Favourite Designers
Miscellany - Lucienne Day 1953 - http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O110355/miscellany-furnishing-fabric-lucienne-day/
Finding my design hero
It started in the Duncan of Jordonstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) library on a rainy day in 2nd year, feeling a bit lost looking through textiles books. That’s where I first saw a pattern that made me feel at home as a textile designer. It was Miscellany for British Celanese in 1953 by Lucienne Day. Day’s ethos and style spoke to me and it opened up the world of Mid Century Modern design to me. I had found my happy place!
Lucienne Day’s big break came when creating designs for The Festival of Britain 1951. She was able to design in a more open way, not to a commercial client brief. Her husband Robin Day had designed a modern living room/dining room space and Lucienne Day designed Calyx fabric for that more luxurious setup. The linen fabric had a floral design on it, but this wasn’t the floral designs I was used to in textiles. This design caught my eye with its textures, simplified shapes and line.
Lucienne Day created designs for everyone, from prints on classic luxury linen to affordable new man-made fabrics. Day believed that design should be for everyone. That’s why she is one of my design heroes!