Darren has a broad portfolio, having studied fine art & graphic design, originally working in advertising and owning his own graphic design company. After succumbing to his true passion, Darren now operates his own interior design studio and has been a judge on numerous seasons of The Block.
These days, it seems that no furniture or soft decorative piece is safe from the allure of bouclé. Trending now in a manner of forms – from sofas, occasional chairs, dining chairs, cushions, bedheads, and rugs – bouclé’s bubbly personality is giving surfaces across Australia a nice cuddly embrace.
Made popular in the 1970’s, bouclé was developed in the 1940’s by Finnish American architect and industrial designer, Eero Saarinen, for Florence Knoll, a renowned furniture designer. As you may have guessed by the é, it’s derived from a French word meaning a looped or curled, woven fabric.
Like everything old that becomes new again, bouclé has been revived not once, but twice since its inception, having been reimagined again through a 2022 lens. This time, with beautiful texture being added to a variety of furniture pieces, embracing the curvy trend that is also a reinvigoration of the late 70’s and 80’s era of cool arches and rounded pieces.
Bouclé has a particularly cocooning effect in lighter tones, but has been given new life in colour, with two-tone finishes and contrasting base colours; a black base with a white nubby, top-woven yarn, for example. You don’t need to look at any particular supplier to find the best of bouclé, as there is a proliferation of products far and wide across our great southern land, and the globe for that matter.
All you need to do is run your hands over its soft, bumpy texture to understand why it has come back to the fore of interior design. There’s something innately comforting in the softness of it, both physically and visually, that has become a great addition to contemporary, boho, neutral and even elevated Japandi schemes. There seems to be a place for bouclé in just about every trending style and type of interior, and on almost every upholstered piece within them.
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