When I posted about metallics recently, I was intrigued by Shannon Baugh's comments regarding the new St. Tropez collection from Lexington Home Brands. She discussed the metallic accents that are incorporated in the various velvet and silk fabrics used on the upholstery. "It's a nice luxurious fabric. It's livable and comfortable, but chic and trendy.  Gold and silver bring in a feeling of warmth."  Then she said, "The golden color plays a prominent part in the upholstered quatrefoil design found on the Alhambra chair."

I searched the Lexington web site for the St. Tropez collection.  No dice!  Most manufacturers, I've found are slow to add pictures of their new introductions to their webasites.   Was Alhambra a motif?

In a piece about the 17 ways of tiling, Alhambra is described as the fortified Moorish palace nestled between the Sierra Nevada and the olive and vine-filled plains on a hill in Grenada, Spain.  "Like other Moorish buildings, the decorative style is rich and abstract." It was built between the years of 1248 and 1354 AD.

It seems to me that the Alhambra motif has two distinct features. The design or pattern is repetitive and it has symmetry.  While, I don't see the quatrefoil pattern in the tiling of Alhambra, it definately possesses the two features.  I did find a picture of a quartrefoil in a fountain in Alhambra.

I contacted Shannon Baugh and she was kind enough to send me a jpg of the Alhambra chair:



I love the lines and the quatrefoil really stands out in this design.  It's rich and warm in that fabric. Lexington Home Brands has a hit, IMO.  I asked Shannon if there's metallic fiber in the fabric and what the word Alhambra means to Lexington, besides money that is.

Shannon responded and said the fabric is a silk, no metallic thread in this one. We took the name "Alhambra" from the jewelry collection of Van Cleef & Arpels with the same quatrefoil design. It's such a neat design story and a great tie in with the name.



According to Fashion-Era