Decorating & Design
See Virginia Johnson’s New Home Collection & Discover Her Inspiration
There are several reasons why the debut home collection by Toronto textile designer Virginia Johnson for The Bay was met with enthusiastic cheers and sighs of relief. Most notably, it marked her return to design, which fans of her colorful clothing and accessories had wished for since she shuttered her Toronto shop three years before. It was also the largest collection for home she’d ever produced, and brought her signature style to whole new realms. More surprisingly, it was then quickly followed by the release of Virginia’s first book, Travels Through The French Riviera. Published by Artisan Books, it’s filled with her beautiful watercolor illustrations and introduces readers to her favorite spots along the picturesque coast — long a place of inspiration for the designer. H&H executive editor Kimberley Brown dropped by Virginia’s studio to get the full story on, well, everything…
“I’ve always loved designing for home, but it was too hard to do on my own — it’s so different from fashion in terms of the cycles, the customers, the trade shows. Plus, I loved the idea of being able to do it more affordably. With The Bay, we didn’t try to cover every category in bed and bath. Instead, we did duvet sets, quilts, pillows, towels — things that would make sense for me, in my life, to refresh regularly.”
“The collection has all the things I like to do. I like having illustrative prints as anchors and mixing them with graphic elements. I love having patterns with flowers and animals. The Nasturtium print was inspired by the nasturtium growing in my garden. It originally started off orange and green, but it didn’t look good that way as a duvet, so I went to blue. Everything is cheerful, feminine, happy and summery. I’m not a fall person. I’m incapable of doing a fall-oriented collection! It’s not as natural for me.”
“Windy Garden is probably my favorite. I just love the colors in it. I wanted a floral that felt a bit moody and had some atmosphere, but wasn’t just an all-over print. It’s going to be the shower curtain in my downstairs bathroom.”
“I love pattern everywhere, almost always. I sometimes wish I could be more minimalist or harmoniest, but I’m incapable of it. If given the choice, I will always choose a pattern, even at the risk of it not working perfectly. I look at a minimalist home and it soothes my eye and I have some envy of that, but I just can’t.”
“I like adding animals into my designs. Sometimes people misinterpret my work as being for kids but, to me, it’s an adult who can appreciate the sensibility and the humor of a little animal in something. It’s playful and fun and about not taking everything so seriously. Matisse’s Tea painting was a huge inspiration for the Garden Dog print. It’s the most beautiful, perfect painting that speaks to me so much — there’s the sense of a story happening in a beautiful surrounding. I was imagining this dog in France.”
“The Yellow Roses [print] shows a scene originally intended for my book, Travels Through the French Riviera. It’s a spot in Saint-Paul-de-Vence as seen from a hotel there that I love, love, love. I painted two views from the hotel that didn’t end up making it into the book, even though they were two of my favorite drawings. Without being too literal, this collection has a lot of my influences from France.”
“Before I closed my store, I could never have imagined carving out the space to do a book, but it was always a dream of mine. When I was able to pitch this idea to Artisan Books, I was able to have all the noise go away and be able to just write and paint. I went through seven different places in the South Of France, from Matisse’s house in Vence to this villa that really inspired me called Villa Santo Sospir. Originally, the book was going to be about just this house! It’s full of Madeleine Castaing fabrics and has terraces that overlook the Mediterranean. I became really inspired by the gardens in France, greenery, types of trees, patterns.”
“It surprised me seven months ago that I had a weird desire to once again start making things and selling them. I realize it’s not an accident that I did that in the first place. I actually find it really fulfilling. I love being able to do it now on a smaller scale — I’m doing only tunics in three different styles and three different prints inspired by the book. I’m not looking to gear up in any big way. I just want to keep it satisfying and to explore doing home stuff, which has been more of a focus of mine, just personally.”