Fabrics & Papers

Neisha Crosland

Articles

Neisha Crosland, a design house named after its talented founder, was established in 1994 and produces a range of iconic wallpapers and fabrics.

Neisha Crosland studied graphic design at Camberwell School of Art before changing to textile design, after she fell in love with 16th Century textile designs from the Ottoman Empire. She then designed for Osborne & Little before branching out and starting her own design house.

Neisha Crosland has won numerous design awards, and many of her creations have been collected by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Vibrant combinations of colour, dynamic, often oversized graphic designs, and an abundance of style, have become inextricably entwined with the name of Neisha Crosland.

As well as designing wallpapers and fabrics, Neisha Crosland also creates collections for other homeware and accessory labels.

Her designs are as much home in a children’s bedroom or a guest room or dining room. Her designs are full of quirky, fantasy and jovial living.

Latest Collection: Wallpaper 7, January 2011

Neisha Crosland’s newest collection, Wallpaper 7 is a series of six geometric designs and two large scale floral designs. Each design comes in six or seven colour ways.

The shock colour ensembles of Sobranie cigarettes, with their richly coloured gold tipped filters and the confectionary coloured enamel decorating Swedish match boxes, all helped create the colour-ways of Crosland’s exciting new Wallpaper 7 Collection. Her grandmother’s espresso coffee spoons and the painted walls and plasterwork of Robert Adam, were also key in Crosland’s inspiration process.

For the geometric patterns, Crosland drew her inspiration from less familiar objects, and instead chose North African tiles, Fez pots, basket weave, Moorish architecture and decorative details of tadelakt (polished plasterwork) and Zellij (mosaic).

Neisha Crosland’s floral papers took influence from Paul Poiret’s 1920’s embroidery, Jacobean paisley and the Indian Tree of Life.

Below are brief descriptions on each piece:

Aladdin

A repeat of double-linked Riad-inspired arches giving a shadowed chain-mail effect. Colours: Storm, Kiwi, Opal, Navy Cream, Tsar Blue, White on White.

Domino

A series of bullet-like lozenge shapes are held together by surface printed dots on this paper. It is arranged in stripes, but takes on an interesting trellis, basket-weave effect, giving it either a tribal, Aztec look or a medieval, heraldic flag flavour. The non woven, fibrous paper it is printed on gives the impression that it is printed onto a silk fabric rather than a paper. Colours: Twine, Indian Pink, Pebble, Hyacinth, Yellow Lilac.

Lantern

A castellated arch combined with the shape of Moroccan lanterns strangely morphs into a neo-gothic, Augustus Pugin like pattern adorns this wallpaper design by Neisha Crosland. Colours: Rose, Turquoise, Desert, Pigeon Grey, Buff, Pearl, Cream.

Majorelle

Although it started life as a motif inspired by a Fez pot, its colour and mood is taken from the interiors of 18th century architect Robert Adam, with their chalky white gypsum plaster held on soft, fondant icing like backdrops. Colours: Lupin, Mint, Stucco Cream, Gypsum White, Box Cream, Willow Green.

Minuet

Inspiration for Minuet was drawn from the Oberkampf archive, Arab mosaic-work, and old linoleum floors. Colours: powdery and soft, Thunder, Stone, Lilac Smog, Tea Rose, Bluebell, Cobalt, Kiwi.

Parterre

Little castellated rectangles, laid out in a herringbone pattern like a parquet floor or Dobby weave are what makes Parterre so intricate. A useful, small scale co-ordinate that comes in a range of light and dark colours from Neisha Crosland. Colours are Vanilla, Pea, Juniper, Soot, Chalk, Sky.

Pepper Trail

‘Pepper Trail’ is a lush large-scale, rambling design, with the sprightliness and jocularity of a court-jester. All colour-ways are printed on various shades of buff, stone and cream. Colours: Pimento Red, Mustard Violet, Delft Blue, Ash Pink, Lacquer Grey, Buff Grey.

Jacob’s Tree

Large abstract magnolia flowers have been grafted onto a tree of life. Delicate marks suggest the embroidery stitches that inspired Neisha Crosland for this design – faintly reminiscent of the copper etched illustrations in a fairy tale book. Colours: Old Rose, Parma Violet, Green Tea, Black & Cream, Snow, Egg Blue, Milk.