Celebrating ‘quiet luxury with beautifully designed, sustainable fabric for interiors’ is a motto that resonates across all that Juliette
creates at her design studio.
Inspired from a childhood filled with artistic creativity, to finding solace in art later in life due to challenging times, design and craft have always been a constant in Juliette’s life.
A lecturer in textiles and design for over 15 years, today Juliette combines her experience and passion for craft and art at her new luxury fabric design company, with the aim to bring beautifully designed, sustainable fabrics into homes.
Combining a number of techniques from hand embroidery, painting, wirework, drawing, paper cutting, photography and more, using mostly recycled materials, Juliette is a mixed media artist who can visualise an idea and explore different was to express it.
“We create original fabric designs for nature lovers that care about the environment whilst also appreciating style and authenticity in our beautiful linen interior collections”, says Juliette.
With people now spending more time than ever at home, interiors that bring us both physical and emotional comfort are vital, and Juliette O Designs are keen to contribute to this in some way.
Running a small business has its challenges, what do you enjoy the most about running your business?
Running a business certainly has its challenges but I love the variety that each day brings; I could be busy preparing for a trade show one day, working with an interior designer the next, giving a talk on being creative or sitting with my sketchbook designing on another!
I also love being able to manage my time on my own terms which certainly comes in handy when juggling appointments and family demands.
How do you approach sustainability?
All our designed fabrics feature British and European raw linen materials which are woven and printed in Britain and made to order to minimise wastage.
All natural and sustainable, the fabrics do not contain any plastics or aggressors, yet have a long lifespan in line with their usage, providing many years for you to enjoy, they will biodegrade over time without damaging the environment or leaving plastic waste. Unlike fabrics that contain plastic, they will not last forever – we believe this is a good thing.
Our prints are digitally printed with this process having huge environmental benefits over screen-printing which uses far more power and water. Digital printing also favours a significant reduction in both waste and in its carbon footprint with its flexibility enabling us to use a print to order approach. Our printers use pigment inks which use less water than reactive dyes and the chemical usage is minimised and disposed of in a safe manner.
Our fabrics are ethically and environmentally farmed in Europe with flax being sourced only from producers that hold a Master of Linen certification, a sign of excellence for linen 100% made in Europe, from field to yarn to fabric. A benchmark for both the trade and the consumer and means that our fabric is traceable, back to the field.
The mixed media artwork (from which my designs are created) is mostly made from recycled materials such as expired coffee granules and leftover scraps – this was how I used to encourage students to design without having to buy expensive materials and what I often give talks on.
What’s next?
We are a new company, launching at the Decorex interiors trade show in October (2023). All of our products are new. Our fabrics are 100% Sustainable Linen which are woven and printed in the UK with original designs that are developed from mixed media artwork. Our collection includes 45 different products over five different ranges.
See Juliette’s profile on the Little Green Book here
