this film, Tati focuses on the rigidity of the forms of modern architecture and how it attempts to impose on us a system of rectilinear angles- which of course we destroy with our curved movements. Tati saw the global building boom and its boxy concrete skyscrapers as a threat not only to the vernacular traditions and romantic ideals of the past, but also to our very sense of humanity. Play Time is perhaps the most articulate and scathing indictment of taking Sullivan’s directive too far. In one sequence, the film’s featured character, Monsieur Hulot walks up to a trade fair exhibit which features garbage bins in the form of Greek columns. The sign in the booth proclaims “Thro.Out Greek Style”. In the shot below, the beautiful Barbara Dennick, Tati’s mistress at the time, holds open a glass door as she enters a monolithic steel skyscraper and reveals to us the reflection of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the film’s only allusions to its past, to beauty, to what Paris brings to mind when we close our eyes and imagine it.


Cities, like the somehow organized complex of buildings that coalesce to form their shape, have a uniqueness and personality that not only define the vernacular culture, but also valorizes the aspirations, history, and accomplishment of a people. This is why ornamentalism is so important. In this respect, I stand with Sullivan when he suggests that “a decorative structure, harmoniously conceived, well considered, cannot be stripped of its system of ornament without destroying its individuality.”





Additional Reading:

Curtis, William J. R.. Modern Architecture Since 1900. New York. Phaidon Press Limited. 2010. Print.

Play Time. Dir. Jacques Tati. Perfs. Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennick, Rita Maiden. 1967. Blu Ray. Criterion Collection, 2009.

Sullivan, Louis. Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings. New York. Dover Publications. 1979. Print.

Historicism or Pastiche?

Historicism or pastiche?

The professor pulled up an image of an unusual desk for her class of interior design students to study. The desk was long, wide, finished in ebony with simple, yet sculpted legs which developed into claw and ball feet. No mention was given to the manufacturer, the price point, or the period. What was important was to examine this piece and answer a simple sounding question. Is this an example of historicism or pastiche?

The answer to this question, however, is far from simple. One must first define the terms:

Historicism is an artistic style that draws upon historical styles and interprets it in a modern context.

We see historicism every day in all walks of life, from the faux Spanish structures in Southern California, to the palatial Georgian manors, Tudor homes with their vertical plank construction, to the Greek columns on government buildings, banks, and churches.

Pastiche, on the other hand, refers to a disjointed coupling of styles that only superficially go together. If you are as old as I am, think of those corny “Freedom Rock” TV Commercials from the 1980s with the two hokely dressed up “Hippies”.

This sets up an unavoidable grey area where designers must use their own discretion, expertise, and historical grounding to make the correct call when working on a job. While all design has its roots set firmly in the rich soil of the past, there is always room to innovate and to build something new. Besides, new movements do not gestate organically, but are the product of synergy, marketing, and exposure.

Returning to the desk and the issue at hand, I am reminded of something Clarence House founder Robin Roberts once said in defense of luxury. “Luxury is the opposite of vulgarity”. If pastiche is vulgar then historicism would veer to the opposite side of this aesthetic, would it not?

What I may find important in design is subjective to me. It’s ultimately about creating and defining your own space in the world. The table by itself did not resonate with me in the way that it might with others. Most in the class believed that the table was elegant and drew upon historical styles to create something new.

I saw that, but I also saw its potential to wind up as mere entryway window dressing in an upscale McMansion, lost in a whirlwind of disposable pieces without a hint of thought or meaning. This potential is not the fault of the piece, I decided, it’s potential miss-pairing is no failure of architecture, but instead the responsibility falls upon us to define our space and make it ours… to not slavishly follow convention and routine. That, I feel is the very essence of pastiche living; a type of prêt-à-porter world, artificial and wooden, disposable and replaceable.

In the end, the piece is what it is. It is on us to attribute to it meaning.