Snooze in style: glam up your bedtime with designer bed linens, decorative pillows and fashionable bedroom accessories from the new home diffusion ranges of international fashion designers.
So in vogue is the designer lifestyle that more and more fashion houses are diversifying from the wardrobe to the home, bringing their signature touch and fashion philosophy into our living spaces. Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein are the latest fashion empires to introduce new home collections that include bed linens, decorative objects and fabric furnishings. Ralph Lauren, Ted Baker and John Rocha are among other renowned fashion designers that have successfully established a home range.
Awareness of designer brands is increasing in Ireland according to Ann Marie Cregan, linen buyer for Brown Thomas Group. "Interestingly, more and more males are driving demand for more masculine bed linens. We are introducing the Ted Baker range next month to meet this demand," she says. Sidelined for years, the bed linens market was once saturated with pastel feminine frock-style bedcovers and matching accessories but more muted tones and masculine shades are widely available now. Single-lifestyle means that guys have become high-spending customers in an area that was once the domain of women and wedding lists.
Ralph Lauren is one such label carrying a very distinctively masculine range. Navys, checks, blues and US-flag print bed clothes are the best-known signature styles from this American design house, which has just expanded its bed linens department at Brown Thomas. The Calvin Klein range, another suitably minimalist collection of greys, browns and blacks that appeals to men's tastes, will be launched in the Grafton Street department store later this year.
"Increasingly there seems to be a demand for fashionable home accessories and designer lifestyles - this has no doubt been accelerated by the booming property market in Ireland," Ann Marie Creegan says. "The tremendous success of French linen label Yves Delorme, which launched in the store last autumn, has indicated to us that our customers are seeking out luxurious and high quality bed linens."
British label Designers Guild has diversified into every aspect of the home from tabletop to curtain fabric. Its new range of bedlinen is predictably bright and colourful, often introducing ethnic elements to their design.
Exclusively available in Giorgio Armani's flagship Milan store is the new Armani Casa collection featuring a wide range of furniture, furnishings and accessories. Like the fashion collection, this luxury range is for those with seriously good taste - and a bank balance to match.
"The collection is neither minimalist nor subject to this season's fads. It is neither decoration nor design but rather a combination of the two," according to the marketing blurb. Sheets, blankets and bedspreads come in yarn-dyed cotton, in reversible double-face satin sewn edge. Blankets come in boucle wool and spun cashmere, hand dyed in Tibet. The quilts are in yarn dyed silk/cotton. Refined simplicity.
Fashion designers John Rocha, Jasper Conran and Lulu Guinness are commissioned to create individual diffusion bed linen ranges for British department store Debenhams. As colourful, romantic and quirky as her signature bags, the range created by Lulu Guinness is strikingly feminine with silk throws, flower patterns and embroidered designs. Lilacs and pinks adorn white sheets and duvet covers, with matching cushions and accessory objects. A white cotton embroidered butterfly bedding set is tipped to be a hot seller this summer.
In contrast, both the John Rocha and Jasper Conran label are loyal to minimalist style appealing to the unisex market. Blues, creams, browns and natural colours form the mainstay of these ranges. Brown fur throws and cushions are also available in the John Rocha line, where the textural richness of accessory fabrics complement the simplicity of the bed linens.
Arnotts carry the trendy bedding collection of the BBC Fantasy Rooms interior desginer Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. The Pure Sex range features pure white on the outside with bright red photoreal roses on the inside. There's also a striped range that includes candy-stripe and 1970s kitsch ranges.
Not so long ago, floral print bed spreads with matching curtains were as glam as you got and holidays Stateside were an opportunity to purchase some stylish linens. At last, embrace the designer lifestyle.
