OUT ON THE FRINGE
A fresh take on shaggy-chic interior decor, borrowed from the ’70s
Like coquettish long eyelashes or chic bangs, fringe has a beguiling style that draws it every so often back into the trend orbit.
Now is one of those times in fashion and home decor, thanks perhaps to our current flirtation with eclecticism and our ongoing love affair with the retro ’70s.
You’ll see many variations on fringe. Wispy bits softening the edges of textiles; thick hedgerows accentuating the lines of a rug or basket; longer curtains of fringe that make a piece of art or furniture that much more intriguing.
Urban Outfitters, for instance, has a Moroccan pouf covered in creamy cotton, with sequined trim and several wraps of woolly fringe. There’s a bolster that marries pompoms, tassels, fringe and geometric embroidery. A wall hanging from India combines several clusters of fringe in a palette of blush, cream, apricot and grey.
For the bedroom, a soft cotton comforter, in charcoal, rose, tan or cream has rows and rows of dainty eyelash fringe. There’s a throw blanket and pillow shams with the decorative trim, too. (urbanoutfitters.com)
Designer Nate Berkus has added fringe to several collections he’s
Fringe is one of my favourite embellishments. It always seems luxe to me.
done for Target, including lampshades and a diminutive stool. This season, there are fringed table runners and throw pillows, and a little basket with a dapper fringe belt made of lampakanay, a Philippine fibre. “Fringe is one of my favourite embellishments,” says Berkus. “It always seems luxe to me.” (target.com)
Extra-long fringe creates a saucy skirt on a handwoven, black-andwhite triangle pouf at West Elm. A Moroccan-inspired shag rug in black and grey with a sapphire streak and fringed edges brings drama to the floor. And a cotton bedspread with a Peruvian-inspired circle print is bordered with a thick fringe that punctuates the print. (westelm.com)
At Toronto design house Elte, a Belgian linen pouf is dressed up with bone buttons and Tibetan wool fringe. (elte.com)
From Arhaus’s Boho pillow collection, there’s a woven lumbar pillow trimmed in black or ivory fringe in a contemporary yet playful motif. (arhaus.com)
And if you’re ready for something a little more dramatic on the fringe front, consider designer Laura Kirar’s Guernica lounge chair. (mcguirefurniture.com; visit for its select Canadian distributors) The chair’s back is dressed in a full mane of black or brown leather fringe.
Smooth and textured laces are needled and knotted into 3,500 holes on the cane back, and the effect is spectacular. “I love that it’s strong and opinionated,” says Kirar.