BI AS

CONT R I BUTORS

We asked our contributors what timeless means to them...

I am drawn to Georgian architecture: a flat fronted town house would be my dream. The elegant proportions and calm panelled interior speak to me of timeless beauty. I think the marriage of Georgian architecture and mid-century modern furniture is a harmonious one. These two periods have a distinctive aesthetic,

and an enduring appeal. What is it about some designs that transcend their time?

KAFFE FASSETT, pg 38

Yves Saint Laurent said “Fashions fade, style is eternal” and this issue is dedicated to that excellent idea. We visit the Parco dei Principi Hotel in Sorrento, designed in the 60s by Gio Ponti. The geometric tiles and graceful furnishings were a fitting backdrop for the spring/summer collection of one of our favourite designers, Daniela Gregis. Her sympathetic shapes and sensitivity to cloth flattered our 71 year-old model Benedetta Barzini. We hope it will please Amanda Carr who shares her strong opinions on the limitations of “age appropriate” dressing in this issue and, more regularly, on TheWomen’sRoomblog.

Looking to interiors, 2015 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, founder of the factory that popularised Toile de Jouy. V&A curator Sarah Grant explains its ongoing appeal. It’s also the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo on the 18th June and Sarah Jane Downing looks at the military influence on fashion. And, since we are talking dates, our Spring tour continues and we hope to see you at Chelsea Old Town Hall, London on the 25th April or at The Subscription Rooms, Stroud on the 16th May!

KATE CAVENDISH, pg 72

Polly Leonard, Founder

VEERLE WINDELS, pg 88

All my life I’ve had a growing fascination for scrappy patchwork quilts. The way, usually anonymous, women have collected and pieced patterned fabric in geometric arrangements has always delighted and inspired me. Sometimes carefully fussy cut and mirror imaged. Other times randomly placed, these tapestries of pattern are as intriguing as a child's first kaleidoscope.

I am drawn time and again to striped textiles. Their crisp lines remind me of the awnings that grace the doors of old-world homes, or rows of faded bath huts on the seashore. I love grain sacks repurposed into pillowslips and humble tickings used as upholstery on an antique chair – it redefines relaxed elegance. And when stripes adorn rustic linens, they bring a sense of history to the table.

If we’re talking timeless, let’s talk jeans. It took me a long time to embrace them, but now I’m lost without them. I often combine a pair with a crisp cotton shirt but I even put them on for a cocktail party. Jeans come from the West and that’s an appealing thought. I think wide plains and harsh times. Taking them from that context onto a fashion catwalk can be refreshing. That’s why I’ll never fall out of love with jeans.

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