VELVET UNDERGROUND
Città’s latest collection celebrates decorative opulence in contemporary style.
The ice-white skies, snow-caked trees and tiered architecture of Vienna all provided inspiration for Ornamental, Città’s new autumn collection. By employing velvet to denote contemporary luxury throughout the range, the traditional 18th-century opulence of this tactile fabric has been reimagined for modern spaces. “Velvet is the ultimate luxury fabric, rivalled only by silk,” says Imogen Tunnicliffe, Città’s Head of Textile design. “It was clear that we needed to celebrate it in this collection.”
The range tunes into the design world’s reconnection with embellishment, pattern, luxury and “a little more frivolity”, says Tunnicliffe. “Velvet is rich and tactile and draws you in to touch it. It’s a plush fabric that reflects the astonishingly decorated and lavishly coloured palaces of Vienna.”
The collection highlights the engaging properties and innate beauty of velvet. “Light reflecting off the pile gives it a luminous, lustrous effect and we didn’t want to complicate this with too much added pattern or embellishment.”
The colour palette of the Ornamental collection reflects ideas around femininity and beauty, in balance with tones from the forest. “It’s a warm, natural palette of nude, subtle peony pink, amethyst and cashmere. In contrast, we included varying tones of green with rich forest, subtle sage and luminous lichen grey.”
Within an interior setting, velvet elegantly softens the angular lines of contemporary furniture and brings personality to a room. “Using velvet cushions en masse is very effective, either multiple cushions in the same tone, or tonal variations work just as well.”