Sure, each season brings forth a whole new range of patterns and colors, trims and wallpapers!  But all of those beautiful textiles are more than just one company’s passing whim. Each collection is a purposeful execution of their inspiration points and how today’s color trends relate to and contrast the vision.  When Grizzel and Mann (a showroom that reps many designer lines) rep, Mollie Rowe, was in town the other week to share their current line, we were almost equally fascinated by the historical and geographical background for the collections.  Who knew there was so much learning to be had from a fabric and trim presentation?!

(Note: All direct quotations come from the official line materials as issued to designers and reps.)

Let’s start with the Seraphina Collection by Designers Guild where the image above came from.  This collection claims to be “but a small step from the romance of the English country garden to the early 20th century modern style of using chalky paint shades and crystalline white interiors; a look taken up in the twenties and thirties in New York and epitomized in the style of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his circle on Long Island, upon which the novel The Great Gatsby was largely based.”

How fascinating!  This not only makes us want to pull out that high school paperback copy of the book but it makes us want to watch the Robert Redford classic before the new rendition of the film comes out the spring.

The second layer of the collection is owed to the ” ‘it girl’ of the period, Louise Brooks.”

Louise is said to epitomize “the spirit of the movement in the roaring twenties…the civilized world stepping up to a snappier rhythm…”  Now, to get to the collection, “we arrive upon the air of romance this spring, as seductive as it is reflective.  A restrained yet voluptuous burgeoning of floral forms, combines with stunning silks in a muted and lustrous palate.  Smoky blues, mauves and tuberose, dusky greens and chalky whites give a very serene twist….”  The names of the prints even pay homage to classical heroines, “Portia, Ophelia, Viola.”

Whether you are a fan of florals or not, one cannot help but appreciate the combinations of colors and patterns that Designers Guild puts forth in this latest collection.

We’ll continue to highlight collections all week.  Next up is the Osborne and Little Spring 2013.  Sneak peak…