Pattern for success
Michael S. Smith puts his stamp on design with unique fabrics
Michael S. Smith stood in front of 30 or so interior designers with fabric samples stacked at this side.
“It feels like ‘Judge Judy’ back here,” the amiable Smith said as he moved in front of the broad counter.
He visited Houston recently to speak at Texas Design Week and to unveil his new collection of Jasper and Templeton fabric lines at the Holland & Sherry Showroom at the Decorative Center of Houston.
His self-described “obsession” with antique textiles was on display as he talked about his inspiration — collections, travel, antiquities — for each pattern, from the soft
‘The Curated House: Creating Style, Beauty, and Balance’ By Michael S. Smith (Rizzoli; $65; 272 pp.)
Toledo to his colorful Bangalore Floral, produced through sophisticated Swiss digital printing.
Handing out samples of his reversible Ladera pattern to women sitting in white wooden chairs in the front row, he urged them to look them over and feel their nap. Leaning together, they stroked it, then rubbed a finger and thumb on each side to test its thickness.
“Ooooh, this is like a two-edged corduroy,” purred one woman in the front row.
“But it’s nice, isn’t it?” he responded.
Returning to the counter, Smith held up his gorgeous Rowan sample, a rust-colored linen with vertical strips of embroidery. He talked about a Greek antique textile that inspired the design and excitedly told the crowd about using it on a Chippendale chair.
In a flash he pulled his cellphone out, found a photo of the chair and handed his phone to a designer, urging her to pass it around.
“It’s gorgeous, you need to do that in blue,” gushed a fan. Good suggestion, he said. He will, indeed, make the fabric in blue.
Then came the textured Stratum, prompting an outright squeal and drawing Smith’s quick wit.
“I should give you a true confession,” he said with a bit of sass. “I don’t love a sloppy chenille. What I hate more than anything is when people say ‘oh, it has to be soft’. Do you ever have that? You probably don’t have a thing where a client pulls up her skirt to sit on it and goes “this isn’t soft enough.” I’m like ‘Oh God, I don’t want to be responsible for that.’ ”
The crowd roared and Smith didn’t miss a beat.
“This has 30,000 double rubs, and it has a pretty texture and dimension,” he said, plugging the fabric’s quality.
Smith quizzed the crowd on what they need and how they use textiles.
Do you use reds? “We can’t sell red to save our lives,” he said.
Do you need small prints? How do you use them? “On pillows and lamps,” one woman said.
His Pagoda Vine and Pagoda Leaf patterns drew praise, too, as he explained that he collects Chinese porcelain and his blue-and-white pieces inspired these patterns in five colors.
Smith is known for designing luxurious homes all over the world, and for manufacturing furniture and producing fabrics after his custom designs were so well received.
“I wanted to produce them for my own clients,” Smith said. “For me, I needed them. I needed this print and I couldn’t find it.”
He was already a bold-faced name in the design world when he was tapped to decorate the family quarters and Oval Office for President Barack Obama and his family in 2008.
He serves on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and his partner of 16 years, James Costos, was named ambassador to Spain and Andorro. Smith redecorated the U.S. embassy in Spain and later did the same for the American embassies in Paris and Copenhagen.
In his work, Smith said that clients now focus on experiences and authenticity. If he’s designing a home in the Spanish countryside, clients don’t want a California-style home plunked down into Europe. They want a Spanish-style home that feels like it should be in the country, he explained.
His book, “The Curated House: Creating Style, Beauty and Balance,” came out in 2015, and he likens it to creating his own record of what he’s done.
The same philosophy was applied to his work on the White House family quarters, where he never underestimated the importance of the building and its history.
“I was saving every drawing and every aspect of the project knowing that when you look back at it at different stages of life, one year and five years and 10 years, those things that you didn’t think would be important are part of a very important record,” he said.
Smith said he’s visited Houston several times, but always for business with little time to take in the city.
“Houston is great. I always love coming here,” he said. “I’d love to do a house here, but no one ever calls from Houston.”