Homegirl London pays homage to Layla Faye. This brand is all about fresh and vibrant home interior products celebrating fifties and sixties designs with a cool and contemporary twist. The collection includes matching wallpaper and fabric, lampshades and cushion covers along with a few fine china mugs, teapots, salad bowls, stationery notebooks and wall art prints. If you want uplifting patterns with a touch of bohemian femininity to brighten up your day, this is the brand for you. The business is owned by Verity Wilkinson (not anyone called Layla!) who was inspired by sixties music and culture, exotic travels, the wonders of nature and her artistic parents. I caught up with Verity to find out more about Layla Faye.
Eclectic Collection: Dotty Flower Wallpapers
Meet Layla Faye
Verity Wilkinson is the designer and founder of the business. She grew up in a creative household, Verity reveals – “I’ve always had passion and enthusiasm for design. This isn’t a surprise because I was raised in Lancashire by artistic parents. Dad was an artist, potter and woodwork teacher. I was extremely proud to work on my dad’s pottery stands as a child and loved the process of producing beautiful ceramics by hand that would be enjoyed in homes for many years. Our dining room table was always full of stunning pottery and paintings. My dad loved to dream big and I’m pleased to have inherited these same ideals in my life. Mum made our clothes and gran was a great knitter, all of which inspired me to design and create from an early age. So an obvious step for me was training as a textile and surface pattern designer at college and university.”
Verity Wilkinson
After university, Verity worked for a design and marketing company which involved a lot of travelling. She tells me – “I travelled and worked around the world throughout my twenties which gave me a feeling of being able to go anywhere and do anything. I was never without a battered Lonely Planet book in my hand. Tony and Margaret Wheeler, founders of these guides, had an inspirational prologue about kick starting their business from a kitchen table and I still get a tingle of excitement when I read this paragraph. They juggled business and a family successfully which is a balance we try to emulate with our two children. I have worked alongside my husband on a number of business projects and currently design interiors for his Airstream and Classic camper van renovation business. We feel that working for ourselves will hopefully give us freedom to write our own success story.”
Meadow Collection: Flower Breeze Wallpaper
Verity’s own venture started in February 2012 while she was on maternity leave. That’s actually where her company name stems from, she explains – “I was sure I was going to have a baby girl, named Layla Faye, but instead I was blessed with a bouncing baby boy – Bobby John. So I gave the name to my business which is really my third baby.” Today, the company is run by Verity with help from her husband and a few others; Mark and Adele Tattersall, local machinists who sew the cushions and a lampshade maker from York. The fabrics are digitally printed at an eighty year old factory in the North of England.
Eclectic Collection: Dotty Flower Wallpaper
Much of Verity’s work is influenced by her surroundings, she explains – “We live not far from Skipton close to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. At weekends we are always out and about wading in rivers and cart wheeling around fields with our two young children. We love the outdoors and I’m a huge fan of spring and summer when all the meadows are full of wildlife and flowers. The majority of my designs have a flower or leaf at their origin. We have lived in some beautiful places, exciting cultures and quirky homes including a spell on a barge close to Bath. My favourite place in the world is St. Ives Cornwall where we lived for a time and got married in St. Eia Church. It is without doubt one of the most perfect seaside towns which snuggles together all of my happiest memories. I love the culture of artists in St. Ives and am a huge fan of Bernard Leech, Barbara Hepworth and the bright designs of Patrick Heron, Sir Terry Frost and Sandra Blow all of which spent time in this influential free thinking place.”
Layla Faye Collection
Verity’s design inspiration derives from life experiences, she elaborates – “My work captures everything from traveling around the world, living in quirky homes, exciting cultures, a love of sixties design and music and the great outdoors.” She describes her design style – “It’s certainly bright and very vibrant with a range of uplifting designs. My ethos is to create a fresh range with the playful sixties liberated spirit. A touch of bohemian femininity is intertwined with bold bright prints offering a refreshing twist on modern design. These are united by a nostalgic retro-modern feel and bright happy colours that add a contemporary flow throughout the collections.”
Voyage Collection: Arrows Wallpaper (with Daisy Chain)
Retrospective Collection: These designs include Daisy Chain which Verity tells me – “This is the most popular design to date. It’s a bold bright print influenced by the masonry at the Italian Gothic Doge’s Palace in Venice, a stunning building that overlooks the canal. This was the first design I created and the central flower has become part of my logo. Bright happy colours add a twenty first century twist to all my designs. I have a range of signature colours that flow throughout the collection with an aim to bring a warmness and joy to every room.” The other patterns within this range include Flower Swirl which combines bold floral shapes and Golden Leaf with abstract leaves.
Retrospective Collection: Daisy Chain Wallpaper
Meadow Collection: These designs capture flowers from meadows and the countryside in summer. There are three options – Tall Flower featuring tall flower spirals influenced by Moroccan tiles in golden hues. Folksy which evokes memories of a folk festival surrounded by meadows and Flower Breeze captures the enchanting English countryside.
Meadow Collection: Tall Flower Wallpaper (with Daisy Flower)
Voyage Collection: Whistle Dots was inspired by Verity’s travels around Australia and a love of aboriginal art. She tells me –“I was thrilled with the 200 year old wallpaper surface print method which raised the dots from the paper and perfectly complemented the Australian origins. The Whistle Dot design has a nod to retro taking inspiration from the 1951 Edinburgh Weavers fabric.” The other two designs are Arrows and Diamonds.
Voyage Collection: Whistle Dots Wallpaper
Atomic Collection: Botanical Burst features striking free form shapes reminiscent of the atomic era. Crossed Lines was inspired from nature’s organic forms and the 1950s atomic science era. Little Leaves also draws on inspiration from nature’s organic forms.
Atomic Collection: Little Leaves Wallpaper
Eclectic Collection: Owls features cute owl shapes and Dotty Flower is a retro homage to simple flower shapes.
Eclectic Collection: Owls Wallpaper and Lampshade
Aside from the wallpapers, fabrics and lampshades these pretty patterns also adorn stationery notebooks, fine china mugs and cushion covers. There are also a couple of additional items like teapots and salad bowls available.
Stationery Notebook, Fine China Mug and Cushion Cover
Buy Layla Faye Products
If you’ve fallen in love with these beautiful patterns, you can buy from www.laylafaye.com. To give you an idea about price points – wallpaper is £48.50 per roll, lampshades start at £45 and cushion covers are £38. The wallpapers are printed in Lancashire using eco-friendly water-based inks, on the best quality non-woven paper from sustainable forests which is produced in a world class factory. The paper has been flexo and surface printed using methods that originated in Lancashire 200 years ago. Roll sizes are 10m long and 52cm wide. It is easy to hang by simply pasting the walls. The fabrics are printed onto 100% cotton and should be dry cleaned. The fabrics can be used for upholstery, making curtains, cushions and lampshades. The width is 137cm and the price per metre is £45.
Author: Homegirl London. Photographs: LF. Thanks: Verity Wilkinson.
