Pierre Frey’s Eighty Thirty (left) was designed by street artist Toxic; the fabric name celebrates both the company’s 80-year anniversary and the artist’s 30-year career. Reproduced from a painting by Charles Pringuay, Street Dyptique (right), also from Pierre Frey, is a perfect representation of the endless layering of street art.

Bold Textiles Inspired by Graffiti and Urban Art

Urban art-inspired fabrics from luxury textile companies fit right in on the streets of New York City

Take a walk down any block in any city and you will no doubt see an abundance of graffiti—from elaborate murals to simple spray-painted words. Since the 1970s and 1980s, it has always been associated with the urban streets and counterculture. However, with the superstardom status of artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Banksy, it has become an esteemed art form in and of itself.

Kravet’s Spatter Graffiti echoes Jackson Pollock.

Now colorful urban-art has taken a leap into the mainstream—appearing on luxury fabrics from companies such as Kravet, Pierre Frey, and Timorous Beasties. The prestigious French design house Pierre Frey collaborated with Paris-based American graffiti artist Toxic and French painter Charles Pringuay. The trendsetting Glasgow-based Timorous Beasties’ richly chaotic design Graffiti Stripe Velvet was inspired by the colors and textures of their city’s streets. A leading American company, Kravet, took liberties with the spatter-like patterns of Jackson Pollock’s canvases. From subways to sofas, graffiti is all around us.

The opulent aerosol layers translate beautifully onto the thick velvet of Timorous Beasties’ Graffiti Stripe Velvet.
Cover: Pierre Frey’s Eighty Thirty (left) was designed by street artist Toxic; the fabric name celebrates both the company’s 80-year anniversary and the artist’s 30-year career. Reproduced from a painting by Charles Pringuay, Street Dyptique (right), also from Pierre Frey, is a perfect representation of the endless layering of street art.

Newsletter

Sign up to receive the best in art, design, and culture from Galerie

Thank You
Your first newsletter will arrive shortly.