Aussie homewares label Bonnie and Neil takes us to Florence for its new autumn/winter collection, with textiles and tableware inspired by hearty slow-cooked Italian feasts savoured with family and friends over a bitey chianti or two.
For creative director Bonnie Ashley, who co-founded the label with husband Neil Downie, the new Florence collection is made for “sharing an abundant meal where there’s no rush and everyone is enjoying their time together”.
Bonnie and Neil, launched in 2010, has become known for its painterly use of pattern and colour – particularly in the linen textiles printed with Ashley’s original artworks. For the Florence collection, that means retro hues via southern Europe and plenty of botanical inspiration.
“Our prints this season are full of nostalgia with homely Italian-inspired designs in a colour palette taking its influence from the 1950s,” Ashley says. Floral motifs of flowering dogwood, carnations, oleander, Italian asters and jasmine feature heavily.
And then there are prints hinting more directly at what’s going into the tagliatelle. “Bold stripes and miniature checks reminiscent of decor found in an Italian kitchen [and] an abundant olive print and sweet mushroom pattern … I love a beautiful food-inspired print!”
Ashley starts each new collection by “painting small-scale design elements” that work their way into the range, she says. “Often the repeat patterns for our tablecloths are the first designs I work on, with the rest of the collection evolving from those.”
Florence features linen tablecloths, of course, plus napkins, throws, oven mitts, bedding, bolsters and cushions decorated with Ashley’s designs. The lifestyle studio also offers handmade glazed ceramics, handblown glass carafes and tumblers, bamboo serveware and colourful cutlery made from resin and stainless steel. To really round out the theme, there are also fluffy bathmats and even tomato-shaped candles.
Large striped cushions – and recycled bouclé ones – are new this season, as is the blue and green confetti colourway for the label’s Dots glassware collection. “I can’t wait to style these on my own table,” Ashley says.
To get into the mood for the new collection, Bonnie and Neil has produced a Florentine-inspired mini film, and a whole Spotify playlist of classic retro Italian tunes. Pair with an enormous steak, hearty Tuscan bread and lashings of olive oil for the full experience.
Florence is available online from today.
