Jane Churchill presents two leading stories in 2014: the HAVANA collection, including two complementing woven books and ATMOSPHERE II, continuation of last year’s successful story, also featuring two weave collections. Colourful and celebratory, HAVANA features printed and embroidered signature designs and small-scale co-ordinates creating a harmonious look with layers of pattern. In keeping with its Southern European and Latino overtones, strong and off-beat colours sit alongside brights and pastels, building up a modernist palette that looks both retro-chic and contemporary.
The diagonal stripes of BOSSA NOVA are laid-back and playful, while the riotous florals of IPANEMA and MARDI GRAS deliver a punchy, positive impact. Ikats, stylish circles such as PATINO, zigzags, and up-to-the-minute triangles in CARNIVAL combine to build up an eclectic scene when set alongside the fabulous artistic-looking HAVANA. These detailed fabrics replicate some of nature’s most beguiling patterns, such as the trailing stems of SANTANA flanked by exotic fruits of remarkable variation.
The ATMOSPHERE II fabrics offer a refined palette of neutrals and metallics, appearing across velvets, weaves and jacquards in luxurious graphic patterns and abstracted embroideries with a twist. The pared-back swirls and curvaceous repeats of statement patterns ARCOLA and OPUS contrast pleasingly with the smaller, more angular geometric repeats of ASTRID and POLARIS, while HALCYON provides a low-tech look with a brushstroke printing style. Modern graphism moves between sophisticated patterns and a softer, more nuanced look and achieves a refined interplay between light and shade that defines this outstanding and diverse collection.