Artful fabric

Louis Boshoff isn’t sure what inspired his limited range of bespoke signature artist fabrics. He says it could be the new Cecil Beaton monograph from Assouline, the re-release of Sanderson’s 50’s library or the last episode of the second season of Mad Men.

Entitled “The Legs of your Tears”, the artful fabric arose out of a collaboration with artist Ruan Hoffmann. Reminiscent of 50s fashion prints, the continuous design is hand-printed on washable, dual-purpose, cotton-linen blend fabric and evokes the fluidity of water lilies and abstracted organic shapes. One thing that Louis is sure about is that the fabric is the product of a new wave of nostalgia that’s been washed over him.

“Ruan Hoffmann, my partner, is the source of a lifetime of imagery and even though most of his exposure has been in ceramic art, he also does paintings and graphics. It is one of these etchings that I chose to work with: The Legs of your Tears. I found the title poignant and the image beguiling. It’s what we are all made of. It’s what makes us move, keeps us standing: on the legs of our tears.”

Louis says that in his work as an interior concepts creative he has always struggled to find decent fabrics – and by decent he means practical. “Fabrics that you can buy several meters of without having to appear in the client’s office or rework the budget with answers like ‘who needs air-conditioning in this weather anyway?’”

With an addiction to beauty, Louis says the move to marrying art and fabric was a natural one, inspired by artists and designers before him. “The Ascher studio in London was a great inspiration in that they were just as passionate. They printed the most exquisite scarves from artworks by Nicolas de Stael and Henry Moore.”

His own proudly South African fabric, hand printed in Cape Town, was altered as little as possible, staying true to the inky aesthetic of the line strokes of the artist.

“It was important for me to produce something truly South African, fashionable and of an international standard. The image was manipulated by myself, I designed it so it would be flexible enough to look fabulous upholstered on a bergère and equally so as a backdrop of drapery. The scale also plays a role in making it striking whilst the design repitition remains more demure.”

With no doubt that Louis achieved what he set out to do, we look forward to seeing what this multi-talented creative comes up with next. The rest of his range is already available and can be ordered directly from Louis.

For more information and to place orders: www.louisboshoff.com