In 2017, I took an incredible trip to Tokyo and found this indigo-printed fabric that I just fell in love with. The fabric itself is a fine, silky, lightweight cotton—it might have been a beautiful shirt at one time—and the pattern is very much Japanese but with a Western flair. The vintage shops there were full of items influenced by the American Old West, and this fabric definitely has that feeling. Somehow that was a decade ago, and I still think it’s so charming.

This fabric inspired Grass, which we added to the line in 2019. It has always been a favorite of mine—I have the black and natural version in my house—but it was never quite what I imagined. We were screen printing at the time, and I couldn’t get the dark, rich colors I wanted for the ground. When our screen printer went out of business last year, I had to decide which screen-printed patterns to redevelop and which ones to archive. I couldn’t let Grass go, so I took the opportunity to refresh it as a digital print and make it into what I had envisioned all along. 

Looking back at our line in this way got me thinking about how my design process—really, my editing process—has changed since I started it 13 years ago. When I launched Grass, I don’t think I fully realized that we’d still be offering the same patterns 10 or 15 years into the future. I was just a few years out from designing for retail. That in-and-out, seasonal mentality is so different from what I do. It’s reinforced that I only want to launch things I deeply believe in. If I’m putting something out into the world, I want it to be sure that it’s beautiful, that it deserves a place in someone’s home, that it’s offering something fresh or meaningful. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a best seller—although of course I want things to sell and love it when something I think will sell well delivers—but it does have to be strong and fully realized. I push myself to take the long view, to consider whether I really love a pattern and whether it has the “legs” to work years from now. Not everything will, and that’s okay, but it’s a question I try to ask myself.

I’ve gotten better at listening to my inner voice when I’m unsure about the answer too. I’ve found that designs that don’t hold up over time slip through when I “needed” another design to fill out a collection or when I was feeling ungrounded or spread too thin. It also happens when I feel like I’ve put too much time into something to set it aside—or that one of our partners has. Sometimes I am just impatient to share something that I love. I try to give myself space and time to sit with my art to know how I feel. I can’t always be certain, but giving myself more time allows me to look at a design as an editor and not just as the maker. Now, when a design I love isn’t living up to my original idea, I set it aside until I can try a different production method. 

As much as I try to give myself time and make sure I feel really good about the patterns we’re putting out, I also want to give myself freedom to try something new and not be so beholden to the idea that it has to be the best thing ever. You have to try things. You have to try new colors.  I want there to be variety and discovery in the line. I want people to fall in love with our patterns, just like I did with Grass. Sometimes designs resonate with many people or just a few people, but the results are the same. Not every color needs to be a bestseller, but it needs to open up people to new possibilities.

And of course, seeing my designs in your projects opens up new possibilities for me. I’ve learned that a fabric or wallpaper design is never really finished until it’s installed in a space. That’s another way I learn about what works and what doesn’t. I listen to your feedback and look at the data on what sells. I see how designs look on sofas, drapery, and pillows, layered into rooms. I love seeing you use them in ways I never imagined. So often, that’s what inspires me to try a design on a new ground or expand the color palette.

That thinking informed how I reimagined Grass for this launch. The ground is this beautiful linen that has such a nice drape and texture. With digital printing, we could achieve the deep, rich colors I always wanted—two-color prints too. They have this beautiful sun-washed quality that’s exactly what I imagined. I can’t wait to hear what you think and see how you use it. 

-Rebecca