Grand tour of textiles | Design Commerce Agency

A grand tour of textiles

October 13, 2015
From the notebooks of globe-circling Roger Thomas to a showroom near you: New fabrics for S. Harris.

Roger Thomas’ second collection of fabrics for S. Harris is rolling out to markets this fall. He calls the collection “The Grand Tour.” “I like to think I am on a continuing grand tour of life,” he told the audience at a September preview of the collection in San Francisco.

The designs fulfill practical design needs for projects underway and envisioned. For instance, “I’m always looking for large-scale horizontal patterns,” he explains. “They are hard to find, so I design my own.” Almost every pattern has an intriguing back story. As with many of Roger’s designs, most begin life as a sketch, often a day or two after he first notes the idea. “I see something in my travels, I remember it, and then I want to think about it,” he says. “I draw the memory using my own filter.”

The below Castelo fabric, for instance, grew out of a quick sketch from memory of a woman walking by in a Chanel suit.
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The China Clouds pattern is “the best doodle ever,” Roger says – and it’s a motif he’s also used in collections for SICIS Jewels, Samuel & Sons passementerie and OW Hospitality carpets.
Grand tour of textiles | Design Commerce Agency

Condotti is based on Ming Dynasty screens that he says he particularly loves.
Grand tour of textiles | Design Commerce Agency

Deerstalker, Roger explains, reflects his first memory of his father wearing a beautiful houndstooth cashmere blazer. His was black and white. And that memory provoked a recollection of an Eero Saarinen chair in hot pink and orange houndstooth in his family’s New York apartment. “Try forgetting that!” Roger quips.
Grand tour of textiles | Design Commerce Agency

Pantheon reflects what Roger says is his favorite piece of architecture in the world. “When you see the oculus, you don’t see it straight on, unless you are hurting your neck – you see ellipses, which is what’s reflected here,” Roger says. “It’s all about the sweep of the circle.”
Grand tour of textiles | Design Commerce AgencyThe below video offers some further impressions of the new collection. For more information, you can contact your nearest S. Harris showroom or representative.

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