Its roots may extend all the way back to ancient Egypt, but floral print remains as popular today as ever. Here, Busola Evans asks noteworthy fabric makers why it’s such an evergreen feature of their most beloved designs.
1. Susi Bellamy
Known for her love of vibrant colour, Susi Bellamy launched her eponymous brand in 2016 with a collection of cushions which she described as ‘art for the sofa’ and she has now branched out into wallpaper, fabric, lampshades and scarves. Much of her inspiration for this, she says, lies in the outdoors. ‘As an abstract artist my interpretation of the floral or botanical motif comes from close-up crops of my larger paintings,’ she explains. ‘I love the textures and colours of petals and stamens and the blur of hues as you look at a flower bed or garden. The femininity and beauty of flowers is timeless. They add colour and the best of nature to any interior.’
A former magazine fashion editor, from where she undoubtedly honed her eye, she has drawn influences from Florence, a city she lived for six years, and the skills of the local artisans she came across.
‘I am inspired by colour first and foremost,’ says Susi who cites her favourite flowers as roses and peonies. ‘My paintings, from where some of my designs come from, are usually based on landscapes and flowers but abstracted to give a sense of the beauty rather than being representational. ‘Because I spent some time living in Florence, a lot of my designs are based on my marbled papers. The marbled designs we feature transport me back to Florence and make me think of book-end papers and artisan crafts. One of my favourite designs is Bouquet which looks like a blooming flower. And also the Comb design in Jade which reminds me of botanical ferns.’ Colour and pattern will continue to be rooted in Susi’s brand. ‘I find both elements completely joyful and love mixing and matching the various collections together for some pretty maximalism,’ she says. ‘I also enjoy the referencing of pattern as different designs reflect place and time. I love seeing all the different patterns displayed together like a pile of books.’
2. Alison Gee Art and Design
Alison Gee is in no doubt why botanicals play such an important role within her textiles collection. ‘They reflect how important the natural world is to us,’ she explains. ‘Recreating our natural environment for the interior enhances our sense of wellbeing.’ Armed with this insight, not to mention the expertise from over 30 years of creating fabric and wallpaper designs with some of the world’s most prestigious brands, Alison decided to launch her own collection in 2020.
Alison’s clever reinterpretation of historical designs from around the globe gives her collection depth and displays her remarkable range. She excels at hand-painted botanical designs – she has four botanically painted offerings in her collection, Daisy, Anne, Tulip Trail, and Tulip Bunch – but she is equally at home with a more textured and painterly technique, often recreating traditional block-printed effects. Alison's collection includes a Fortuny-style damask, two dramatic, large-scale Indian Palampore motifs, a Suzani design, as well as a variety of highly useful coordinates.
‘My work is inspired by nature, history and global design.’ says Alison. ‘I look to the past for my references, because the best designs are not fashionable: they are timeless.’ As head designer at Morris & Co for many years, Alison knows the power of enduring style. ‘William Morris’s designs have all stood the test of time, and I hope that mine will do the same,’ she says. ‘Decorating is expensive, so the fabrics and wallpapers that you choose should last and not go out of fashion. I also adore Indian and Central Asian design, which I find a source of endless inspiration.
Layering scales and types of patterns – spriggy designs with trails, large with small motifs, and stripes in different widths – is one of Alison’s hallmarks. ‘It makes an interior interesting and beautiful,’ she says. ‘The many scales and patterns in my collection work together because they are all available in a variety of harmonious palettes.
Like botanical painters of the past, Alison likes to add insects to her botanical designs. ‘This is particularly true of baroque artists, whose use of, say, a caterpillar eating a leaf, symbolises the transience – or as I prefer to think of it – the circle of life. But quite apart from their historical and natural accuracy, insects also simply add a quirky sense of fun to botanical designs.’
While wildflowers are one of Alison’s favourite plants, she particularly enjoys working with tulips. ‘Tulips are always wonderful to paint, as they come in so many different shapes and colours and have such a global appeal – from their origins in Turkey, as seen in those wonderful Iznik ceramics, through to their importance in the art, history and economy of the Netherlands,’ she says. ‘I also absolutely love foxgloves. They are so elegant, yet still wild and natural, though more difficult in shape to create a design from… one day I will rise to the challenge.’
3. Becky Johnstone
Becky Johnstone has worked as a professional textile designer for over twenty years and her signature collection, launched in 2021, is a culmination of drawings depicting ecosystems and relationships in nature. ‘Botanicals are an important part of my textile collection,’ she confirms. ‘I am of the belief that nature allows us to connect with the creator of a complex, fearfully and wonderfully wrought universe. Nature is at once a million ecosystems; balanced, self replenishing and often beyond our comprehension. To me it could only be made by a creator with infinitely higher and grander designs than we could ask or imagine, and that is the constant source of mystery and inspiration.' Becky’s designs, which are hand-drawn and painted in the UK, are printed on wide-format wallpapers and fine linens cultivated in France and Belgium.
