Auckland-based designer Rachel Carley has recently added an extra arrow to her design bow, this time in the form of fabric cushions. Still echoing Rachel's love for tactility, this collection contains textile designs created by fine artists that are then realised by luxury textile houses in both France and England.

A wealth of art-history-knowledge, we asked Rachel to share a little back story on some of her favourite artists and patterns...

— Mil Neuf Cent Vingt Cushion, $665

Mil Neuf Cent Vingt is based on a painting by Parisian artist Léon Texier from the 1920s. This print, on stonewashed linen, shows a constellation of concentric circles that ‘stretch out towards infinity.’ The painting is heavily influenced by the works of Sonia and Robert Delaunay, whose work (considered part of an art movement called Orphism) offered a counterpoint to Cubism with a focus on pure abstraction and bright, harmonious colours. This fabric, comprised of thirty colours, is produced by Pierre Frey, the celebrated luxury textiles house in France. 

— Fleurs Etoilees Clementine Cushion, $524

The British textile house Christopher Farr Cloth (est. 2000) in association with Brochier Soieries have reissued a limited selection of fabrics by the celebrated French painter, illustrator, and designer Raoul Dufy (1877-1953). Dufy studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, in 1900. His work as a painter was associated with the Fauves and their preference for vivid, brilliant colours. In 1911 he began translating his woodcuts into textile designs in association with Paul Poiret, the most fashionable dress-designer of pre–First World War Europe. Dufy was also an acclaimed interior designer, and regularly exhibited his work at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs.

This textile design for this cushion, Fleurs Etoilees in clementine, features one of Dufy’s signature floral motifs on a neutral background.

— Sunset Cushion in Poppy Gold, $558

Jack Lenor Larsen (b.1927) studied architecture at the University of Washington where his interest in textiles was piqued when students were required to practice weaving in an effort to learn more about textiles. In an Elle Décor article from 2011 Larsen notes that that he ‘melded weaving and architecture and got something new.’ So began a fêted career in textile design. Larsen’s revolutionary approach to colour, pattern, and texture, inspired by modernist architecture and textile traditions from around the world made his fabrics firm favourites with mid-century designers, working with Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Girard, and Florence Knoll. Larsen's designs are held in a number of international museums and he has been honoured with an exhibition in the Palais du Louvre.

— Alpine Splendor Cushion, $443

Epicea (trans. Spruce) is part of the Refuge 2 Collection by the Parisian textile house Nobilis. This large scale landscape image of snow-capped mountains and a grove of spruce trees beside a lake is based on an unknown (but we think spectacular!) painting from the 1950s. This cushion celebrates retreat: offering vibrant textiles to curl up with on a sofa: in the mountains, the countryside, near a lake or by the beach.

Rachel Carley's fabric cushion collection is now available in store and online.