'Art for Art's Sake'...

With our Surtex debut in full swing on the other side of the Atlantic, I took the time last week to check out the exciting things that were going on at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

It is definitely worth going to see the The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1990 exhibition currently on show until July 17th, which is full of beautiful paintings, drawings, sculpture and furniture from Aesthetes such as William Morris, James McNeill Whistler and Gabriel Rossetti.

Sadly, photography was not permitted (even more reason to go take a look) but some favourite pieces were 'The Butterfly Cabinet' (1877) designed by E.W. Godwin and Whistler and the selection of stunning book illustrations and covers by artists such as Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway.

It has to be said actually that even the walls were beautiful, deep turquoises and reds throughout, covered with projections of peacocks and flowers.  Walking through the four sections, there honestly wasn't a single space of wall or floor that wasnt presenting something that would look oh-so-yummy in our studio... ahhh...

Towards the end of the exhibition, it was so interesting to read about the Aesthetic Movement as a 'way of life', the ideals of the time expressed through not only art but fashion, interior design and architecture.  It also meant we have some super cool new quotes for the studio such as 'One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art' (Oscar Wilde).
But our fave has to be 'Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful' (William Morris)... funny how we seem to always fall in love with things that are in no way useful but just totally yummy... and now we don't even need an excuse for it! Thanks Bill.

As the textile gallery in the V&A is shut until May 2012 for refurbishment, it meant wandering through all sections of the V&A to comb through for inspiration.

In particular, the European florals were so inventive in shape and design and it was refreshing to see florals as huge detailed fruits or with really detailed petals and buds.

Images Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

And abstract designs such as this GORGEOUS embroidered Ottoman gem...

It was interestng to see these contrasted against complex abstracts such as the wallpapers and tiles in the Medieval Britain section...

Finally, elsewhere in Asia and Eastern Europe, the Japanese kimono designs and tiles from the Ottoman Empire were really beautiful...

 

(These were actually supposed to represent animal print!)

Feeling fully inspired, it's time to dive into the Autumn collection...

Inspired By London

With the new Autumn Winter season looming, we headed out into the real world to have a look around, see what's going on and  to soak up some directional and inspiring design.
We took a trip around Sloane Square and peeked a look at the stunning colours and summer prints in Catimini http://bit.ly/kAXCmC.  Even the shop window displays are fun and absolutely filled with bright colour! 
Loving the multi-cultural mash-up trend coming through for AW12/13 with an eclectic palette and mismatched patterns. Anthropolgie bit.ly/kz32f9 has some really beautiful examples of this in bedding and home accessories.  With chevrons and patchwork also really on trend, they had some yummy designs on curtains and packaging.

Loving the idea of mixing floral with geometrics...

Even the way the shop is presented is really inspirational for this particular trend with mismatched furniture, knotted wood, painted wood and raw edges. 

So yes, we are maybe a little bit obsessed with Anthropologie but it's so hard not to be! 


Another essential stop off is Designers Guild http://www.designersguild.com/ for some super yummy and delicious kids bedding and bedroom accessories.  We were especially loving the map and travel themed bedding and also the woodland creature/forest set for design inspiration.

To be completely honest we did contemplate for a very long time buying one of those beautiful (and actually really comfortable!) pink circular chairs too... ahhh...

In the 'grown-ups' department, we couldn't take our eyes off this stunning chest unit and desperately tried to find a reason we NEEDED one in our world.. 'we could put snacks in that drawer and little pencils in that one...'

How seriously delicious are the coloured notebooks too?!

As always, we couldn't have a day in London without visiting Liberty's bit.ly/cFKgpq and perusing the lovely textile collections, here are a few of our faves...

So after a super inspiring day it was back to the studio for moodboard-making and planning (always the best bit) for the next collection!  Here's a look through the peephole, we couldn't show you everything now could we...

But in the meantime don't forget to check us out at Surtex debut next week at the Jacob K.Javits Convention Centre NYC! visit us on Booth 250!!!  

And a final little peep of the goodies we'll have there...