The Australian-born designer points to two prints in her collection, Sherbet Lilies and Wisteria, as a reflection of her love for florals. ‘Lilies have the most amazing scent, and I wanted to create a pattern where the imagery would remind one of their fragrance,’ she says.
‘The design is almost entirely the flower heads, petals and stamen, and at very close range, as it would be if you leaned into a vase of lilies to inhale. The sherbet hues reflect that downy mess of pollen that often powders the surface of large lily-white petals.’ Her Wisteria pattern was an inspiration close to home. ‘Those patterns reflect that hazy light that falls within the tangled fronds of wisteria climbers in my garden,’ says Becky. ‘They climb a south facing wall, and create wonderful, hazy shadows and bursts of blurred light at different times of the day.’
Becky believes there are many reasons why the botanical prints will remain popular. ‘One realises how important those representative qualities can be, to one's mental life and sense of wellbeing. Botanical motifs register those mnemonic and representative powers, be that reminders of past encounters, or associations such as weddings, gifts or people in our lives.'
4. Lisa Fine Textiles
It was textile designer Lisa Fine’s first visit to India 20 years ago, following a career in magazines, which set the scene for what was to come. Captivated by the vibrancy of the culture, she founded – alongside her friend Carolina Irving – Irving & Fine, a fashion brand known for its sumptuous silks, spice colours and a relaxed aesthetic originating from the East. Lisa went on to start her own eponymous fabric line, an ode to her adventurous spirit. Her hand-printed linens are now sold in 16 showrooms worldwide. ‘The colours and patterns, the Mughal palaces and gardens, were my original inspirations,’ says Lisa, who splits her time between New York and Dallas with frequent trips to Paris and India. ‘Since then my far-reaching travels have continued to influence my work, where exotic and traditional prints in vibrant and romantic colours feel both worldly and timeless. Lately I have been influenced by the English gardens and am drawn to old world chintz.’
Lisa’s keen eye for botanicals are weaved through her work and perfectly captured in two offerings. ‘Zahra, a Turkish inspired design with carnations and pomegranates reflects the exotic influence found in many of my textiles while Mirabel is inspired by a classic chintz and is reminiscent of an English garden. I love to mix stripes and flowers.'
She continues: ‘There are no prettier colours than that of nature. To me, every room should have flowers whether fresh cut or in a textile, preferably both.'
Lisa’s favourite flower comes from childhood. ‘I have a special love for magnolias,’ she says. ‘I grew up in Mississippi where we had a large magnolia tree in our front yard. I love anemones, dahlias, peonies…. I am always drawn to the strong pinks, reds, oranges, purple, often mixing all of the colours. ’My love for textiles really stems from my love for colour and pattern. Botanicals help create a peaceful and comforting ambience.’
5. Newton Paisley
While working as a conservation biologist in Latin America, Dr Susy Paisley illustrated her field books with drawings of surrounding flora and fauna; these magnificent subjects brought her interest in the intersection between art and science to the fore. Soon enough, Newton Paisley was born: a collection of hand-drawn printed linen and wallpapers, all designed to articulate the state of biophilia. ‘We design directly from the tradition of botanical and natural history illustration, with its mix of passion and careful execution,’ explains Susy.
‘I am the designer, but also a conservation biologist – [so I take] great delight in depicting and honouring real wild species, particularly those in need of conservation attention.’ All Newton Paisley designs feature rare and artistically neglected wild plants: the Carolina Tree of Life collection – celebrating the wildlife of the American south – and the Mercia Vines linens, a tribute to rare old English flora and fauna, are best sellers. Some of her designs are based directly on her work as a conservationist: ‘the Madidi collection is about the magical Andean cloud forest where I lived, studying bears, in Bolivia,’ says Susy.
Asked about her plant preferences, Susy, perhaps unsurprisingly, does not go for the conventional picks. She names the savagely carnivorous Venus Flytrap, the exuberantly twisting sepals and petals of the Lizard Orchid and the impudent orange berries of the Stinking Iris. But she insists: ‘I am not immune to the charms of traditional chintzes with their big blousy roses and peonies, but I feel my role is to lift up more neglected flora.
With sustainability a key focus, Newton Paisley ensures that for every metre of eco-friendly fabric and roll of wallpaper sold, 100 square metres of wild habitat is preserved through the World Land Trust. ‘The timelessness and popularity of botanical prints is something I think about a lot,’ she says. ‘I am actually writing a book about this at the moment –I think that letting our eyes travel through botanical patterns connects us to our deepest human prehistory, where our success at foraging depended on our ability to seek out and discern patterns and variation in patterns.’