My love affair with Ikat fabric began about 10 years ago when a very trendy friend in London alerted me to the work of Robert Kime. Robert had helped her decorate her house in the country – (he was also doing the Prince of Wales’ house down the road – too smart for words!) and had covered a pair of very fine English antique chairs with vintage Kente cloth from Ghana. I was beyond impressed! The juxtaposition of the two completely diverse old world cultures sent my imagination down a whole new set of decorating paths. Global fabrics became my new obsession.
The very next time I was in London I plucked up all my courage and rang the door bell of the minute Robert Kime shop on Kensington Church Street – black door, very scary. The inside was like a treasure chest, gorgeous furniture and lights, amazing printed fabrics, suzani’s in the richest of colours and pillows made out of the most beautiful narrow loom Ikat fabrics I had ever seen. I became obsessed with Ikat, started using in in many of my schemes. I found it always added a little twist to my designs, made them less stuffy. I started collecting antique Ikat fabrics found in my travels around the antique stores and antique fairs. My favourites were the ones in the crazy colours from Uzbekistan.
