Thursday, February 14, 2008

What's in a Name?


Don't you just love the pattern names of fabrics and wallpapers? I would assume that a fair amount of thought goes into choosing the names as they're an important part of defining the style and spirit of a particular print. It seems that exotic locales, grand estates, and women's names top the popularity list. As I'm sure you've noticed, there are certain names that are used by many different lines, but the similarities end here. It's interesting (at least to me!) to see the different interpretations amongst the various lines. Here is just a sampling:


"Shanghai" wallpaper by Scalamandre


"Shanghai" fabric by John Stefanidis



"Yin" silk fabric by Scalamandre


"Yang" linen fabric by Scalamandre


"Yin Yang" fabric by John Stefanidis


"Saigon" wallpaper by Clarence House


"Saigon" wallpaper by Cole and Son


"Tabriz" fabric by Clarence House


"Tabriz" by Thibaut


"Antoinette" fabric by Vervain


"Antoinette" wallpaper by Tyler Hall


"Peacock" wallpaper by Hamilton Weston


"Peacock" fabric by Robert Kime


"Bagatelle" wallpaper by Tyler Hall


"Bagatelle" fabric by Michael Devine

14 comments:

  1. It's like paint colours... they're so vaguely descriptive that they don't tell you anything at all!

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  2. Very clever Jennifer!

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  3. Wouldn't you just love to be paid to come up with names of wallpaper and paint?

    A rose by any other name is just a carnation with a pedigree.

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  4. Remember when everyone used to laugh at the names of J Crew's colors??!!

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  5. How clever of you! Great selection.Thank you for sharing.

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  6. Wonderful - I love wall paper though it isn't really practical in Marrakesh........
    Greetings

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  7. great observation! great collection and you are totally right about the naming. It's very important to set the viewer in the right frame of mind.

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Karen

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  8. I can assure you, as someone who worked in fabric design/development, coming up with new design names and colour names is mostly fun, sometimes challenging, and often frustrating!

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  9. I love this kind of game . Just think what name I would have choosed for a fabric ! Sometimes it is obvious ..but sometimes not

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  10. Suzy- I can just imagine! I'm sure it's not as easy as it seems!

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  11. Karen- So true! Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day!

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  12. So funny. I have been messing around with my creating own pattern designs and have to think of descriptive, original file names to save them as on my computer. You run out of ideas quickly!

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  13. Suzani is another oft used name - ones that come to mind donghia,Canovas,Carlton V - to name a few! Great post, as usual and congrats on 1st Dibs

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  14. Peak,
    So so clever! I love it. You are such a repository of design knowledge. Keep it up!

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