No. 9 Thompson and the Orientaliste Collection

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Jerry Pair Showroom and view No. 9 Thompson's new fabric collection, The Orientaliste Collection. For those of you who might not be familiar with No. 9 Thompson (and truth be told I really wasn't until last week), it's the more current, more relaxed, and moderately priced line offered by Jim Thompson.

Richard Smith, designer of the line, and Chad Holman,Vice President of Jim Thompson, walked me through the new collection, and I can't tell you how impressed I was. Inspired by the Far East, Smith took classic Chinoiserie patterns and motifs and transformed them into something so fresh and so unique. There is a classic toile, florals, abstracts, and stripes, but each print has a twist: a stripe is given subtly wavy lines; a peony has ever so slightly metallic leaves; and a traditional porcelain print is rendered in a graphic way. And many of the prints have a painterly quality to them, not surprising as Smith is an artist who paints many of his designs first before taking them to Thailand to be woven.

There are so many great things about this line. The colors are so rich, vibrant, and yummy. The fabrics mix well together- and with those from other lines too. And despite the fact that the fabric is well made and looks expensive, it's actually so affordable. (Many of these fabrics cost less than what you find at discount fabric stores.) Anyway, I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll let the photos do the talking for me.



"China Lilly" is a print of lilies and clouds conceived and painted by Smith.


"Fretwork" is the most beautiful printed linen. That golden yellow colorway almost made me faint- and I usually am not a fan of yellow.


"Hexastripe" was based on the shapes of Chinese paving stones. The colors are amazing. I'm crazy for this print.



The peonies of "Kesi" were inspired by those in an antique Chinese tapestry. Some of the leaves have a metallic overprinting to them- subtle but still so chic.


"Nanking" is a far cry from the traditional porcelain prints favored by Nancy Lancaster, but the fresh, graphic look of it just might win over a new audience.


"Puwen", the Chinese word for striped fabric, has a herringbone weave.




"Tea Party", a print that I think will have a lot of fans.


"Treillage" is a linen weave. The colors are so much more rich in person than in my amateur photograph.


"Yangtze" is the print with the undulating stripes.

Image at top: "Hexastripe" on the console and "China Lilly" on the shade. The professional photographs are courtesy of David Christensen. The photos with the bad lighting...courtesy of me.