Elysian pattern display board, NT Collier Campbell exhibition
This is a little story about serendipity. Just before nipping home after the Vintage Festival on Saturday, a friend suggested I go see a free Collier Campbell exhibition currently on display at the NT. Timed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of two sisters’ design partnership (established in 1961 with commissions from Liberty of London), the exhibition contained beautiful pieces of original gouache artwork from the archives, plus examples of the final fabrics. What bliss!
I can’t go further without first confessing my ignorance. I’d heard of Collier Campbell, but didn’t realise the name referred to a pair of designing sisters, Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell. I knew that the name was behind one of my favourite Liberty patterns (log-cabin-ish Kasak, which used to grace the cafe tables at Liberty’s London store, and with which I bonkersly covered the seats of my 2CV to celebrate passing my driving test). But I was truly delighted to discover at this expo that the pair were behind Elysian, one of my all-time favourite Tana Lawn designs.
Elysian in some juicy colourways
Now, Elysian is the queen of florals, if you ask me, managing to be delicate but in yer face at the same time. But now I’m confused, because a quick google of ’Elysian’ ‘Liberty’ and ‘Collier Campbell’ didn’t dredge up anything meaningful. And Liberty’s own site claims that Elysian was designed in the ’20s. Elsewhere it’s described as ‘at least 100 years old’. Did the sisters design it from scratch or maybe rework it? If anyone happens to know more, please leave a comment or get in touch because I’m burning with curiosity.
The exhibition made it clear that the sisters have prided themselves on being jobbing designers, anonymously bending their talents to the needs of of the customer, whoever that might be (they’ve worked variously for Liberty, Yves Saint Laurent, Cacherel, Jaeger, Habitat, M&S, House of Fraser). Their delicious sense of colour and exuberance of line has taken much inspiration from folk art. Sadly, Susan Collier died in May, after the exhibition was instigated but before it opened. But Sarah continues the pair’s work, and you can buy Collier Campbell branded products over here and currently at House of Fraser and M&S.
The exhibition was scheduled to end on 10th July so I’m not sure why it was still up last week. If you’re hoping to see it, it might be best to call the National Theatre first to check if it’s still there. I’m beginning to wonder if it was just a figment of my imagination: a Southbank mirage on a hot July day.
As beautiful as it is mysterious
I really wanted to go to the exhibition so it is great to be able to read about your experience of going there. An ex-colleague used to work for Collier Campbell and we'd hoped to meet up at the exhibition. What is amazing about them is that the majority of people probably know their work without knowing the names behind it. If we were musicians we might describe this as the soundtrack of our lives, so as designers I suppose these patterns are the fabric of our lives.
Absolutely! I was astonished by the intimate familiarity of their stuff (I've blown my nose on it, sat on it etc and never knew…). and also by the sisters' wonderful modesty. I'm sorry to have only taken one shabby, badly-lit photo as there was so much lovely stuff on show. Perhaps we can lobby The Powers That Be for another expo – are you listening, V&A?
Lovely post. Gorgeous fabrics. You were lucky to see the exhibition but I love the notion of it being a mirage! I also love 'bonkersly'!
karen x
Thank you! Re-doing the 2CV seats in such lovely fabric was quite a silly thing to do.The car was sold a couple of years later, and I like to think that those Collier Campbell covers sealed the deal.
I loved Collier Campbell in the 80s – fantastic colourists. Would love to see the exhibition to bring back memories.
I hope it finds another home before all the items disappear back into the archives.
Hello Scrapiana – Sarah Campbell here – how nice to see this! I have my own website now, sarahcampbelldesigns.com and you can get to my blog from there – I hope you do…
Thank you for stopping by, Sarah! I feel honoured! I'll fix a link to your site somewhere in the text above. Now, only today I was cutting up swatches of Elysian to cover wooden beads! How's that for serendipity?