It has been quite the year for Frank Lloyd Wright fans. Not only is one of the architect’s original, untouched houses for sale in Minnesota, his original fabric designs from the 1950s are being re-released in honor of his 150th birthday.
Back in 1955, Frank Lloyd Wright—known for such architectural masterpieces as Falling Water, the home pictured below—partnered with the fabric brand Schumacher for his debut fabric collection.
The story goes that it was the former editor of House Beautiful, Elizabeth Gordon, who encouraged FLW to start a fabric line so that even people who couldn’t live in one of his iconic houses would have a chance to experience his designs.
According to Wallpaper, a design and lifestyle website, Frank’s line was revived after current creative director Dara Caponigro joined Schumacher in 2013 and discovered the collection. Caponigro reached out to the Wright Foundation to see if the patterns could be revived.
“It became clear it was a very important collection that had the imprint of one of the most — probably the most – important American architect,” Caponigro told Wallpaper.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s original collection included 26 geometrically-inspired fabrics, all of which are featured in the revival. As an added bonus, 14 new patterns are being realized as well, created based on a number of Wright’s drawings and patterns, bringing the total up to 40.
There have been some other, minor changes to the original parts of the collection as well.
“The colors that were used for the original collection speak to that time,” Caponigro said. “But the designs themselves are completely transcendent, so pure, and timeless.”
The original patterns used a lot of reds, greens and browns in concert—you know, typical ’50s palette. The upgraded version hinges on grey, taupes and blues to match the trends of today.
“We used colours that still speak to the Frank Lloyd Wright aesthetic, but are more clear in tone,” said Pamela Marshall, Schumacher’s director of design in an interview with Wallpaper. ‘The grounds are cleaner and whiter, [which] immediately freshened the look.”
Want in on some of these iconic fabrics? You’ll have to go through a registered interior designer or other pro. The Applied Architecture collection is available to those in the biz via Schumacher.