The latest From Mungo: The Vrou-Vrou Throw

WORDS Amelia Brown

A classic pattern and a classic weaving construction have been combined in a graphic and contemporary way through the use of scale and colour in Mungo‘s bold new blanket.

Its name is a play on the word “froufrou”, which describes ornamentation or the sound of rustling fabric. It is the first design from Mungo’s designer Lenore Schroeder under the tutelage of Mungo’s founder and Master Weaver Stuart Holding. Lenore delved into Mungo’s vast archives of historic patterns and designs, studying the checks of the classic Harris Tweed that was originally woven on the Hattersley looms that Mungo uses today.

Lenore was equally fascinated by the potential of waffle weave. “Even though the honeycomb weave is traditionally perceived as a construction used for bath towels I wanted to push the boundary a bit and introduce the weave into other products,” she says. The throw is woven with cotton grown in Southern Africa in nine different coloured yarns on a wide-width Dornier loom at the Mungo Mill in Plettenberg Bay. The pure cotton yarn ensures that it remains light and breathable – a chunky blanket built for winter, but also a quilt for the summer months.

“For me, the Vrou-Vrou is a piece of textile art that is functional. The interior trends at the moment are so focused on minimalism that I thought why not throw in a 3D construction fabric in amazing colours?” Experimenting with intersections of colour, increasing the scale of the well-known plaid check, and using the neat, pocket-like structure of the weave then became the building blocks for the Vrou-Vrou Throw.

It is available in two colourways: Magenta, which sees Petrol Blue, Wild Yam, Aubergine, Cerise and Pumpkin in the warp meet French Navy, Natural, Citronelle and Rust; and Tamarind, which artfully combines a warp of Pumpkin, Pebble, Cocoa, Wild Yam and Moon Silver with Beige, Natural, Mustard and Charcoal in the weft.

Of the colourways Lenore says, “When I was studying textile design in 2001, I was a poor student without access to the internet or design magazines, so I always got my inspiration for textiles in fine art and from artists like Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Wassily Kandinsky. Their use of colour and texture has always inspired me and I think it’s still the underlying influence in my approach to colour,” she explains.

“The thought process behind the Magenta colourway was to experiment with “throwing” colours across the warp and weft to see the beautiful outcome. For the Tamarind colourway, I got my inspiration from Maison et Objet in Paris in January. I noticed the introduction of warm ochre colours mixed with pumpkin and charcoal tones. I think the colour combination is well suited to the South African market.”

The hand-finished throws come in double, queen, king and super king sizes and start from R3 070. Shop them online on Mungo’s gorgeous site, then read about Mungo’s mill in Plettenberg Bay here. And while you’re waiting for your order to arrive, take a 360º tour of the mill here.