A Life Well Lived
Above Image: From A Life Well Lived collection. Blossom Dearie in Cherry upon the sofa sets a dramatic tone that is echoed by the ottoman upholstered in Cotton House, a batik-like print that references the patterns found within the vine on the sofa fabric. On the slipper chair, Crewel Summer, a Scandinavian-inspired tree of life cotton print depicting birds, lemons and strawberries, lends a contemporary touch to the otherwise traditional space.
Friends:
It’s the Madcap Cottage gents, Jason Oliver Nixon and John Loecke, your Calico brand ambassadors and “hosts with the most.”
We are thrilled to launch our brand-new fabric collection, A Life Well Lived, at Calico outposts from coast to coast! The new fabric range joins our two previous collections, Into the Garden and A Collector’s Eye, both of which are also available at Calico.
So what was our inspiration for the new line?
Think relaxed. Easy. Chic. Inviting. Gracious. A celebration of tradition, family, adventure, and spirited gatherings. Croquet on the lawn, iced tea upon the porch, and the languid scent of summer flowers perfuming the air. The skies are impossibly blue, trees sway in the balmy breezes, and the picnic hamper overflows with lemonade and sandwiches, crust cut off, natch. The crunch of gravel, the crisp clip of boxwood, and a riot of nasturtiums reaching hither and yon. It’s high noon. Kick back on the sofa, pillows piled high, and embrace the daydream. The door’s open, welcome home.
How does a collection come together, you might ask?
It begins with a storyline. John and I sit down and brainstorm the overall vision for a collection. What do we want to convey and what’s the vibe? What’s the journey? What’s missing in the marketplace? How will a new collection play beautifully with the other fabrics already in our line? Are there new colors that we want to introduce?
We pull tear sheets from magazines and Pinterest and photocopy pages from vintage design books. (We want the collections that we create to fit with trends that you are seeing at retail in fashion, home, food, etc.) We write narratives that capture the storyline that we are trying to convey and review photos that we have snapped upon our travels. We look through fashion magazines, watch vintage movies, and compare notes from great house museums that we have visited. Then, using all of the above resources, John paints and sketches rough pattern motifs.
Our celery-hued Georgica Pond, a hand-drawn over-scale check, gives the ottoman, top, a classic American spin. Pillows include Cotton House, Lake Agawam, Blenheim, a beautiful pre-washed cotton damask, and Monserrat, a reversible lattice-inspired geometric.
Then the magic! Using our inspiration and John’s sketches as guides, we work with the Robert Allen studio team in lower Manhattan to make our vision a reality. We meet, talk, map out colors, tweak designs, and go back and forth many times as all of the artwork used to create the finished fabrics that you see in Calico is original.
The result? Glorious prints, patterns, and wovens that feel handcrafted and special. Unique, aspirational, yet always affordable. Chintz, checks, work-with solids, florals, graphics, and so much more.
Says John, “We wanted to create a collection that is classic American—relaxed and easy—yet sophisticated and supremely useful that brings our ever-evolving storyline to life. The fabrics in A Life Well Lived pair beautifully with our two previous collections—as well as with fabrics from other designer collections at Calico. Plus, the fabrics are all beautifully affordable and printed in America. What could be better than that!”
We hope you love our brand-new collection. We are so very proud of how it came together.
Enjoy!
