60 ARCHDIGEST.COM
1. EMMA LEWIS; 2.–4. COURTESY OF THE COMPANY; CLOCK: AUDREY DUFER/COURTESY OF CARTIER
DISCOVERIES
DEBUT
Charm Offensive
“A friend used to call it my ‘one-day box,’ ” British interior designer
Flora Soames says with a laugh. That would be a trunk full of
antique and vintage fabrics and wallpapers that she’s collected for
years. Well, “one day” is now. Those beloved documents have
sparked Soames’s inaugural collection of textiles and wall coverings,
all customizable and made in the U.K. Dahlias wallpaper interprets
a floriferous Belle Époque treasure; Oulton Stripe, shot with gold
thread, is based on a Syrian blanket; and Chartwell Weave (named in
honor of Soames’s great-grandfather Winston Churchill’s house)
was adapted from an Arts and Crafts bridge-table cover. “I’ve always
been attracted to fabrics with a slightly crude, painterly quality,”
Soames explains of her sources of inspiration, mostly late-19th and
early-20th century. “People then took design slightly less seriously,
and I hope that comes across.” florasoames.com —MITCHELL OWENS
1. FLORA SOAMES’S
FABRICS DISPLAYED IN
A DORSET BARN. 2. HER
NEW DAHLIAS BLOCK-
PRINTED WALLPAPER.
3. HONEYCOMB WEAVE.
4. ENID’S GARLAND.
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THINK PIECE
ON THE HOUR
Shoppers at Cartier’s newly reimagined
London flagship will find time passing with
extra style. Available exclusively at the
Bond Street boutique, this Exceptional clock
offers a contemporary spin on traditional
watchmaking. (Its rectilinear form is crafted of the same mineral glass
found in the French jeweler’s iconic pieces.) In a nod to Great Britain,
a Union Jack motif adorns the one-of-a-kind design, which is further
accented by stainless steel and a floating dial with swordlike hands.
Price upon request; cartier.com —ELIZABETH FAZZARE
