ADAM BRAY FOR SOANE BRITAIN
An exciting collection of modern, graphic fabrics created in collaboration with the interior decorator Adam Bray is at the heart of Soane Britain’s new launches this autumn, along with a clever reinvention of a Soane classic, and elegant new arrivals in furniture and lighting.
The new collaboration emerges from a 30-year friendship between Soane’s founder Lulu Lytle and Adam Bray. His work as a decorator and antiques dealer brims with wit and sophistication, and he has a deeply individual eye for interesting pieces and designs from around the world and across the centuries. “I am a huge fan of the meticulous approach Soane has and their philosophy about British production,” says Adam, on wanting to collaborate with Lulu.
The admiration is mutual. “Despite having known Adam for so long and thinking I really understand his taste, there are always elements to his interiors which surprise me and I think that that is pretty rare these days,” explains Lulu. “His rooms are truly original whilst always being respectful of period and place; I really love his work.”
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Adam Bray - SgraffitoRed
Adam Bray - WebbingAzure
Adam Bray - SgraffitoAzure
A 1950s Italian print on paper formed the inspiration for the ‘Sgraffito’ printed linen, named for the method of decorating pottery whereby layers of surface are built up and then scratched away to make a mark. Spiky and spirited, the design is built up from zigzags, chevrons, triangles and diamonds that interrupt and intrude on each other in unpredictable ways.
The Rattan Antibes
‘Fontwell’ print is a recreation of an artwork in Adam’s archive dating from the 1950s. Small in scale, the pattern with its blotches of colour and busy cross-hatching seems to interpret in graphic style the weave of a tweed fabric.
Much more simple but just as bold in effect is the ‘Webbing’ design, a striking interpretation of the herringbone jute webbing used in traditional upholstery, found by Adam in the process of uncovering an antique armchair.
‘Suze’, named for the bright yellow aperitif, is a loose, playful paper print design in Adam’s collection that dates from the and russet, it comes in a single colourway, ‘Martinez’,
playful pattern, its sinuous lozenges inspired by a French the 1930s or 40s. Reworked to include warm tones of rust ‘Martinez’, to reference a popular cocktail of those decades.
In addition to the collaboration with Adam, Soane is launching a new variation on the much-loved classic fabric and wallpaper pattern ‘Pineapple Frond’. The new ‘Pineapple Lace’ design retains the same motif, originally inspired by an intricate chintz. At the same scale, but with the negative space absorbed by screen-printed texture that replicates a length of Leavers lace.
Inspired by Lulu’s own 1920s desk, the Templeton collection has elegant curved sides with a timber frame and either rattan or leather wrapped panels.
The Rattan Templeton Dressing Table
The Templeton Dressing Table
The Rattan Templeton Stool
New additions to the existing Hurlingham collection have rectilinear cane frames with diamond lattice insets and rattan wrapped joints.
The Rattan Hurlingham Dining Chair
The Rattan Hurlingham Bench
The Rattan Hurlingham Slipper Chair
Taking inspiration from Regency furnishings made in the early 19th century for Brighton Pavilion from rattan and bamboo, the Pavilion collection is made by skilled craftsmen at Soane’s Leicestershire rattan workshop. Straight canes create a simplified, geometric design.
New rattan storage designs include original and atmospheric designs that are eminently practical.
New rattan interpretations of David Netto’s stylish Lourmarin wall lights join the existing set, and favourites from their longstanding lighting collections become ever more adaptable, as the Clifton Library Shelf Light now comes in a Flexi design, and the distinctive ‘Palmetto’ candlestick is made available in an electrified version.
The Palmetto CandlestickElectrified
David NettoThe Rattan Lourmarin Wall Light
David NettoThe Double Rattan Lourmarin Wall Light
This new compact foot stool is part of Soane’s Crillon collection, originally inspired by a mid-century French design. The upholstery of this design is made using natural materials made from layers of graphite latex, organic coconut coir and organic British wool, which together are naturally breathable, naturally fire retardant and offer sublimely soft padding.
