As Lee Jofa celebrates its 200th anniversary as one of the world’s powerhouse producers of fabrics and wallpapers, one can’t help but go down memory lane. All the chintz patterns. The geometrics. The kaleidoscope of colors. The caressing of fabric quality from interior design greats like Constance Spry and Dorothy Draper to Kelly Wearstler and Kit Kemp.
Of course, there are some one-hit wonders and patterns that are no longer popular. But there are also the fabrics that truly have stories to tell. A pattern that endures. And endures. For over 100 years.
One example is a fabric called “The Tree of Life,” a composition of birds, flowers, and swirling vitality.
What is rooted within the threads of this “Tree of Life” fabric that makes it stand the test of time? What makes it special and hum along happily covering armchairs, sofas and chairs decade after decade?
“It tells a wonderful story,” explains Lee Jofa’s creative director Stephen Elrod. “It resonates about the continuity of life. The design is bold, graphic and also has a lot of color. It is also hand-blocked.”
As was announced at a collaboration event at MarieBelle chocolate shop in downtown Manhattan, the “Tree of Life’ is now being made into wallpaper as well as two new color blocks. A first, in 100 years.
Plus MarieBelle, the boutique chocolate company known for transferring images and onto chocolate treats, created a chocolate bar inspired by the fabric that is now for sale.
Alana Moskowitz, VP of Communications for Kravet/LeeJofa/Brunschwig & Fils and Donghia, also revealed that at the upcoming Flower Magazine Baton Rouge Showhouse in November, designer James Farmer will be using the wallpaper for one of the rooms.
Farmer’s work may mark the “Tree of Life’s” wallpaper debut, but its design roots carry not only a great history but also a pedigree. It is touching in a culture where so much vanishes in seconds, that this one fabric design has reached millions of people over a century and now has the opportunity to do the same magic with millions more.
Photography courtesy of Kravet.
A version of this story originally appeared on FlowerPowerDaily.com.
Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD, and a contributing digital editor of aspire design and home magazine.
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