Gobi

Pack your old leather trunk and let these fabrics whisk you away to the deserts of Africa, the regal elephants of India and the vivacious vegetation of South East Asia.

Gobi is a follow on from our Expedition Collection. It takes your imagination across far-flung lands, trailing the dusty footsteps of historical explorers. This time we cross West Africa with a mud cloth design from Mali, travel down the River Nile with an elegant fishtail design, head eastwards to India with an elephant print and up to Eastern Asia with an arrowed ikat. In muted colourways with flickers of pinks and blues, this is the perfect collection for relaxed contemporary interiors with a delicate aroma of exoticism.

Photo: Custom Chloe headboard upholstered in Kongo Powder fabric with Jumbo Powder bed cushions

Photo: Bolo Powder fabric

The elephant motifs of Bolo and Jumbo radiate the whirling romance of traditional India. The design is taken from a former Andrew Martin classic, Jahangir, which borrowed the motif from the Mughal dynasty, renowned for architectural achievement and the crowning Taj Mahal. The attention then to exquisite decorative detail has been translated here to the quintessential pointing domes and lotus leaves, the wise wrinkles of each elephant and the curling vine patterns on their saddlecloths.

Yet the fabrics bring this storied design up to date with splashes of vibrant contemporary colours, like a flourish of new life after the rain. It urges your senses to melt together and breathe in the flurry of India, where hot air is infused with stimulating colours and the bustling hubbub is tangible.

The ikat pattern of Togo leads us along the Silk Road through the desert oasis of Uzbekistan and into the jungles of Indonesia. Its name comes from the Malaysian 'mengikat' meaning to tie, as the loose threads are dyed first then knotted artfully to create the pattern. This is unlike the techniques of today where patterns are printed onto ready-made cloth.

It is for this reason that ikat is associated with luxury and status. In the 19th century they were traded by Indonesian Sultans for better spice trading rights with Holland, bringing these exotic fabrics to European eyes. So follow these arrows, with the promise of silk and spices, and see to which tropical land they will take you.