Fabric designer Vanessa Arbuthnott chats to us about the inspirations behind her new Botanical collection

Why did you decide to focus on flowers?

Florals are very nostalgic for me. These recent months have allowed time to reflect on the past; I have formative memories of winning a tiny garden in a shell for my pressed wildflower collection, at the age of eight. Studying closely the beautiful shapes of flowers and leaves has stayed with me and is expressed in my new designs. As a child I would holiday at my granny’s house in Ireland every year and I clearly remember her bedroom with its chintz curtains. Large floral prints seem to be the mainstay of romantic drawing rooms from a bygone era through to the modern spare room, especially in pinks, greens and peachy colours; I wanted to take this idea and move it on a little.

Did you have a clear vision for the collection?

It’s constantly evolving, there’s no fixed vision of what the prints are going to end up like. All I knew is that I wanted to create a floral collection that captured the idea of the old quintessential drawing room. I was also keen to create a scaled-up print that could be used in larger rooms; one that would not be too busy hung as curtains at big windows. Having a multicoloured design was important too; they are really helpful as they give you so many decorating options.

Tell us about the creative process

I actually worked on the designs over winter and managed to get all the fabrics printed before lockdown. It’s a better time to focus in winter; the shapes of flowers never really leave me. Drawing flowers is straightforward, but creating the prints is the tricky bit. After I draw the flowers I scan them in and then there’s a lot of playing around with my colleague Laura to get the patterns. For Herbaceous Border we actually decided to handcarve all of the flowers in lino and then print them; this gave the forms extra depth, imparting special marks. The shapes were then scanned in, manipulated and transferred onto silk screens for printing.

What tips do you have for decorating with the fabrics? Many of our customers are very crafty so we styled a photo shoot (above) to include lots of inspiration. Mixing cushions in a range of sizes and with different trims and edges will make rooms look less formulaic. The pelmet is coming back, too, along with scalloped edges, which very much fits with the nostalgic drawing room roots of the Botanical collection. Fallow Deer, which I drew in India nine years ago, is a good fabric for bringing life to a plain footstool.