Lucienne Day

This is a fabric design called Calyx that was the beginning of a fabulous design career for Lucienne Day, who died this week aged 93. As a textiles-lover it's sad news for me, especially as her death will probably be overshadowed by Alexander McQueen's untimely demise. Arguably Lucienne's work will have had a greater effect on the lives and wellbeing of ordinary British people.  A significant designer in the post-WW2  revival of homes and family life through the Homes for People movement, she became the first female Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry in 1987 (paving the way for Jean Muir). The Guardian obituary said it was the Festival of Britain pattern hung in every 'contemporary' living room in 1951's Britain, and that "she made the link between mass production and fine art". This sort of pattern evokes a strong memory of my childhood; I love the spidery and light nature of the marks, and the glorious, offbeat colours. While I was looking for links for this blog I came across Verity Freebern's Pattern of the Day website, where she acknowledges Lucienne's work as her influence, in her daily blog about her own pattern designs.