Swatch List: Upholstery Trends for Spring and Summer

The Grand Plage collection of dual-performance indoor-outdoor fabrics depicts classic nautical motifs inspired by Ralph Lauren’s spring 2016 women’s runway show. Sailboats, waves, and stripes are offered in a palette of navy, white, orange, yellow, and royal blue with accents reminiscent of seaside spots.

From psychedelic petals on Balenciaga’s runway to somber blooms at Dries Van Noten, spring florals have taken a dark turn. Similar themes are popping up on upholstery and wallcoverings too—as witnessed on Osborne & Little’s Meadow fabric in cotton-linen and French furniture brand Ligne Roset’s Berlin Loft bed-settee, designed by Müller Wulff and enveloped in a removable polyester quilted cover in Jungle.

Embroidered fabrics are appearing in various collections this spring, including Kayapo by Lelièvre. Produced in a cotton blend, the design is a modern riff on the plan of a formal garden with stitches inspired by the ornamental jewelry of the Amazon’s indigenous Kayapo tribe.

Flat-weave tapes, applied to pillows, draperies, and upholstery, add flourish while discreetly masking seams. New collections include Osborne & Little’s Savoy, named for the London theater built by Richard D’Oyly Carte, which was home to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The line’s cotton-blend D’Oyly Carte Braid is available in five colorways.

Both a yarn and fabric, bouclé is made from three single strands of a knobby, curly yarn with a loopy texture. Typically used in finely tailored women’s suits, the fabric is now produced in unique colorways and includes metallic and cashmere threads.

From left: Zinc Textile, Kravet Couture, Calvin Klein Home through Kravet, and two from Dedar.

Birds of a feather are literally sticking together on Plume, Schumacher’s new collection of wallcoverings handmade with natural plumes in 38-inch-wide, made-to-order panels (price upon request).

From left: Peacock Ore, Alexandrite, Argentite

What would New York decor look like today without the impact of Angelo Donghia? It’s hard to imagine. The Pennsylvania native studied at Parsons School of Design before launching a successful career in decorating. A commission in 1966 to create the interiors of the Opera Club at Lincoln Center led to a partnership with a firm that was eventually renamed Donghia Associates. His roster of celebrity clients included Ralph Lauren, Halston, Diana Ross, and even Ivana-days Donald Trump. In 1968 the designer established &Vice Versa, a trade showroom selling fabrics and wallcoverings, which evolved into Donghia, a textile company that still thrives today. Donghia died in 1985, but the studio has continued with new lines, including its latest, which pays homage to its master’s glamorous signature. Called Manhattan Muse, the line features 22 fabrics (from $80 per yard) in a range of colorful, jazzy motifs, including the painterly strokes of Downtown, which is a silk blend.

Geometric shapes—specifically triangles and diamonds—are having a moment. International fabric houses are flaunting mod patterning of angular forms. One example is Jim Thompson’s No. 9 collection featuring Diamond Life in Admiral (above left, $105 per yard).

Printed on velvet, applied to wallpaper, and framed as paintings, wildlife can be spotted everywhere. Menageries of lions, ostriches, elephants, and giraffes adorn velvets by GP & J Baker and canvas wall hangings from Hector Atelier, while British-based Cole & Son offers the Ardmore collection of 12 African pictorial patterns, including Matrinah in pink with Zulu, a leopard-spot border.

Pierre Frey is known for lavish patterns and innovative techniques, but the brand’s latest is a more hush-hush affair. The cleverly named Natecru line comprises 32 styles produced using natural fibers in a neutral palette. The elevated basics are woven from yarns in linen, cotton, wool, silk, hemp, alpaca, and cashmere in a palette meant to add warmth and texture to curtains and upholstery.

Speaking of geometrics: The Italian textile brand Dedar, overseen by co-owners and siblings Caterina and Raffaele Fabrizio, employs Indian sign painters who once worked on Bollywood film billboards to hand-render abstract motifs for a silk-and-viscose patterned fabric called Fresco. Each of the fabric’s five colorways is meant to evoke natural elements, such as earth and water.