The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House style
It’s all about face
THE WORLDS OF ART and interiors are increasingly colliding – and nowhere more so than in the current trend for depictions of human faces, which are appearing on everything from fabrics to furniture.
Designer Jonathan Adler believes that every room should have a face in it somewhere – and his own collection of colourful, tongue-in-cheek homewares includes plenty of portraiture-inspired pieces, including ceramic urns and vases in the form of faces, colouredglass busts and cushions embroidered with eyes and lips.
Habitat was an early adopter of the trend, decorating ceramics, cushions, rugs and even bedding with faces and eyes. Its most recent collaboration, with the fashion illustrator and filmmaker Quentin Jones, gives the look a modern edge, with cushions and rugs in a punchy palette of black, white, red and cobalt blue.
Faces underfoot is becoming a micro-trend all of its own – illustrator John Booth, whose bold and vibrant visage depictions have so far appeared on cups, vases and blankets, is now working with rug company Floor Story on a new range to be launched at next month’s London Design Festival. In a rainbow palette, and with a starting price of £3,250, they would perhaps be better placed on the wall than the floor.
When it comes to walls, British designer Faye Toogood’s recent collection for the American wallpaper brand Calico showed off painterly female faces, while fashion designer Tabitha Webb’s new designs for Barneby Gates includes a repeat motif of red lips on a cream or grey background.
If a whole wall seems too much of a commitment, a framed print is a subtler way to add some personality to your space. The Conran Shop sells lithographic prints of sketches of male and female faces by Henri Matisse, and the gallery Print Club London has hundreds of limited-edition prints to choose from.