Culture & Legacy
This season we are rejecting a throwaway culture and returning to the familiar. In this globe-spanning, era-leaping look, no single period is fully embraced; instead it is a delightful mash-up put together with considerable flair. The great decorator Sibyl Colefax was a huge fan and under her watchful eye during the post-war period there was a blossoming of worldly eccentricity that we now associate with magpie English design. Mixing period furniture with humble pieces, and silks and damasks with chintz, Oriental motifs and brightly coloured walls, the aesthetic was – and is – all about taste, elegance and comfort. Today, many design houses are embracing the past but remaining hopeful about the future by playing with scale and introducing joyful colourways. It is a kind of nostalgia, but it also signals that what we crave is differences in expression.
Shown here (top to bottom) are the vibrant yellow ‘Palampore’ tree of life design by Jim Thompson, a ‘Caxton’ dining chair by David Seyfried Ltd, a selection of silks, prints, embroideries and epinglé velvets from the Comptoir d’Orient collection by Braquenié at Pierre Frey, a ‘Toby’ desk by Julian Chichester wrapped in vellum and a chinoiserie cabinet by Oficina Inglesa Furniture.
Jim Thompson, Second Floor, North Dome
David Seyfried Ltd, First Floor, Centre Dome
Pierre Frey, First Floor, Design Centre East
Julian Chichester, Ground Floor, Centre Dome
Oficina Inglesa Furniture, Third Floor, Design Centre East
