Furniture designer Vincent Sheppard goes old school for new interiors
| Text : Elizabeth Kerr | Photo : Vincent Sheppard |
Whether or not the skills involved in building a table, bed, car or television unit have plummeted in the last few decades is debatable but there’s no doubt most of us perceive that it has. We’ve all heard older family members talk about how the Volvo they bought back in 1979 is still running like a dream — with all its original parts. Rumour has it too much quality is what killed the Volkswagen Beetle the first time around. Everything seems to be built with a short shelf life that leaves the impression the item in question was garbage to begin with.
The idea that our design and construction progenitors knew something we don’t isn’t the official reason Belgian home furnishings manufacturer Vincent Sheppard has revived the century-old Lloyd Loom technique, but it’s a nice thought. Lloyd Loom dates back the early 20th century when American Marshall Lloyd invented the process before selling the patent to an English manufacturer. Chairs were the first items to catch on in Europe, and the notoriously comfortable items were all the rage by the ’30s after being popularised as a singularly Englishstyle furniture.
The labour intensive process that involves wrapping fabrics around a steel wire to create a strong thread. The threads are then woven — by hand — into seamless mats and attached to frames that will be the foundation of the final piece of furniture. Vincent Sheppard is by no means the only Lloyd Loom-style manufacturer, but it is one of the most hands on. Expanding the scope of the technique from just chairs, Vincent Sheppard makes indoor and outdoor items, and its latest lines include dining chairs, loungers, sofas, ottomans and bed frames.
The collections are broken down into several style groupings, one of which is the iconic Butterfly, so named for its distinctive body-framing wing design. New last fall were large spins on the original dining and lounge chairs, which also provide a more traditional counterpoint to the trendy Joe line. If you have a home bar or funky lounge, the Joe is the item for you. “Joe is very popular with younger clientele looking for something different to add a playful yet sophisticated feel to their homes,” said Vincent Sheppard’s Hong Kong distributor Winston Lam of Kitchens and Interiors in a statement. “The ultra modern look of this line means that it suits some of the brighter and bolder colour choices such as Fuchsia for a real fashion statement.”
And while the temperature may be dropping, it’s always time to think about living and entertaining outdoors and the Deauville collection provides some food for just those thoughts. On top of being resistant to scratching, cracking or warping, the Deauville series is treated with a moisture-resistant lacquer and a protective latex that stand up to heat and humidity, and the frames for the outdoor furniture are based on a lightweight aluminium for easy mobility. Frames and cushions all come in a variety of colours and/or patterns in what Lam refers to as the “next evolution of Lloyd Loom furniture.” Vincent Sheppard, “fuses 100 years of tradition with new technological innovation and sophisticated design so that a new generation can delight in their own piece of history both inside the home and outside,” he summarised. Who says they don’t build ’em like they used to?
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