Lucienne Day Inspired Patterns – Celebrating The Centenary

Lucienne Day inspired patterns for glass splashbacks, bespoke wallpapers and more

As big fans of Lucienne Day and her wonderfully creative designs, we had to celebrate her centenary year in our own little way. We looked through our available patterns to curate a small wallpaper and splashback collection inspired by Day’s own unique visual style.

But first, a brief history lesson on a revered British textile artist.

A recent article in The Telegraph perfectly worded Day’s ongoing appeal: “Can a fabric sum up an era? In the case of Lucienne Day’s 1951 print Calyx, yes it can.” Even after 50+ years, her patterns still burst with a freshness and vibrance.
Day’s daughter, Paula, in the same article stated, “She has endured simply because she was so damn good.” A bit biased? Possibly, but we wholeheartedly agree!

Born in Surrey in January 1917, her creative passion in printed textiles was ignited whilst studying at Croydon School of Art and later, the Royal College of Art. During her time at the Royal College, Day had a placement at Sanderson’s wallpaper studio – one of the largest decor houses of it’s day. A placement that showed her the commercial aspects and confines of working within a corporate company.

After leaving college to find work independently, early clients included Edinburgh Weavers and Heals Fabrics in 1949. With Heals in 1950 she created one of her first successful works, Fluellin. With a pale green background, cream O shapes and pink flowers, it’s an elegant pattern that still holds a timeless charm today.

Lucienne Day and Calyx

In 1951, working alongside her husband Robin at the Festival of Britain exhibition, she developed a variety of new styles in both fabric textiles and wallpapers. While Robin provided interior design and room sets, Lucienne took the opportunity to let her imagination run loose. Borne out of this creativity was one of her most influential patterns, Calyx.

Incredibly, Heals only paid half the going rate for the design believing that they wouldn’t sell a yard!

As the 50s became the 60s and 70s, Day’s designs incorporated brighter colours and simpler abstract motifs.

Lucienne’s output was fused with this simple ethic. “I wanted the work I was doing to be seen by people and used by people. They had been starved of interesting things for their homes in the war years.”

From 1971, we love the flowing beauty of Hazy Daisy – a perfect collision of a design and it’s time. With geometrics, chevrons and floral patterns being so popular in contemporary 2017 design, this still makes our head turn nearly 50 years later. Classic fashion will always come back around!

We put together these new patterns only as aspirations to her highly individual aesthetic. As admirers of all her work, we wanted to create an homage using the products we lovingly craft. We hope you like!

What’s next for the year

John Lewis are paying special tribute with an exclusive range of cushions. As a client of Robin and Lucienne Day for 25 years, their range showcases some of her original patterns. Also to be released in May are 6 exclusive fabric designs.
Close to us in Manchester, The Whitworth Art Gallery (which also held an exhibition in 1983 called Lucienne Day: A Career in Design) have created a new show entitled: ‘Lucienne Day: A Sense of Growth‘. We know we’ll be making a visit in April.

For more information on the Days – this short video is full of creative insight.

Lucienne Day inspired patterns for glass splashbacks, bespoke wallpapers and more:

We’re sure you’re now a connoisseur of all things Lucienne Day and plenty capable of giving us a run for our money on Mastermind!
As celebration to her wonderful patterns, we put together the designs below & look forward to the year and all the events surrounding her centenary.

Thanks for taking the time to read through our post on Lucienne Day and her fantastic designs. There is plenty more info online at Wikipedia and through Google.
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