Tuesday 23 October 2012

FOCUS & DECOREX 2012



Outside and onwards... 

I jumped a cab and journeyed to Chelsea and Decorex
By this time cats and dogs had nothing on the rain. 
Check out the tent art created by rain and leaves combined!...... 


My bag of sweets from Focus, and a piping hot coffee,  kept me going, from stepping out of the rain, until tea o'clock

There was plenty of atmosphere here, smoke and mirrors from the entrance in. However it all seemed a little too small scale: Vivienne Westwood paired back when I wanted to see her 
at full throttle

I love the hall of mirrors effect though
The concept carried through to the
costumes before the Exhibition Hall



                                                                                                                                                                                    



There was an awful lot to see - a trillion visual impacts to explore. The word inspirational is used too much but, if you opened your eyes and kept an open mind, it was hard not to be, well, inspired

It was a good looking show. A lot of thought - as you would expect - had been put into making products look good 








From Little Greene's simple but effective concept


To the most outrageously constructed central sculpture 


                                                                                                                                                                                    

It was all there for the LOOKING

                                                                                                                                                                                    

HARDWARE AT BYRON & BYRON

 

Byron & Byron cleverly rolled out neutral naturals in precisely crafted limed effect woods whilst at the same time rocking popping neon colours showed off to perfection against equally bright backdrops. Gleaming perspex poles were there too; useful in a scheme that needs to speak for itself, but also breathtakingly glamorous
                                                                                                                                                                                    


WILLIAM YEOWARD WAS THERE, AND IN PERSON 
(ON THE RIGHT BELOW)

Fabulously contrived re-workings of furniture and home accessories with historic pedigree
for timeless interiors

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 


showed off 
their prettily understated fabrics 
tied up with 
string


                                                                                                                                                                                    

From the sublime to the ridiculous with 
ANDREW MARTIN'S space oddity - certainly attention catching but (I'm sorry AM) this seemed like style over substance to me, with AM's products secondary to the stage set. 
I was disappointed after last year






 









JUST WEIRD


Beam me up & away.. please

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Whilst the spotlight was all on Zoffany for me at FOCUS, 
sister company Sanderson was low profile at DECOREX

They've had a blip this year with the Home Collection stripe collection being swiftly removed from circulation after obvious similarities were spotted by ROMO - whoops! - so maybe low profile is good for now. Pretty stand but nothing new:




                                                                                                                                                                                    

By contrast HARLEQUIN stepped up to the mark as always


unsurprisingly providing us with a feast for the eyes






Their stand was buzzing all day with particular interest in the advent of their ORLA KIELY wallpaper collection 
(ABOVE & BELOW LEFT)






ALSO their award winning, competitively priced and, 
quite frankly, gorgeous TRIMMINGS collections:








                                                                                                                                                                                    

My favourite L I N W O O D were strong again this year
with their Quintessential Brit-ness that I love:



but with some continental A r t   H o u s e  thrown in (eccentric Brit-ness - love it):


All backed up with superb quality

                                                                                                                                                                                    



And speaking of British-ness - the iconic NINA CAMPBELL made her presence felt with a timeless home collection on display:



A lovely trimmings collection too
                                                                                                                                                                                    


IAN SANDERSON's Poppinjay Collection 
caught my magpie eye: 


Beautifully thought out and put together 1930s interpretation of Elizabethan style from the Ian Sanderson archive






                                                                                                                                                                                    



And on to LEWIS & WOOD brilliantly consistent; sumptuously textured and lovingly pigmented fabrics; their commitment to working with true artisans is always apparent in their unique and interesting style:


                                                                                                                                                                                    








Emery et Cie were there - 
I always love this stand and I leave smiling
Individuality is the key








                                                                                                                                                                                    






is as Kate Forman does:



                                                                                                                                                                                    



other things:-


A nifty way of displaying fabrics 
Fabric panels displaying Liberty-esque
prints at Emily Burningham
Classic prints at Emily Bond










Homes & Gardens round up of textile and paper winners





PENNY MORRISON  & CAROLINA IRVING attracting attention

Ikat style prints are still popular
JAMES BRINDLEY fabricated medallions - 
cute as buttons and very effective and



I very much liked the use of this ROMO fabric
in varying colour ways at

I spotted Manuel Canovas fabric used to great effect
and the use of this Nina Campbell (Montacute collection) wallpaper 
to add interest and depth to a neutral piece








Went home weary but fortified half way through the day (forgot to tell till now) by the proper tea leaves in a pot and Victoria Sponge courtesy of 'Abigail's Tea Room' - thank you Abigail!

                                                                                                                                                                                    

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