London Design Week can be overwhelmingly packed with (albeit lovely) contemporary wares, so when you come across designs that hark back to days gone by, you're stopped in your tracks.
Enter Pearl Lowe's new wallpaper and fabric collection for the family-run, Lancashire-based company, Woodchip & Magnolia (as an aside, you can currently see W&M's gorgeous wallpaper designs in the apartments of Channel 4's The Circle, too).
We grabbed a few minutes with Pearl, who's better known as a fashion and textiles designer, and former singer-songwriter, and she told us about her foray into the world of interiors.
Wisteria wall mural, £250, by Pearl Lowe at Woodchip & Magnolia
'I can never find what I'm looking for on vintage wallpaper websites,' says Pearl. 'And if I do, they never have enough of what I want. So, I thought, why not design my own range? Then I can get it exactly right.
'I live in the countryside and am inspired by the long walks I take, and by planting and growing my own garden. I've taken inspiration from old wallpaper designs, too. It's been lovely to put it all into wallpapers and fabrics.
'Taking the wallpaper design (above), I only really realised how beautiful wisteria was when we bought a house along a river a few years ago. The wisteria came out in May and it was the most enchanting thing I ever saw. So to be able to put it in a wallpaper or a fabric is a dream.'
Va Va Frome Powder Pink Leaf wallpaper, £120 per 10m roll, by Pearl Lowe at Woodchip & Magnolia
'Botanicals are so popular in interiors, and this one (above) is so pretty and fresh. It’s another take on the lushness of palm and fern leaves, but like our bird floral, the leaf is imaginary and has a timeless, vintage quality to it, which I adore. I’d love to see this design in my own bathroom or hallway – or both! I literally cannot wait to put them up!'
The collection includes ditsy florals and other over-sized blooms – and Pearl plans further collaborations with Woodchip & Magnolia. Watch this space...
In the meantime, see how Instagrammer Sarah Parmenter has taken Pearl's designs to create an upcycled vintage cabinet.
