Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Design

Isabel Lane finds interior design is getting crafty, and takes a look at Emery et Cie

TREND WATCH

New country cool

Cosy up to homeware offering rustic charm

Uncertain times encourage nostalgia and a yearning for reassuring, recognisable and honest things that we can all trust. In design, this seems to be leading us back to our craft roots and a renewed fascination with the craftsmanship of handmade things, with an appreciation for wood, ceramics and other natural materials.

Epitomising this trend is the Windsor chair, which has been reinvented by British furniture company Ercol, Lina Nordqvist for Design House Stockholm (known for her classic stickback chairs) and Patricia Urquiola for Kartell – the black plastic Comback Chair unveiled at Milan earlier this year. In keeping with this, chunky knits are also back in vogue, with everything from rugs to ceramics aping cable knits and fun accessories inspired by knitting also making an appearance – such as Bougie la Francaise’s wool-ball candles (€21 to €30,50, www.bougies-la-francaise.com). Even cutting-edge brand Moooi has reworked traditional wicker in its fabulous Emperor series of woven bamboo lights by Neri & Hu, inspired by Asian folklore and the caged birds beloved of Emperors. It should all go well with your new Barbour jacket…

PROFILE

Emery et Cie

This Brussels-born company can help you turn your walls into works of art

Established
In 1993 by Brussels-born architect Agnes Emery.

What?
A design company that produces romantic boho paints, tiles, iron furniture and hand-printed fabrics, rugs and wallpaper made in Belgium, Morocco, India, Vietnam and Nepal.

Where?
There are showrooms in Brussels, Paris, Antwerp and London.

Inspired by
Art nouveau, Victor Horta, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

She says
“I describe my work as handmade, bespoke and exclusive.”

She loves
Jette Cemetery in Brussels and the light on the Antwerp’s Escaut river.

What’s next?
“I want to return to craft- making in Brussels, to invigorate handmade things that have a contemporary, cool feel rather than old-fashioned connotations.

We love
The giant, hand-printed motifs – one metre high and one metre wide – which suit fabrics or wallpapers, such as Iznik Tout Grand Modele. It’s available in three colours, at €205 per unit on a three-metre repeat. www.emeryetcie.com

LOG ON TO…

Lovers of the botanical prints and mid-century modern Scandi furniture by Swedish designer Estrid Ericson and Austrian architect Josef Frank – aka Svenskt Tenn – can shop from a new website that delivers worldwide. The brand has stores in b.there! destinations Stockholm, London (at Liberty) and Gothenburg, but now anyone can peruse their pieces at the click of the mouse – and freight costs are calculated as part of the process. www.svenskttenn.se

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