Florence Broadhurst was a strong woman—an Australian dancer, musician, painter and designer, she established the Broadhurst Music Academy in 1926 and started her own line of wallpapers in 1959. She was mysteriously murdered in 1977, but her fearless approach to life lives on in her timeless designs. Happily, many of those designs are experiencing a rebirth as both Cadry’s Rugs and Kate Spade recently launched collections inspired by the Broadhurst aesthetic. The Florence Broadhurst line of Cadry’s hand-woven rugs boasts some of my favorite patterns (shown below)—from the bold and bright to the subtle and chic—the Japanese Floral is particularly hot right now, watch out for it! Besides Erinn V Maison, the line is available at Amadi Carpets, one of my all time favorite rug stores. And Kate Spade’s line of cushions, china, luggage and wallpaper is completely retro and fresh. I can’t wait to catchs a glimpse of it in person when the Kate Spade tour bus rolls into town on March 2nd.
This is that Japanese Floral pattern that's so hot right now!
I had the pleasure of speaking with Helen Lennie, owner of Signature Prints, a global leader in textiles and wall coverings, which owns the Broadhurst licenses. She took a minute to explain to me why Florence is one of her design heroes. “Florence Broadhurst was many different things but she is best remembered as an iconic wallpaper designer creating what is arguably one of the most comprehensive decorative libraries of 20th century art in the world,” says Lennie. “She started her wallpaper business when she was 60 years old! That gets a huge thumbs up from me – how bold was she?!” Bold—and prolific. In fact, the Broadhurst library contains 530 designs and only 90 have been released; there is still a huge reserve of untapped decorative themes waiting in the wings! One can only hope to see them all someday…
Japanese Fans - Natural
Honeycomb in Black and White, a personal favorite!
Cirlces and Squares, dusty blue
Swedish Stripes: so funky!
The Cranes, hot pink. If you're going to go bold, this is how to do it!
Images via Out of the Birdcage, Bode, Florence Broadhurst Rugs,
Not-So Forbidden Fruit
And we’re back with still more from Maison d’ Objet. One of my favorite sightings of the weekend were these oversized and life-sized apples and pears, done up in a range of fantastic colors and finishes. They were inspired by one of my favorite French artists teams, Les Lalanne, who created an installation of huge, golden apples on Park Avenue in NYC in November 2009. The ones we say at Maison d’ Objet were created by Lisa Pappon for Bull and Stein, and I particularly loved the matte blue, black and white- they just glowed in the light and were truly hypnotizing. Snow White wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Images via Bull & Stein and my iPhone.