‘I hoover now these days, a lot,’ says Raf Simons over the phone, each of us speaking from home. We’re discussing our domestic activities during these different and uncertain times. By chance, home is key to the Belgian fashion designer’s latest launch with Danish brand Kvadrat – two new textiles that exude a concert of comfort and cosiness.
‘They give me so much depth and time to develop things which I definitely relate to,’ says Simons fondly, reflecting on when Kvadrat CEO Anders Byriel proposed the collaboration to him. Kvadrat’s deadlines were somewhat different to his experiences in fashion – he got over a year to develop the first collection in 2014.
A slow and steady pace describes Simons’s latest collection with Kvadrat well – two new lines titled Helia and Silas. ‘I said that I would like to make a little switch in the feel of the fabric,’ Simons explains of his approach to this range. Previous collections have showcased dynamic juxtaposition in colours, and build on the historic techniques of Kvadrat. ‘For this collection I said I would like to stretch it out now and add elements of tactility and surface, physically as well as visually.’ The result is two textiles that have a thicker warp, are highly textured and soothing to hold.
Home, now more than ever, is an integral part of Simon’s life. ‘The home is a place where I can slow the whole thing down. More and more I think about functionality, calmness and privacy.’ Simons particularly sees homeliness in the Silas fabric, and the velvety, slightly rippled texture that is ‘not too pristine and clean. I wanted to [create] something that feels like you have been living with it for a long time.’
Simon’s mind went to furs, bouclé and cashmeres for inspiration too. ‘I was thinking about my time at Jil Sander back in the day. It was a daily thing to work with cashmeres, and the brand was into the idea of comfort and luxury, not only literally but also in a kind of feeling sense.’ Helia is bouclé textile that is woven to resemble the fur texture, with a patterned effect, while Silas has a cotton wool-style surface, achieved though several days of unraveling and beating.
‘One of the things I’m most interested and obsessed with is colour,’ Simons expresses when discussing the palette choice. Compared to the brightness and bichrome intensity of previous ranges, the colours for these two new ranges are solid, warm and earthy. ‘There is also a couple of teddy bear colours,’ Simons mentions of the biscuit tones.
With these two textiles, Simons was eager to hone in on human feel, and how our bodies interact with them, a technical challenge for the Kvadrat lab that was achieved seamlessly, especially with Silas – Simons muses, ‘effectively it looks like a kind of cosy warm cashmere coat.’
INFORMATION
-
Cocktail hour with Stanley TucciWallpaper* catches up with the consummate epicurean to discuss his culinary no-gos, Tucci-esque travel habits and how to make the perfect martini
-
28 Years Later, is Danny Boyle finding humanity in a dystopian world?Is that a touch of positivity we see in director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland's 28 Years Later?
-
Jenny Saville’s major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery is raw, powerful and sublimeFifty works, from the course of the artist’s career, are brought together for ‘Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting’ in London
-
Kvadrat’s new ‘holy grail’ product by Peter Saville is inspired by spray-painted sheepThe new ‘Technicolour’ textile range celebrates Britain's craftsmanship, colourful sheep, and drizzly weather – and its designer would love it on a sofa
-
Liberty at 150: a history of the brand in 10 objectsLiberty is marking its 150th anniversary; to celebrate, we remember products and prints that helped make the department store the cultural touchpoint it is today
-
This Beirut design collective threads untold stories into upholstered antique furnitureBeirut-based Bokja opens a Notting Hill pop-up that's a temple to textiles, from upholstered furniture to embroidered cushions crafted by artisans (until 25 March 2025)
-
15 highlights from Heimtextil: spot the textile trends for 2025We were at textile trade fair Heimtextil 2025 in Frankfurt last week – here are the trendsetters and names to know among innovative launches, from health-boosting lava fabric to sheets made of milk
-
Year in review: top 10 design stories of 2024Wallpaper* magazine's 10 most-read design stories of 2024 whisk us from fun Ikea pieces to the man who designed the Paris Olympics, and 50 years of the Rubik's Cube
-
Is Emeco's 'No Foam KNIT' a sustainable answer to synthetic upholstery textiles?'Make more with less' is Emeco's guiding light. Now, the US furniture maker's new mono-material textile, the 'No Foam KNIT', may offer a sustainable solution to upholstery materials
-
Hella Jongerius’ ‘Angry Animals’ take a humorous and poignant bite out of the climate crisisAt Salon 94 Design in New York, Hella Jongerius presents animal ceramics, ‘Bead Tables’ and experimental ‘Textile Studies’ – three series that challenge traditional ideas about function, craft, and narrative
-
Teruhiro Yanagihara's new textile for Kvadrat boasts a rhythmic design reimagining Japanese handsewing techniques‘Ame’ designed by Teruhiro Yanagihara for Danish brand Kvadrat is its first ‘textile-to-textile’ product, made entirely of polyester recycled from fabric waste. The Japanese designer tells us more
