LONDON — Designers Guild founder Tricia Guild has been a mover and shaker in the textile industry since 1970 and her showing at Deco Off proved no exception. Tricia shed some light on the new collections, her inspirations, and her business collaborations.  Based in the United Kingdom, with a house in Italy, and many stamps in her passports, this woman knows how to create international appeal. The Spring / Summer 2016 collection is diverse in its offering.  The early 1950’s Parisian Haute Couture featuring silks, brocades, and taffetas influences couture Rose; the flowers are big and bold.  Marquisette features tulips, painted clouds, small-scale textural patterns, and ribbon-like swirls in neutrals and soft hues.  The Colonnade is both contemporary and classic – a jacquard woven check with an overdyed velvet pile in delicate colorways.  The greige cloth selection comprises a robust range of plain weaves, velvets, as well as jacquards in a variety of grays; some designs are recolored and reinvented, while others are new to the mix. Tricia is very detail oriented and “quality is key” to her designs.  She keeps licensing to a minimum as maintaining control of the brand is of utmost importance to her.  She shares that Designers Guild is not tied to one supplier, but does value the long-lasting relationships that have been built over the years.  Mentioning a recent collaboration with Bisazza tiles, which interprets the hand-painted florals into elaborate mosaics, and an ear-to-ear grin spreads across Tricia’s face.  Coincidentally Rossella Bisazza stopped into the showroom during the interview and it was very clear that these women value industry friendships right along with beautiful, saleable designs. The brand is known for the hand-painted florals coming from its studio, and balances the technological with the traditional.  Designers Guild has been an early adopter in the field of digital print.  Currently more than 60% of the print collection is digitally printed.  Tricia likes to play with repeat, scale, color gradations, and capture the detail of every brushstroke and color, all of which can be supported through the latest printing technologies sourced from Italy. Solids are integral to the collection too.  Tricia Guild thumbs through a swatch book and proudly explains how Designers Guild stocks 2500 colors of chenille in its UK distribution center. Materials and textures are also silent drivers of the new selections.  Tricia was keen to introduce unique contrasts this season by pairing noble materials like silks and velvets with raw materials like canvas and pure linen. When asked about searching for inspiration Tricia philosophically stated, “It is agony and ecstasy.”