Images from top left to bottom right: Designer Margo Selby, Margo Selby’s hand-woven framed artwork, detail from Margo Selby’s framed artwork, coloured yarns, carpet rolls of new Margo Selby Stripe collection and stills from the creative photoshoot.
Why we love designer stripes
From seaside to ticking, stripes never really go out of style. The new Margo Selby Stripes for Alternative Flooring take this classic design staple in fresh directions. We talk to one of our favourite collaborators, the award-winning woven textile designer Margo Selby about her latest collection for Alternative Flooring.
AF: Do you enjoy collaborations?
MS: I have always been enthusiastic about collaborations. I see it as an opportunity to learn from new perspectives and enjoy working with other brands to enhance their product offering with colour and pattern.
AF: Are Alternative Flooring fun to work with?
MS: Alternative Flooring is a really inspiring British brand. They are focused and creative in their approach to design and product development. They have great ideas and then they work quickly to make them happen so they stay at the cutting edge of flooring design.
AF: Who and what inspires your ideas?
MS: I have always been inspired by stripes and like to incorporate them in my designs. For me stripes are intrinsically linked to weaving and the process of weaving, which is linear by nature.
For the Margo Selby Selby Stripes collection, I drew inspiration from my handwoven artworks and the palettes which have developed as a result of creating these. The work of the Bauhaus weavers has always been an inspiration to both my designs and design process. Like them, I am equally passionate about creating work which celebrates weaving as an art form as well as developing ideas in weaving which are suitable for industrial production. I worked on many yarn wrappings which I usually use as a starting point to designing a warp, these became the designs for the carpets. I explored all sorts of stripes, from traditional ticking to rhythmic multi stripes in order to get to the final selection.
AF: What was the brief for this stripe collection?
MS: I loved the freedom of the brief, I was specifically encouraged to bring my own colour combinations. ‘We love your colour sense – design us a stripe collection!’
AF: Briefly describe the design process?
MS: The designs for this project were originally created by hand in my studio by methodically wrapping coloured yarns around large strips of card. These are called card windings and are a common tool used by weavers to experiment with different stripe combinations. Lots of these were produced at the start of this collaboration and I went through many different options and ideas for combination, scale and colour before narrowing it down to three different stripe designs. Once selected I then worked into colours to create three colourways in each stripe pattern.
AF: Would you design runners different from carpet?
MS: The stripes in this collection are very versatile and the same design would make a striking statement as both a carpet or a runner. The ticking stripe could be a fabulous stair runner! The different designs have been created to mix and match through a home to define different zones whilst linking the spaces.
How to use colourful stripes in your home
AF: Tell us about selecting colours?
MS: When designing the Margo Selby Stripes, I was looking for a combination of stripe designs and colours to create a varied, balanced collection which could co-ordinate harmoniously. I wanted to ensure that there were clear contrasts between the stripe patterns, juxtaposing large even bands with small intricate repeats. I have carefully designed the palette so that the striped carpets will work in large areas within a home and complement the other articles used in the space. In production, we worked with an inspiring manufacturer who could handle the complex multi-coloured designs without limitation.
AF: Did living by the coast inspire this collection?
MS: Living by the coast there is an inevitable influence from my environment. The blue palette reflects the shoreline and landscape with its soft blues and greys. The yellow and grey palette is much gentler than some of the palettes I worked on before I relocated to Kent. These soft subtle shades of ochre and grey have developed in my artworks over the past few years and have influenced this collection.
AF: What do you love about Whitstable?
MS: Whitstable is a thriving community of passionate creatives which has resulted in a town bursting with vigor for good food, music, design and the arts.
AF: Sum up your interior style in three words!
MS: Playful, eclectic, crafted.
Coming soon! Margo Selby Stripes comprises nine stripes; three blocstripes, three pencil stripes and three ticking stripes in Sun, Surf and Frolic shades.