Person: WILLIAM MORRIS, textile designer.
With so many designers showing intricate florals at New York Fashion Week (see: Ostwald Helgason, the wallpaper at Alice + Olivia, and the setting for Tory Burch’s runway show), I thought I’d pay a lil homage to the man who inspired those pretty things: William Morris.
Morris was part of the arts & crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century. His design firm with Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti played a huge role in influencing the interior design of the early part of the century. As a textile designer, he revived traditional production methods and created some of the most recognized florals in interior design.
As a kid, Morris was like that sick boy in the Secret Garden. He read a lot of Waverleys and hung out alone in the woods wearing a suit of armor and studying birds. I’m not saying he was a loser (I did the same thing minus the armor, though I wish I had one), but he definitely wasn’t voted most popular in his small English village.
When he got to university, young William joined the Pembroke set, a group of boys who loved medieval poetry, pre-Raphaelite paintings, Ruskin and Tennyson. Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., a design firm, was founded in 1861. They took on commissions in a variety of mediums, from stained glass to chintzes to carpets. In 1881, Morris’ business expanded into the tapestry industry, for which he is most famous today.
His love for the medieval period comes through in this work, the designs of his fabrics with winding motifs like the stories told in medieval tapestries. The usage of flat lines and colors are reminiscent of the somber Gothic art he so loved.
1862: repeating pattern wallpaper! Who wouldn’t want that in their salons? Always kickin’ in old school, Morris used antiquated hand woodblock printing. I feel that, Will, you don’t need fancy rollers.You can get Morris print wallpapers today if you want, they’re everywhere. And in a million different colorways. So go crazy in your house.
Other reasons to love him (if I haven’t sold you already):
- He was reallllly into modern fantasy, JRR Tolkien’s writing was influenced by Morris’ work.
- He helped found the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which everyone should appreciate. Morris really loved architecture while he studied it in his early school years, but he never practiced it professionally. Inspired by Ruskin’s essay “the Nature of Gothic,” Morris became an advocate for the preservation of old buildings. Without this group, England would be a mess of ruins mixed with modern architecture like some sort of apocalypse movie set.
- Frank Lloyd Wright loved him. And if you don’t trust whom FLW loves, then I don’t trust you. Frank said “All artists love and honor William Morris. He did the best in his time for art.”
Design is fine. History is mine. 