I am proud to say that I have found the Charles James of wall coverings or the haute couture of interior design. The brand is FROMENTAL, the product is sublime and really beyond my writing abilities as no matter how much I try, I will never fully do the product justice.

In all my years, I have never quite been exposed to this degree of handwork other than when it takes the form of an item of wearing apparel. Fromental has shown me that there is indeed an haute couture element when it comes to the world of interiors. The company bills itself as wallpaper, but then that would be like saying a Christian Lacroix Haute Couture gown is a mere dress. The crux of the brand is that this is all about made-by-hand: not hand-screened, but hand-painted and hand-embroidered on silk and then backed with paper. Most of the time there are Asian influences, but not limited to. The quality of the embroidery and hand painting is excruciatingly beautiful, especially when the embroidery work takes the form of “crewel” type embroidery with all of the nuances of color and shading… do not think Grandma’s crewel pillows.

Just to reinforce how amazing this “paper” is one must keep in mind that this is not sold by the roll, but by the size of the walls. This “art” cannot be “hung” just by anyone, but MUST be transferred to the walls by artisans and craftsmen who can literally guarantee that not a spot of glue ever sees the face of the paper. | Jeffrey Felner

pictures courtesy Fromental