Gaston y Daniela, famed for producing brave and extraordinary designs, have produced this uncomplicated yet sophisticated print that is Villa Bella.
This fabric is an example of how a print of large scale and limited colour palette can provide a simplistic look and all the time be so much more than a simple, basic pattern. The large fretwork design contains unique shading and detail which is clever and effective without being overly intricate. All this is done in perfect shades of warm grey through to black, the black not at all harsh or confrontational.
To write this I have it hung casually over our existing curtains in our Gloucestershire cottage. I thought perhaps it would seem too large and imposing but surprisingly it is as at home here with just over a two meter drop as it would be in a more grand setting.
When gathered and bunched the linen is really ‘there’. It is not a soft floaty linen that might sit, barely noticed for its quiet but integral contribution to the feel of a room, but neither does it sit stiff, stilted or too proper. It is weighty enough to carry the strength of the design in yet it does not appear heavy at all. Neither the base cloth nor the print feels unduly weighty. It has perfect balance. The design grounds its environment but it doesn’t overwhelm. Villa Bella would look at home in a cottage or a castle. As quickly as I can picture those, I can imagine it in a pure white superbly stark setting – it simply adding to the drama that interior minimalism can create.
Something I am still pleasantly puzzled by is the extent of how superior base cloth, design, detail and colours, whether they be a subtle or bold statement, can always ‘work’. I am constantly rediscovering how exceptional fabrics, made up of all the right ingredients, will add grace, fineness and elegance to a room no matter what the style or the environment. How something we consider wildly traditional can be a core element to an exceptionally contemporary setting just the same as a striking, contemporary fabric can be an absolute masterpiece in a traditional setting.
Daisy and I feel so fortunate to be working amongst such beautiful fabrics and most of all working amongst the people who have the ideas, the ability to move them to a possibility… and then eventually make them a reality. A reality to be shared with all of us.
It started with a love of fabric... 