Inspired by countless globe-trotting adventures, L.A. designer Kim Salmela has an impeccable ability to mix color and pattern in new yet timeless ways. Taking that skill in a new direction, Kim recently collaborated with Crypton Home Fabric to produce a collection of stylish and durable performance fabrics. We caught up with Kim to discuss how the design process came together.
Raymond Paul Schneider: When did you first start to develop this new collection?
Kim Salmela: I started working on my Kim Salmela for Crypton Home Fabric collection with the Crypton design team in the fall of 2023. Prior to that I had created my own printed designs, but everything with Crypton is woven, so it took a while to understand what types of patterns could be executed. We pre-launched it on my furniture collection at Norwalk Furniture at Spring HPMKT of 2024 so that people could really understand how I saw the patterns worked on furniture. That being said, the Crypton Mill design team and I had to work really fast to get this collection ready for an April 2024 launch!
RPS: What was the overall timeline from conception to achieving the final design?
KS: I started painting and sketching out the patterns at the end of October 2023 and the collection was previewed in April at HPMKT and launched at the Interwoven Textile show in Crypton’s showroom in May 2024! That’s a quick turnaround to develop a textile collection.
RPS: What was your initial inspiration, and where did the idea(s) come from?
KS: I love mixing midcentury modern, traditional, vintage and bohemian styles into my furniture collection, so I wanted to bring that same point of view into my textile collection with Crypton.
Being a furniture designer, I also wanted the fabrics to appeal to a variety of different manufacturers and ultimately customers. By having a good mix of patterns and styles the hope was that there was something for everyone. Most importantly though I needed the scale of the patterns to work on furniture vs. just being pillow patterns. From a design standpoint, I wanted to touch on some of today’s current trends while making sure they were classic because it’s going on a piece of furniture you hope to have for a long time.
All of the patterns in my collection have some sort of meaning whether it is places I have lived growing up or places I have traveled. For example, North Oaks is inspired by the neighborhood I grew up in in the Twin Cities where the homes were nestled within forests of trees.
RPS: Please describe your overall creative and design process.
KS: I own a furniture factory in LA. So, when I was designing this collection a big part of my process included sketching and painting. I would then take those sketches and lay them over some of my pieces in the factory to see how they felt from a scale and color perspective. Once the designs felt right to me, I would send them over to the insanely talented Mill team at Crypton and work with them selecting the different color yarns for the patterns. They would then take my designs and turn them into woven Jacquard designs which is actually quite mind-blowing. Grainne Coogan, Crypton’s VP of Design would tell me “You paint with acrylic paint, and we paint with yarn”. The intricacy that goes into weaving Jacquard upholstery is an art form and the fact that it’s Crypton Home performance fabric really blows my mind.
RPS: Did you have a specific audience or theme in mind?
KS: Since this collection was with Crypton Fabric, the main customers are furniture manufacturers, fabric distributors and lifestyle retailers like Arhaus. These places then sell to designers and consumers. I wanted to create a collection that appeals to a variety of different people at a price point that is attainable to all while also being a performance fabric.
RPS: Please describe the methods, tools, and materials you used to develop and prototype this design.
KS: I hand-sketched and painted the original designs onto canvas draped over the furniture so I could understand the scale; for the floral designs I used a textile designer to help me put the designs into repeat. The design team at Crypton took over from there.
RPS: Did you utilize a new technique or technology to conceptualize or create this product? If yes, please share the details.
KS: Actually, the opposite! I went back to old-school hand renderings.
RPS: Please describe any challenges that affected the design and perhaps steered you to an entirely new final design?
KS: Crypton gave me carte-blanche to do whatever designs I wanted. At first, I started doing more ‘edgy’/geometric/almost Art Deco-inspired patterns that I would have wanted to use in my own house and be great for editorial, but then I realized that this collection needed to go on furniture, so I had to change my mindset to really think about what patterns would be classic and not quickly turn trendy.
RPS: Describe your overall brand DNA and Ethos
KS: My style is modern but livable, eclectic and individualistic. I encourage my clients to make their homes feel like themselves, not a copycat of my or any other designer’s style. Because of that, my goal is to curate and create a product that is unique but timeless and can blend into any design style.
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