Designer Draws Inspiration from Versailles and Europe; Juxtaposes Old with New
The Palace of Versailles—a royal château, a symbol of nobility and Parisian design and, now, the muse for Seattle-based interior designer Brian Paquette’s concept for the new Sunbrella® space in InterHall at High Point Market.
Enamored by the iconic piece of history, Paquette drew inspiration for his color palette from the contrasting mix of colors in the palace. The Sunbrella space features saturated jewel tones of citron yellow paired with soft pastel greens, pinks and blues. Grounding the palette and providing balance are deep maroon, burgundy and black textiles, and opulent wood and stone textures on case goods.
“Everything in the space plays with juxtaposition,” Paquette says. “The color palette fuses bright, bold colors with muted tones. The textures range from wool suiting to bouclé yarns and everything in between. The entire design is a mix of old and new with inspirations from old world Paris to today’s Europe. If you can’t reference the past, you have no business doing the future.”
With a nod to a historic masterpiece in the color palette, Paquette then turned an eye towards the aesthetic of new Europe, modernizing the space through textures, furnishings and styling. Inspired by today’s European designers and their emphasis on curve and texture, Paquette pushes the boundaries of what is expected from a performance fabric.
“Sunbrella completely flips the script for indoor spaces,” Paquette says. “Visitors to the InterHall space will experience a super luxe, beautiful room with fabrics that are soft and comfortable. The performance attributes of Sunbrella are an unexpected bonus.”
As with all Sunbrella fabrics, the textiles Paquette chose for his design are fade proof, easy to care for, and bleach cleanable.
“Brian has truly embraced both the design and the performance of Sunbrella,” says Harrison Hood, indoor sales manager for Sunbrella. “He zealously accepted our challenge to create a luxurious, high-performance indoor space. Our mantra for the last few years has been to ‘create art in everything we do,’ and Brian’s background in painting and conceptual art led to the creation of several unique textile artworks. We look forward to sharing them and our latest fabric designs with visitors to High Point Market.”
Playing with the warp and weft of the fabric, Paquette designed large-scale minimalist ‘paintings’ showing the blending of different yarn colors. Like one of his favorite painters, Mark Rothko, Paquette lets the color trail off naturally and effortlessly.
“What excites me the most is that everything in the space is Sunbrella,” Paquette says. “From the upholstery to the artwork and the walls, to several decorative accessories, the fabrics are all soft to the touch and durable—the perfect combination.”
For more information on Sunbrella upholstery fabrics, visit IH210 during High Point Market, April 14–18, or explore the full collection at sunbrella.com.
ABOUT SUNBRELLA FABRICS
Sunbrella has revolutionized the way the world thinks about how beautiful fabrics look, feel and perform. Luxuriously soft and exceptionally beautiful, Sunbrella fabrics integrate style with legendary performance qualities: proven durability, fade resistance, easy care and bleach cleanability. Led by a global design team, premium Sunbrella fabric gives consumers, designers and architects the materials they need to create the extraordinary in marine, shade, indoor upholstery, outdoor upholstery, commercial and contract applications.
Introduced in 1961, Sunbrella fabrics are manufactured and marketed by Glen Raven, Inc., a 138-year-old family-owned company based in North Carolina with operations worldwide. Sunbury Textiles recently joined Sunbrella after 22 years of close partnership. Sunbury adds luxury decorative fabric design and production, combining historic reference and modern interpretation to create beautifully unique fabrics. For more information on Sunbrella, including inspiration, fabric collections and where to buy, visit sunbrella.com.
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