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Highlights from Focus 21
Image courtesy Focus/21 London
FOCUS/21 - London 19-24 September 21
Focus 21 by Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour runs alongside the London Design Festival and is one of the most exciting events in the interior design calendar. The London based event celebrates the best in international design and includes presentations, creative events, a chance to meet designers and also coincides with the release of new seasonal collections from your favourite brands. It is a unique opportunity to see the latest fabrics, wallpapers and more as well as take a look at trending designs, styles and patterns.
Luckily if you missed this year's event there is still a chance to see a number of the talks and presentations online, head over to the event programme and sign up to see a selection of videos. If you want the inside track on the patterns, palettes and defining products from the new season’s collections take a look at the Style Spy video, and for tips on interior design check out the Spaces for Living video, a conversation with interior designer Tamsin Johnson.
Rubelli on the Catwalk
One of the stand-out events for us was Rubelli on the Catwalk. Italian designer Alberta Ferretti created three exquisite dresses to celebrate 1,600 years since the founding of Venice using fabrics from luxury Venetian interiors brand Rubelli.
You can see Ferretti's homage to venice in the video below.
Sustainability in Textile Design
It was great to see the trending theme of sustainabilty was top of the agenda again with many of the luxury fabric houses leading the way with eco friendly and sustainable collections. Pierre Frey invited us to reflect on how sustainable fabrics can combine style with strong social and environmental commitments before revealing their September 2021 collection.
Zimmer + Rohde introduced the Utopia fabric collection, the first eco-responsible collection from their luxury fabric brand Hodsoll McKenzie London. The Utopia fabric collection is full of wonderful textural fabrics made from yarns derived from upcycled clothing and plant fibres. The process of manufacturing also used innovative processes to minimise ecological impact.
Autumn/Winter 2021 Luxury Wallpaper Collections
The event was the stage for the launch of some fantastic new wallpaper collections from leading luxury wallpaper brands such as Philip Jeffries, whose collection, Bibliothèque, was inspired by the enchanting charm and beauty of libraries, and Arte who introduced us to their Gitane collection. Italian luxury fabric brand Dedar revealed their stunning deluxe paper-backed fabric range in a joint presentation with Papier Français, the latter showcasing a collection of bespoke patterned wallpapers carefully recreated from the 18th and 19th century archives of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Arte: Introducing Gitane
The Gitane wallpaper collection from Arte promises to take you on a voyage around the world and through time with designs featuring Tibetan tigers, traditional Zimbabwean woven baskets, beautiful Italian flower fields and scenes from the Ottoman Empire.
Cole & Son: Introducing Ardmore - Jabula
Focus/21 was also a chance to find out more about the inspriation behind the exciting collaboration between African inspired luxury lifestyle brand Ardmore, and luxury interiors brand Cole & Son.
Video courtesy of Focus/21
The resulting Jabula collection is a vibrant collection of wallcoverings which are full of live featuring the flora and fauna of the KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. The stunning wallpaper collection features 12 fantastic designs bursting with exotic plants and animals including elephants, big cats, monkeys and giraffes climbing and marching across the papers, in a style which stays true to its Ardmore influence.
The Safari Totem wallcovering features giraffes, cheetahs and giraffes climbing the wallpaper in a trailing design in sophisticated palettes of ginger, ruby and taupe with dawn-bright or dusky soot grounds. Whilst the jubilant Letaba March wallpaper features the same exotic animals in a bush scene marching to a watering hole. Another standout wallpaper is Bush Baby which features irresistibly adorable Bush Babies, a signature of the Ardmore studio, nestling between the exotic leaves of a Lucky Bean tree. The Jabula wallpaper collection is available for pre-order now, officially going on sale on 18th October, contact our customer support team for details.
Autumn/Winter 2021 Luxury Fabric Collections
Casamance invited everyone to join them in afternoon tea whilst showcasing the amazing combination of textures, colours and patterns to be found in the latest fabric collections from them including Paddington, a vibrant collection, of velvets. Another highlight of Casamance's new collections for September 21 is Matsu. This luxurious fabric collection is named after the Japanese Matsu pine trees which trail through the fabric and whose special grace has inspired Japanese artists and haiku poets for centuries. The two beautiful Matsu fabrics combine soft tints and a water-colour effect to give the Matsu trees an ethereal quality and the overall design an atmosphere of perfect tranquillity.
Autumn/Winter 2021 Coordinating Fabric & Wallpaper Collections
Harlequin's design motivation this year has been all about your space, your style, your choice and their #OwnTheRoom collections hold true to this ethos. The #OwnTheRoom collection features four fabulous fabric and wallpaper styles, if you need help choosing between them why not try out their fun mini quiz which will match a style to your personality.
Sunny and optimistic interiors brand Scion showcased their Garden of Eden collection of prints and wallpapers. The collection is full of the playfulness and bright fresh contemporary colours which they are renowned for.
Autumn/Winter 2021 Luxury Trimmings Collections
Luxury Parisian trimmings house Houlès introduced us to their latest collection, Neva. A delightful range of trimmings made from wool and mohair which is at once both chic and relaxed making each of the trimmings incredibly versatile.
Focus 22
With over 120 showrooms and 600 brands on offer, we have just skimmed the top of the new autumn/winter 21 collections and highlights from Focus 21. But if that doesn't inspire you to attend next year's event, there are always lots of hands-on presentations and meet the creative opportunities, highlights from this year included:
- The Perfect Shade - a Workshop with Porta Romana. If you are familiar with the unmistakeably Explore the art of a Porta Romana shade. Meet the people who make these beautiful shades and experience the techniques behind them – from styling to making it your own with trims and paint.
- Meet the GP & J Baker Design Studio. The GP & J Baker design studio invited everyone to explore their archives, including many of William Turner’s 19th-century print designs which inspire current collections.
- Art Deco Influence - Bringing the 1920s into the 2020s and beyond. Bella Figura introduced their Moonlight collection of luxury designer lighting, an Art Deco series of sculptural designs that embrace the spirit and energy of the much-treasured composition Clair de Lune by French composer Claude Debussy.
