In The Spot Light - Desacamps Discovered

French bedlinen specialist Descamps has been dressing stylish beds since 1888, drawing inspiration for its designs from a mix of global travels, traditional methods and the catwalk for colour combinations. It was one of the first homewares brands to work with fashion designers, more than three decades’ ago, in its collections and its motto has always been the dream “to be surprising and to make people smile”. The intimate experience of the brand’s luxurious feel and generosity in size and quality is key to the success of this well-respected homewares brand (which now offers everything for the home from bedding and towels, to robes, beach gear and bedside accessories).

Its head designer, Mara Nicolle, says “inspiration can come from anything and everything, but particularly from the unexpected mix of opposites in pattern and hue.” One of this season’s styles, Mara explains, was born from a mixture of ideas that came from the art world: black and white pictures of flowers by the artist Janine Niepce and a dahlia by photographer Sarah Moon combined with a hint of graphic pop art. “The aim is to create textiles and fabrics that differ from the more usual classic approach, so in this collection I developed a new approach to embroidery. The result is a very contemporary line that is stylish and elegant through its balance of colours and refined composition.”

The brand revels in textures like cotton, mohair, satin, silk and linen, famous for its rich, luxe colour palette (from deep midnight blues to spicy orange and red to crisp ice white). Many of this season’s colours have been inspired by Mexico: Mara has drawn on the influences of local architects like Luis Barragan and Ricardo Legorreta, for their use of bold, bright colours and sense of volume, and India Madhavi’s feminine, elegantly-proportioned designs for The Condesa DF hotel in Mexico City.

With a new shop just opened in the heart of Marylebone High Street (with interiors designed by leading French architect François Muracciole, respected for his strong, industrial design influences), and a nod to couture (from the use of shirting fabrics in some of the bedding range to the new tailored dressing gowns with more than a hint of sexy ‘60s swing coat about them), it is an exciting time for the brand and indeed, as a result, for our bedrooms.