By Quinn Riley
Welcome to the world of textile and wallpaper designer Ottoline de Vries—a space filled with color, whimsy, and pure creative joy! Ottoline’s patterns are known for their bold color and composition, born out of her immense love of nature, art, and abstract shapes. Ottoline recently chatted with us about her design inspiration, industry expertise, and that super fun gig she has designing fabulous wrappings for a chocolate company in Amsterdam. While each of her patterns have a unique sensibility, all of Ottoline’s patterns radiate an absolutely contagious energy in the rooms that are so fortunate to occupy them. And we couldn’t be more excited to welcome her and her spectacular line here in our to-the-trade showroom.
Living in Ecuador for the first 3 years of her life, Ottoline was surrounded by textiles with complex patterns and bright colors. Ottoline’s family then returned to their Dutch roots and settled in an old, large house in the village of Aerdenhout, the Netherlands. Ottoline’s mother constantly worked on their home, upholstering furniture, sewing draperies, and covering every square inch of each room in wallpaper. Fascinatingly enough, it was not until she was well into her adult career in law that Ottoline began uncovering her own creative passion which was so greatly inspired by her mother and artistic upbringing. Feeling unfulfilled in the corporate world, Ottoline began a passion project of antique furniture shopping and reupholstery. “At night after work when the kids were in bed I was always searching the internet for unique finds… I was just passionate about it,” says Ottoline, as she describes the gripping process of uncovering her career as a textile and wallpaper designer.
As demand for her unique pieces grew, Ottoline began making sketches and printing her own paper. Enamored by her newfound joy with the creative process, Ottoline called it quits on her legal career in 2010 and dove headfirst into working with the “digital pen,” exploring digital printing strategies and methods. After learning how to successfully execute her design ideas, Ottoline entered a competition launched by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, prompting contestants to create an original design inspired by their museum archive. Ottoline won the competition with her reimagined Japanese block prints. This is when “Ottoline,” her Dutch design house, was born.
Drawing on a vast range of inspiration, Ottoline has a special way of incorporating history into her contemporary designs. Ballet Russes, the notable Parisian ballet company that performed from 1909 to 1929 throughout Europe and The Americas, has an influential archive of costume design. Enamored by the elaborate patterning and detail, Ottoline’s ‘Acrobat’ wallpaper offers a glimpse into these ornately fashioned costumes of the past. The costume below is a Pablo Picasso design for Ballet Russes’ “Parade”.
Several of Ottoline’s patterns speak to human interaction and togetherness. ‘Having a Chat’ was inspired by a Henri Matisse profile sketch and depicts close, in-person dialogue, a comforting image during this time of social isolation. Another pattern, ‘Happy People,’ was named after Ottoline reviewed her creation and decided that the abstract design reminded her of a joyful gathering. This is the beauty of Ottoline’s work—many of her designs are open to interpretation, creating an intimate feeling of closeness between the viewer and the pattern.
Ottoline and husband, Michiel van Soest, and their two children, Caroline (12) and Tom (9), currently live in London, but she continues to bring numerous elements of her Dutch heritage into her designs. In 2017, Ottoline celebrated the 100th Anniversary of “De Stijl,” the international art movement that was launched in Holland in 1917. Founding member Theo van Doesburg created a platform for Avant-Garde designers, artists, and architects through the creation of his journal, De Stijl. Van Doesburg and his peers used the journal to spark a series of new design techniques, focused on restoring balance to everyday life after the devastation of WWI. Ottoline paid tribute to De Stijl by creating a series of 9 wallpapers, each with a pattern emblematic of the movement’s key artists. These ‘Compositions’ highlight De Stijl’s bold use of horizontal and vertical lines, rectangular planes, and primary colors. De Stijl’s circle of artists pushed away from the extravagance of the Art Deco movement and launched the art world into an age of simplistic, modernist design, ruled by geometric shapes and configurations.
Another nod to her Dutch heritage, Ottoline’s tulip motifs can be found on her lampshades, cushions, textiles, wallpapers, and even on the chocolate wrappings that she designs for STACH, the Amsterdam-based food market. These sweets are the perfect gifts — both beautiful and delicious. Ottoline even decorates with the wrappings throughout her home, serving as sweet pops of color in each room.
We are exceedingly delighted to welcome Ottoline and her one-of-a-kind textile and wallcovering line to our trade showroom. Ottoline—thank you so much for sharing your creative story with us! Your lively patterns add energy to every space they grace and never fail to foster a tremendous sense of delight. We can’t wait to spread the Ottoline love far and wide!
P.S. All of Ottoline’s fabrics are printed on exceptional quality Belgium linen & her non-woven matte-coated wallpapers are also available to print on Type II Vinyl for those heavy duty/commercial applications. All of her patterns sell per meter and are now available in our to-the-trade showroom. Sign up for a trade account (if you haven’t already) to request memos and designer net pricing.