Over 100 years ago in the South Island of New Zealand, James Dunlop entered the world of interior furnishings. The Southern Alps dominate the Island, a line of snow-capped peaks and rugged hillsides separating the vast eastern plains from the lush western bush.
Along the Alps are ice-blue lakes and grey moraines. Wiry brown tussocks flourish amongst the red rosehips and pink and purple lupins dotted throughout the landscape, accented now and again by the iridescent red, green, and orange feathers of the Kea, our alpine parrot.
These shades colour our vision, forming the foundation of James Dunlop and in turn inspiring our Homestead collection. Nodding to the historic homesteads of high-country stations whilst looking towards the architectural homes which are now nestled into the topography.
Tactile textiles have been custom coloured in mineral tones, earthen hues, and shades of green, capturing the colours of Mother Nature and allowing you to share in the essence of New Zealand.
Perception of Colour
The way we perceive colour is heavily influenced by the environmental conditions we experience, most importantly light. In Australia and New Zealand, we are lucky enough to live in homes with high ceilings, large glass windows, and an abundance of bright natural light which amplifies the way we see colour. As such, our colour preference tends to lean towards shades that are slightly muted and paired back rather than the vibrant, saturated palettes indicative of the Northern Hemisphere, where natural light is typically more diffused.
While colour is subjective and utterly personal, we see reoccurring preferences across our Trans-Tasman markets. Where New Zealand tends to prefer mineral-based, alpine-inspired tones, Australia embraces the desert tones of baked clay, burnt orange, and eucalyptus. Additionally, our Australian customers love fresh, clean white whereas New Zealand tends to favour ivory and off-white.
For the past decade, monochromatic, grey-based neutral tones have dominated the market, but we are witnessing a return to warmth as people seek comforting colours within the home. Tones of parchment, calico, and cream have become popular as well as a resurgence of brown – returning from exile as people seek nostalgic, familiar colours.
Green is nature’s neutral, a colour closely associated with ideas of wellness, restoration, and revitalization. Studies show that pulling shades of nature indoors can positively impact wellbeing and supports our current desire to remerge anew. Throughout the Homestead collection, greens in soft shades of willow through to dark moss provide decorative colours that pair effortlessly with layers of neutral tones.
Custom Colours
From our Pacific isles of relative isolation, we are inherently aware of the influence of place on our perspective. Our design studio prioritizes capturing the colours, forms, and textures around us and translating them into custom colourways, ensuring our textiles and colour palettes reflect our local lens.
Where many textile wholesalers and converters purchase colours directly from suppliers across Europe and Asia, we work with our mills to develop shades that are suitable for Australasian palettes. “When sourcing new textile constructions at European trade fairs we find colour palettes which look fantastic up there, but when we’re back in our studios under bright, natural light they often look oversaturated. To compensate we need to pursue custom colour development with our mills – to grey off colours and create more muted, paired back hues for a slightly ‘dusted off’ aesthetic.” Says Annie Moir, James Dunlop Design Director.
In Australia and New Zealand, we are deeply connected to our landscapes, fueling the desire for interior colour palettes that reflect the vistas beyond our windows and allow one to bring elements of the outdoors in. Developing custom colourways in our design studio creates palettes which are perfectly placed within our home markets and provide a point of difference in export markets, whilst remaining agile as trends and market demands change.
Our lifestyle and interior design favours a causal aesthetic, we love relaxed luxury in this part of the world and through custom development we can tailor the nuance, the strength, and the depth of decorative colours to sit cohesively within our visual environment. Ensuring we deliver products that are reflective of how we live, in colours that complement the view and sit effortlessly within any space.