Coles e Fornasetti - ‘Il mio segreto è l'immaginazione’ (‘My secret is the imagination’) Piero Fornasetti

Back to Creation with a good looking Italian and a collection of wallpapers  - Adam and Eve, created by Piero Fornasetti in 1954 and Hydrangea from Fornasetti’s garden or even the Garden of Eden, an exquisite original drawing discovered in the Fornasetti archives and adapted as large scale wallpaper by Karen Beauchamp, Creative Director of Coles.

These Fornasetti wallpapers are hand screenprinted by Coles.  With Fornasetti nothing is ever quite as it seems - the classically inspired figures of Adam and Eve are seen through a screen of colour in which twelve fretwork circles provide an intriguing ‘trompe l’oeil’ view of the figures. The effect is typical of Fornasetti’s bizarre and humorous style, inspired by his skilful drawings from nature and classical sources.

The figure of Adam finely drawn by Fornasetti is in black on white and gold against a wine red ground, a colour he favoured, while Eve, the serpent coiled at her feet, is in black, white and gold on an ink black ground. Hydrangea is in two colourways – black and white on an opulent gold ground or black and gold on a pure cerulean sky blue. All wallpapers bear the distinctive Fornasetti signature.

From the 1930s Piero Fornasetti brought his surreal imagination to interiors through an accomplished skill as an artist and craftsman. He approached design in unconventional and unexpected ways finding inspiration in the classical traditions of Italian art and architecture surrounding him in Milan. It is also said that he introduced ‘haute couture’ into interior design.

Piero’s son Barnaba who inherited the mantle of the company after Piero’s death in 1988 is passionate about continuing its tradition: 'I am delighted by our collaboration with Cole and Son and believe they are the perfect company to interpret Fornasetti's decorative works. The great quality of performance, fine printing and craft techniques, care for research and the perpetuating of tradition at the same time as developing innovative style are in perfect tune with the Fornasetti spirit'.

The wallpapers play on a theme of Creation – an allegory perhaps for design and craftsmanship uniting two historic companies. The figures of Adam and Eve are an impressive 1.6 metres high with 3 metres of plain background between each image to position as wished. The repeat of  Hydrangea is 1.5 metres.  

Piero Fornasetti was born in 1913 in Milan and became an eclectic painter, sculptor, interior designer, craftsman, engraver of art books and organizer of international exhibitions and events. Believing strongly in disegno – the practice of sketching and copying – as the legacy of the Italian artistic tradition, his unique style shows a strong sense of irony. He worked independently of the avant-garde and his production of exquisitely made objects, textiles and furniture, some of which are in the V&A Museum, is one of the largest of the 20th century.

The Damask Collection - “Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes, As are the tiger-moth’s deep-damasked wings.”

Like Keats’ tiger moths the Damask Collection wallpapers fly from the Coles’ treasured archive.  A dozen double delicious damasks spread their wings in 21st century ‘stains and splendid dyes’. 

Coles’ founder would be enchanted that the process he invented in the 19th century to add a luxurious silk-like lustre to wallpaper, using mica a crushed mineral, is still adding elegant stardust and show-stopping glamour to these original damask adaptations in 2006.

Canonbury is a sweeping asymmetrical design inspired by silk damask from 1750, in Parma violet and dove; pale stone and taupe; silver shadow and raspberry; or Florentine gold and turquoise. Inspired by a Lyonaise silk damask from 1755 featuring pomegranates, a symbol of fertility, Burlington is in cream and warm stone; Scandinavian sky and coral; biscuit and jet; or lilac lustre and amethyst. Lace-like Casimir dates from 1660 and has origins in a chintz fabric with eastern design influences, in flame and magenta; parchment and white; pale sapphire and black; or ecru and white.

Dorothy’s arching stylised flowers and leaves are from an original 1830 silk fabric in peridot lustre and mink; amethyst and white; yolk and ash; or aquamarine and white. Cadora adapted in 1840 from an early true silk damask and now revised again is in chestnut lustre and mauve; bleached linen and white; burnt chocolate and white; oatmeal and white; or flame and mauve. Reconstructed from a mid 19th century Gothic style woven fabric, originally inspired by a 16th century silk damask, Albany Damask is in rose quartz and white; fawn and white; violet and silver; or black and tan.

In the style of William Morris’ Arts and Crafts movement Acanthus is an original 1890 fabric design reworked in parchment and stone; silver and black; fawn and white; old rose and black; or dried lavender and white. Elements from Selsby originate in a glorious poppy strewn wallpaper dated 1890, now in eau de Nil and white; charcoal and ash; striated silver and turquoise; blackberry and ruby; or chemise pink and silver. Cheyne Walk has romantic elements taken from a swirling 19th century design attributed to Arthur Mackmurdo in violet and rose; dove lustre and parchment; pale stone and white; or mauve lustre and jet.

CATWALK - “I’m always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion’ Cole Porter

Time now for something completely different - a certain style and a dash of elegance - courtesy of the Coles’ Design Studio.

Catwalk is a brand new design celebrating the spirit of fashion in the1950s - when Audrey Hepburn danced with Fred Astaire in Funny Face and Grace Kelly joined Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in High Society.

Hand screenprinted in hatbox stripes of morello cherry and cream, or fudge and cream, the black silhouettes pose on the catwalk. These hand drawn figures glorify women in fashion - elongating necks and legs, nipping in waists, and showing skirts pencil and full. The economy of line is reminiscent of 1950s paper dressmaking patterns and the scale of the models sits well on one of Cole’s famous stripes. The 6 figures are 30cm tall and the repeat is 1.2 metres.

SAORI - … a young star rises from the East…

Coles are delighted to present the winner of the New Designers Cole and Son Award for Best New Wallpaper Design - Saori Okabe - and her extraordinary design Saori.

Inspired by her home city Kyoto in Japan and her adopted city Edinburgh, Saori has combined elements from both to create as Karen Beauchamp, Creative Director of Coles, described “an outstanding design, by far the best in the whole show”. Saori studied product design at the Saga Art College in Kyoto before applying for the Print Textile course at Edinburgh College of Art.

The inspiration for Saori came from time spent sketching in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden combined with Saori’s knowledge of plants and flowers from her home in Kyoto. Looking closely it is possible to see a rose, aquilegea, a stylised Scottish thistle with distinct ties to the Orient and Japanese style leaves with restrained curves and textures - all in flowing magenta to orange fade on a silver under pattern on wood ash ground.

The Patina Collection in collaboration with David Easton

African Modernist, Art Deco and Naturalistic patterns with bizarre twists - he second wallpaper collection in collaboration with David Easton, internationally recognized interior designer and architectural historian, is inspired by a series of global 'grand tours', reflecting a pastiche of historic design styles.

David Easton and Karen Beauchamp, Design Director of Cole's, both trained as architects and have a unique creative empathy reflected in the Patina Collection. While some of the 14 designs are vintage, taken from the Cole's archive, revamped and coloured for a transitional feel, most designs are entirely new. The collection reintroduces the process first developed by John Perry, founder of Cole & Son in 1873, using mica as a ground coat to simulate satin. Colour blends are wonderfully unexpected from copper, silver and bronze metallics to harebell blue and cyclamen pink.