LIFE BEYOND FIRST CLASS
DESIGN & ARCHTIECTURE
PAPER WITH PRESENCE
Marking its twentieth year, Fromental celebrates its renowned hand painted and embroidered artistry while embracing smart tools like high fidelity printing, interactive AR elements, and a new ecommerce platform, debuting Papier Chinois with craft still at the center.
SAMANTHA GREENE
In 2005 Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes decided to chase an audacious idea: make the most beautiful wallcoverings in the world and treat walls as canvases for original decorative art. Two decades later, Fromental has done exactly that, and then some. The studio’s hand still leads every decision, yet its eye is firmly on what comes next. The result is a house with a rare mix of heritage, curiosity, and a little swagger.
The foundation remains the hand. In Fromental’s primary studio in China, artisans paint and embroider with a patience that borders on heroic. Panoramic silks unfold over weeks, not days. Metallic tea papers are rubbed and layered until they catch light the way skin catches sun. Mountainscapes are collaged with a painter’s sense of rhythm. Butterflies, magnolia blooms, and fine branches travel across panels with grace and intent. This is the work that made the studio a fixture for designers and collectors who expect beauty to hold up under close inspection.
Millefleurs - Bright Green Collection.
The tool kit has expanded in smart ways. Tim and Lizzie welcome technology when it serves the art. Archive-quality printers sit alongside brushes and silk frames, capturing every stroke and stitch so hybrid surfaces can deliver the nuance of the original without the wait. It is not a shortcut. It is another instrument in the orchestra, used when a project asks for speed or scale and the standard cannot slip.
An anniversary year invites a little reflection and a confident step forward. The brand has kept true best sellers in the collection for fifteen to twenty years, collaborated with fashion and design houses from Harris Reed to Raynaud and Lalique, and placed work in landmark hotels and private homes around the world. Most importantly, it has helped move decorative art from the edges of a room to the center.
Millefleurs - Blue Sky Collection.
The headline this season is Papier Chinois, a printed wallpaper collection landed in September alongside Fromental’s new ecommerce platform. After twenty years of hand painted silk, the studio is opening the door wider without lowering the bar. Four Chinoiserie patterns lead the launch. Bambois, Florent, and Rocaille, are joined by Millefleurs, a new design with quiet confidence. Each panel preserves the look of the originals, right down to the brushwork that can take up to fifty hours by hand.
Papier Chinois is built to be used. Patterns come in rolls with two or three panels, starting at 325 dollars per panel. Lead times are four to six weeks rather than the twelve weeks or more common to hand painted orders. The new site includes a roll calculator and clear video guides so both designers and homeowners can plan and install with less guesswork. Millefleurs also debuts an augmented reality layer, activated once the wallpaper is installed, bringing the pattern to life as an interactive experience.
From Top: Florent - Orangery Garden Collection; Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes.
Clockwise, from Top Left: Bambois - Goldenhaze Collection; Bambois - Domino Yellow Collection, Bambois - Deep Teal Collection.
The brand’s sensibility remains the same. Historic classicism is treated with respect and occasionally with a wink. Materials are chosen for depth and longevity. Technology enters the room only when it protects the integrity of the image and improves the experience for the client. No gratuitous tricks. Just tools that keep the focus on craft and clarity.
From Left to Right, Top: The Millefleurs Collection: Blue
Sky, Butterscotch, Pastel, Middle: Midnight, Seafoam,
Inkwell, Bottom: Harbor, Snow White,and Soft Breeze.
Two decades in, Fromental feels both established and awake. The hand painted and embroidered ateliers continue to deliver the work that defines the house. Papier Chinois extends that language to new rooms and new timelines. The ecommerce platform makes access easier without compromising standards. It all reads as one thought. Beauty should be made with care. Beauty should be built to last. And beauty should meet the moment without chasing it.
Rocaille - Pale Azure Collection.
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