Back to the Start
Cole & Son’s Classics Collection Looks Back at 150 Years in Business
Founded in London in 1875 – a time when a rising middle class with more disposable income saw an explosion of home decorating – Cole & Son is still going strong 150 years later. In its history it has released some of the most recognisable and popular wallpaper designs ever, but to celebrate this particular milestone, the brand has released the Classics collection (one of two coming in 2025) that takes things all the way back to the firm’s beginnings.
The seven designs have lived within the Cole & Son archive since the house’s founding. Originally a hand-block printed design from the 1840s, ‘Strawberry’ (above left) has a print of delicate strawberry fruits and flowers and has been reimagined in soft hues; ‘Bamboo Forest’ (above centre) references the popularity of Oriental designs in the Victorian era; and ‘Acanthus’ (above right) feels opulent in the bold scale of its leafy design. There are punchier colours, too, like ‘Roseberry’ (pictured top), a chinoiserie design in cobalt, zingy yellow and hot pink.
Together the collection provides a window onto the past, but if anything, it also shows that our tastes have perhaps not changed as much as we think they have.
