London Design Week Part 3 - Talks at Pierre Frey and Upholstery Talk at Lelievre

This is the final installment about the talks I attended last week.

I went to a talk at Pierre Frey where they also screened a little movie about the fact that most fabrics are Made in France. click for link 

For those who many not be familiar, Pierre Frey is a family run textile and wallpaper Paris based firm now being partly managed by the third generation of the Frey family.  

I of course walked in as the head of the company was in the middle of doing a video take in a chair upholstered in one of the fabrics from their latest collection.

The second thing that caught my eye were these curtains.

I admired the seamstress who did the work to really showcase the fabric and stitching.

They also had champagne flowing and the prettiest canapes.

They were one of the friendliest showrooms that had a ready smile and was welcoming to everyone.

This is the some of the team - I will be honest and say I forgot the names of the two people on the left as I don't have a journo notebook.  But the person on the right is Patrick Frey the present head of the company. Pierre Frey, same namesake as his grandfather is the person second to right.

Mr Frey introduced us the movie and afterwards did what he is an expert at.  He showed us the new collection.

But he showed us the fabrics in a way that I thought was genius.

Any carpet or fabric seller should take notes.

In fact, he was so good that I dare say that I would suggest someone who doesn't or can't afford to use an interior decorator to just go to Pierre Frey.

This was the first magnificent piece.

This is the seed as I like to refer to it.

Now please bear with me and I will try to convey what it was like to see the collection so I shall edit in a way that you somehow get the same effect.

He introduced different colored fabrics in different materials.

Silks, velvets, cottons, linens etc.

But there was always a link.

There was a color story for each room.

He pitched the central fabric as a bed throw or chair.

The pink silks as curtains, the stripes as cushions etc.

Any design student would have learned so much from this and 

he made it look so easy.

He would also scrunch the fabric and fluff it up to show the fall or lightness of a fabric.  He said it was important to actually really let it breathe and handle it.

He has used another central embroidered fabric as a central link.

Then another central fabric with new added accent colors and silks.

He did say that there was a definite split of color choice between warmer and colder climate.

His own father would always double check fabrics in Paris light and also take the fabrics to their home in Cannes to see how it works.

But he showed that even in choosing neutrals like gray - one must try and use gradients and different shades along with different textures. Quilted, silks, velvets will add a subtle texture that won't make a monochrome boring.  

He then showed us a similar fabric texture palette but in a more colorful scale.

While they come out with new collections they do have a tradition of classic fabrics but in modern colors so he suggested you could start from many seeds but just a central color is a great start.

I wouldn't have been convinced by this fabric but as seen on the chair in the beginning of the post - it looks better when upholstered.

There was a special print from an exhibition he saw in Paris.

The painter wasn't interested in getting into doing a collection so Mr Frey bought a painting and then transferred it into a special print.

Arty

 There was a fabric that I was so taken by that I forgot to take a picture.  In fact, I was not the only one who gasped.

Pierre Frey who is the director of communication was very cordial and after the show saw that I was taking photos and then he kindly offered to send images of the ones I didn't get.

Some of my favorites that I didn't get a proper photo of was one above - the orange dotted on in the center.

Bagan

He then introduced some of the wallpapers.

Here are some of my favorites.  There are too many though...

In an ideal world, if I had a linen cupboard I would have adored this there. 

L'Armoire de Marguerite

I know most companies have their own interpretation of palm trees and this is theirs.

Mauritius

This is just stunning.

Boheme

This is a little niche but there is definitely a market for this and I know that if I could I would use this on a ceiling or my own study if I had one...

On my wish list - "Venus"

I loved the drawings of palaces and their respective garden drawings! I don't know if I would have enough rooms for all the papers I liked but perfect for the loo.

Palazzo

For me personally, I knew that Pierre Frey was one of the best design and decor houses but I didn't expect to fall in love with their children decor range.  Decor ranges for children range from sickly to almost condescending.  Not their new Confetti range.

For better pictures please click on link above.

I was quite taken by this - it is raw and I don't think that many would dare be this experimental but I loved it.

Ouistitis & Co 

 I love toile - and these monkeys made many of the audience squeal with delight which luckily drowned out my own.

I don't find this only for children and I could quite happily use it for my own bedroom.

 This was another take on toile - I love the sketch element of the drawing.

Once again - it would lend itself to an adult room as well.

One of the images that stayed with me longer after plus forgive me repeating this but I don't find this print below reserved for kids.

This is one of the few prints that is part of the capsule collection by the artist Vincent Darre.

These are reissues from the 1940's and 50's that were in the Pierre Frey archives.

Once again, I learned so much from the talk and please remember that you can watch the movie shown on their website which I linked to on top of the post.

The last talk I will quickly cover is the upholstery talk at Lelievre.

One of the upholsters gave a lot of information.

Truth be told, a lot of it was way above my pay grade.

I had no idea what they were going on about half the time.

So please remember I am just the messenger and sharing.

Nothing else!

Hog hair is the best and lasts four times longer than horse hair.
Horse hair flattens in 18 months to 2 years.

The ideal arm ratio height is 25cm bum to elbow.
It should be 112cm at the back.

Get a spring edge cushion for your sofa.

Ideal feather content should be 50 to 70%
If you have allergies then use a 500 mica brown barrier cloth made by Dupont.
Best way is foam core, feathers, down wrap.
Webbing can be elasticated as long as it is duke webbing.
( I told you...)

I hope I was able to share with you what I had learned from the talks.  I can not stress enough that if there is an event like this near you that is meant for trade - ignore that part and just attend!