Heal's new patterned fabrics and accessory line
Here at Outline Artists, we're extremely proud to have played our part in London furniture store Heal's first fabric collection since the 1970s. We worked with Heal's as consultants, working with them to select and commission a number of designers who created exclusive fabric patterns for the brand.
Heal's garnered a reputation for great pattern fabrics back in the 1950s when it championed designs by emerging designers of the day including Lucienne Day and Barbara Brown. Now the brand is looking to reclaim its rich heritage in fabric design with a new collection featuring designs by OA's Hvass&Hannibal and also Malika Favre and Petra Börner - (all three of whom Outline Artists commissioned on behalf of Heal's) as well as by Cressida Bell, Emily Patrick, Paul Vogel, Ottilie Stevenson, and revisited archive patterns by Zandra Rhodes and the late Diana Bloomfield.
Hvass&Hannibal's Herbarium pattern takes the forest as its main theme and the pattern depicts flowers, clusters of leaves and branches in a style reminiscent of pressed flower samples (hence the name).
Malika Favre's Peacock Flower pattern is a bold, geometric interpretation of a floral theme. Malika took the form of a peacock as the basis for the colourful abstract pattern, inspired, she tells us, by the peacocks wandering in the grounds of the hotel she stayed at on a recent trip to the French Riviera.
Created in her hallmark style of cutting artwork into layers of coloured paper, Lady Jane by Petra Börner is designed to resemble a scattered bouquet of rough cuts from the garden. The idea was derived from horticultural images in vintage books.
As well as making the fabrics available to buy from March 1 2014 at £45 per metre, Heal's is also introducing a coordinating home accessory line, Heal's 1810, to complement the new fabrics.
Named after the year in which the company was established, Heal's 1810 includes kitchen textiles, cushions and stationery, from aprons, double oven gloves, tea towels, trays, cushions and notebooks - all of which feature selected patterns from the new fabric range.
Find out more about the project in this short Heal's film: