By Jennifer Quail
Home Furnishings Expert, about.com
Known and awarded for her lush and spectacular production and costume
designs for films including Moulin Rouge!, Australia and The Great
Gatsby, Designer Catherine Martin has translated the lavish creativity
that led to the designs for the latter film and made them available
beyond the Hollywood screen. The designer’s vision for a collection of
textiles and wallcoverings that speak to the glamour and decadence of
the Art Deco period has been brought to life via a partnership with
Mokum Textiles.
Raised on Deco
One could
say Martin’s career choice and aptitude for style was a natural
progression of her upbringing. As her mother was French and her father
Australian, Martin grew up dividing her time between two places some
only ever dream of visiting. In her notes on her new collection, the
designer speaks of being “lucky enough to live for extended periods of
time in an Art Deco house
built by a millionaire Argentinian.” She remembers it as “a house full
of the glamour, romance and playfulness of French Art Deco,” albeit with
“whimsical electrical wiring and slightly dubious renovations” carried
out by her grandfather who purchased the home just after World War II.
One can certainly see such influences in the textiles and wallcoverings that
mark Martin’s latest collection with Mokum. And Martin points to her
second home of New York as having infused the love for French Deco
cultivated in her youth with “an appreciation for the energy and
forward-moving spirit of American Art Deco.” It was her love for this
distinctive period in design and experience with it on multiple
continents that led to the development of Metropolis, Martin’s second
collection with Mokum.
Decadent Designs
Martin
set out to capture both the rich, decorative nature of Deco as well as
the geometric modernism that defines its unmistakable patterning.
Included among the textile collection are luxurious velvets in a bold
printed floral and tonal graphic jacquard; embroidered linen; and trims
that harken to the tailoring and fashionable pearl strands of the Deco
period. The textiles have depth and true texture and are near luminous
in their presentation.
Coordinating wallpapers complete the
luxurious line and utilize metallic inks and foil alongside textured
surface prints. The coordinating products allow for truly decadent interiors where
one can choose to make one upholstered piece or a solitary accent wall
pop with drama and elegance or go for an over-the-top, completely
coordinated setting. Either will turn heads with that particular flair
of the Art Deco period, one that always manages to look modern while
paying particular respect to an era gone by.
Special Touches
There
are sometimes subtle choices that can set a design or a collection
apart and Martin’s work with Mokum is a fine example of why such details
make such a difference. For example, in her Cabaret design, the small
scale, architecturally influenced geometric pattern uses lurex yarns for
added glamour; the Charleston Pearls design is highlighted by small
dimensional pearls within a suede-like ground; the Metropolis textile
design, inspired by decorative Art Deco gates, features finely stitched
viscose threads embroidered onto a 100% linen ground; and the Limelight
Foil Wallpaper is printed onto a non-woven foil substrate to create a
mirror-like geometric backdrop.
It’s such details that take the
already decadent designs of the Metropolis collection and elevate them
to an even higher level. Any fan of Martin’s rich creativity on-screen
will recognize her distinct eye and affection for this particular period
in design history in each of these new designs and in the careful manner in which they are brought into being.
