The Portrait Collection unveiled at London Design Week, Design Centre Chelsea Harbour

A sumptuous range of furnishing fabrics by evitavonni is unveiled at London Design Week, Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, from March 17-22. The Portrait Collection is inspired by the matchless glamour of Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s.

“The Portrait Collection takes my passion for this era of Hollywood history to a new level”, says Design Director Kate Erwich. “It’s by far our most glamorous to date, with fabrics that you’re just dying to drape yourself in and glide around. The designs are influenced by everything that made that period so special – the stars, the photography, the interiors and the exceptional gowns created by costume designers such as Edith Head and Adrian.”

Each fabric in The Portrait Collection exhibits the exceptional beauty, craftsmanship, quality and performance that you would expect of a couture design house. The designs are produced by specialist weavers around the world, including some of the UK’s few remaining heritage mills.

The focus is on natural, noble fibres – wool, linen and silk – in a softly, restrained signature palette of warm greys and charcoals but with the addition of some sensuous nude tones and a sophisticated navy.

Combined with lushly textured weaves, jacquards and embroidery, the resulting fabrics are rich and opulent without being overpowering.   Subtle sheens are produced by incorporating soft metallic yarns. The Collection coordinates effortlessly with the previous Henley, Heritage, Astaire and Velvets ranges and imparts a relaxed yet refined ambiance, suitable for a variety of residential and commercial environments.

Inside The Portrait Collection

Crawford is a wool and silk mix with an interlacing cloqué design, highlighted with a metallic sheen. It has a couture-like glamour suitable for soft furnishings. Colours include Star (pale grey and silver) Cinder (nude and silver) Antique Mirror (dark grey and dark silver) and Midnight (navy with dark silver).                                                                                                                                               

Greta is a wool mix fabric with a complex geometric design, reminiscent of ornamental plaster work, with a gentle structure for a crisp and dressed look. It has co-ordinating engineered cushion designs. Colour ways are Midnight, a dark navy combination; Mercury a mid-grey combination and Neptune, a lighter grey combination. The design is also replicated in a silk and wool mix in co-ordinating throws.                                           

Hayworth is a couture quality silk, woven on an incredibly fine and double warp, with an accent of subtle sparkle highlights. The drape is soft, polished and rich. Hayworth comes in Antique White, Clay, Aged Grey and Navy.                                                                        

Grace is woven on superfine silk warp fabric, with a cotton weft in a subtly contrasting colour, giving a double sided versatility. The silk face has a rich and soft sheen, the cotton a subtle elegant texture. Colour combinations: Nude/Antique White; Wood Rose/Dove and Aged Grey/Gunpowder.                                                                                                                                                                                 

Lana is a rich and heavy wool silk fabric woven with an ottoman and large pastille texture. It is available in Nude, Navy and Silt - a soft warm grey.                                  

Vivienne is a silk and cotton blend fabric woven with lurex to create a richly textured and softly draping fabric reminiscent of embroidered silk couture gowns.        Colours include Nude, Dark Silver and Navy.                                                       

Oberon is a stunning silk pile cut and loop velvet in a subtly shaded paisley design, suitable for occasional upholstery and dramatic draped curtains. Colour ways are Mist a soft grey/flesh combination, Clay warm wood/ rose toned greys and Merle Grey, a silvery pile with a gun metal loop.                                                                               

Taylor is a glamorous and softly-sheened upholstery fabric with a subtle broken faille texture, suitable for substantial upholstery projects. Taylor comes in five co-ordinating shades - Nude, Frost, Cashmere, Dark Silver and Navy.                                                                 

Fontaine is a woven marbled design developed on a silk organza warp with a wool weft. It is available with co-ordinating brushed cushions.           Colours include Powder, Cashmere, Silt and Frost.                                                                          

Clara is a double woven linen-based semi-sheer with a linen detail clasped between the layers. There are three colours, Antique White, Dove and Aged Grey.    

Colbert is linen based upholstery fabric, cross-woven with dense chenille in colours that co-ordinate with The Portrait Collection – Cloud, Ash, Cinder and Nero.  It is suitable for heavy upholstery needs,                                                                      

The Portrait Collection is on show at the evitavonni Showroom Chelsea Harbour, 2ndFloor, South Dome, London SW10 and the evitavonni Store, 2-3 The Borough, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7NA Tel 0800 130 3180 www.evitavonnilondon.com