FABRICS 2016: Brise Soleil

I’m thrilled to bits to reveal our brand new fabric collection, named BRISE SOLEIL.

Brise Soleil is a French term (so it’s pronounced breez so-lay) that refers to an architectural screen – usually made of pierced brick or concrete block – which provides shade from the sun. Literally, brise soleil means ‘break the sun’, but along with their shade-making abilities, a brise soleil also provides ventilation, privacy, security and (best of all) decoration!

Brise soleil screens have been part of vernacular architecture in tropical regions for years, so when Modernist architects were working in Africa, Brazil and India, they incorporated these screens into their work, developing the Tropical Modern style that gained popularity in the mid-century housing boom in California, and the rest of the world.

I’m a fan of a practical, non-electrical solution to a hot climate, and I also get very excited about how wonderful patterns can arise through the repetition of very simple units, and that’s how these two ideas came together in this year’s fabric collection, called BRISE SOLEIL.

We’ve put together a rather lovely Lookbook to showcase the new collection, where we’ve put together four “looks”, using the new prints and colours.

I’m thrilled with the new collection, and with our 2016 Lookbook too. View the entire Lookbook on Issuu, or here, if you prefer a PDF.