Frette Goes to the Movies

Jennifer Marks -- Home Textiles Today, 4/2/2012 2:00:00 AM

In Frette Couture, The Millionaire line’s decorative paisley is based on a historical archive fabric.NEW YORK - International cinema provides the inspiration for Frette's fall/winter collection, which pulls motifs from movies set in India, Britain and Italy.
     The brand's crème de la crème Couture line pays tribute to Anglo-American films set in India and Bollywood with The Millionaire collection, which showcases an intricate design based on traditional Indian hammered metalwork techniques. The sateen cotton jacquard fabrics are finished to resemble silk and paired with raised, textured lines on quilts and covers that appear to be embossed.
     Also in Couture, The Golden Bowel includes Fanny, a decorative flying butterfly pattern that recalls Art Nouveau glasswork. Another pattern, Amerigo, reinterprets delicate gooseberry plants while the Maggie motif features a complex Deco design with giant butterflies on sateen cotton jacquard. Maggie also appears on embroidered quilts and embroidered edgings on bed and bath sets.
     Moving forward in time, Couture rounds out with a group of masculine, geometric designs called Seventies that pay homage to thrillers and adventure movies set in 1970s London.
     For the fall/winterThe Edmond Frette line addresses a more casual luxury customer with mixand- match pieces that can be personalized. 2012/2013 season, Frette is adding a new bathroom range to its Essentials line of luxury basics. New robes and towels are made from 650 gram, 100% Egyptian cotton, using cotton for both the warp and weft. Available in 12 colorways, the towels feature an embroidered double ‘F' logo.
     The Edmond Frette line, which caters to the luxury consumer more attuned to relaxed and contemporary design, looks to old Hollywood ranging from 1920's Deco to the 1940's Hollywood Regency style.
     Mix-and-match pieces includes bed sets, blankets, decorative pillows and throws.
     Frette blankets and throws are often the most indulgent aspects of the brand, and for the new season it introduces a 100% cashmere blanket called Sensitive that is hand-woven on antique shuttle looms by craftsmen in Tuscany. New Maniola throws feature two giant, facing butterflies. The silk/wool blended face of the throw reverses to silk lined with wool.
     In fur - and at Frette, fur is not faux - Multiframe is a sheared, dyed mink coverlet with shaded frames around the rectangular surface, fading from mink to grey to brown. Visionnaire is a longhaired, dyed mink coverlet, with a two tone, frosted effect that makes it appear iced with grey.