Kelly Hoppen & de Gournay: Asian aesthetics meet innovation
Renowned British interior designer Kelly Hoppen has partnered with the high-end wallpaper specialist de Gournay to create a series of handmade, state-of-the-art wallpaper designs influenced by Hoppen’s East meets West aesthetic.
Gypsum wallpaper
Asian traditional cultural symbols such as bamboo trees, Chinese tiles and scripts, become the main subjects in the abstracted patterns. This series is an embodiment of novel techniques and the product of a symbiotic collaboration of icons in art. It combines de Gournay’s unique handmade craft practice with Kelly Hoppen’s modern tasteful expertise. Since 1986, de Gournay has been bringing spaces to life with avant-garde prints. Their vibrant hand-painted motifs can transform any ordinary room into an enchanting and idyllic world filled with blooming meadows, flying birds and a rich landscape of trees. This “marque de luxe” is redefining design by merging different crafts together; paper, paint effects, embroidery, textile and metallic sheets, to put up an exceptional setting.
Bouclé wallpaper
Bouclé wallpaper
While their most famous and widespread collection is Chinoiserie, a new abstracted one has emerged in which de Gournay’s famous expression is revisited. The collaboration with Kelly Hoppen unveils a range of prints that transform traditional Asian iconography into contemporary art. This has enabled de Gournay to shift its focus on unprecedented applications of textures, materiality and tonal colour palettes. By abstracting traditional motifs and using the trompe-l’œil technique, they were able to render flat, static icons as dynamic and volumetric ones. The compositions tackle different gestures of representation; Culmus and Kumu explore abstract depictions of bamboo trees; the former focuses on three-dimensionality while the latter emphasizes on contrast and the natural properties of the tree. Architectural qualities of cladding are also established in the shapes – Gypsum and Tilt allude to three-dimensional effects with the use of shadows and traditional tiles of Chinese architecture. While Bouclé and Tempo are more expressive prints with bold energetic brush strokes that recall scripts and ornamentation. These timeless ornaments vividly immerse people in the Asian culture in an advanced way.
By introducing them in spaces, wallpapers become a powerful tool in style. A wall, a once still a vertical surface, can now turn into a living one, full of movement, adventure and experience.
Kumu wallpaper
Culmus wallpaper