Christiane Müller Collection – For Work, Play and All the Spaces in Between
HBF Textiles’ Christiane Müller Collection was a true star at this year’s NeoCon. It was honored with the Best of NeoCon: Gold Award for Contract Textiles, a Metropolis LIKES Award, and an Interior Design HiP Award for Workplace: Fabric & Textiles. HBF Textiles Vice President of Design & Development Mary Jo Miller was awarded in the same program, winning in the Creative Director, Textiles category. Miller, who has worked with HBF Textiles for more than 25 years, places a focus on textural, innovative fabrics and creative collaborations. She worked in depth with Amsterdam-based designer Christiane Müller on her eponymous NeoCon collection.
Christiane Müller’s tactile fabrics blur the line between work and home with artistic flair. Bold, primary colors balance with elegant neutrals, and dimensional textures add unique flair to each design. Show attendees were especially drawn to Honest Square, a fabric with 3D volume that uses a colored accent stitching process to create an expressive fabric confident in its architectural simplicity.
Müller looked to the architecture world and beyond to discover the inspiration points to her namesake collection. From the optically-oriented abstract paintings of the Dutch artist Jan Schoonhoven, the minimalist architecture of Peter Zumthor, the raw product design of Lex Pott, the multi-dimensional assemblage sculptures of Isa Genzken, the charming creations of fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck, and more, the textiles’ non-traditional origin stories are apparent in their structures and colors.
“My goal when I design projects is always to increase the experience of a ‘good space,’ where you feel at home and at ease,” explains Müller. “Interiors play a key role in our day-to-day happiness, and I wanted this collection to bring out these positive feelings. The materialization of our surroundings is essential to our wellbeing.”
The Christiane Müller Collection exudes a feeling of authenticity and simplicity, however, it is anything but basic. A strong color story ties together the textiles, featuring a playful palette of almost fluorescent levels that injects immediate vibrancy. All of the fabrics feature layers of color, and they seamlessly interact with each other to create a complete aesthetic story. The expressive colors are further enhanced by the textural constructions. Designs such as Complex and Honest Square display a rich, three-dimensional quality, and all of the fabrics maintain an incredibly soft hand. The collection features 7 uniquely individual designs in a versatile range of 45 colorways.
“Christiane’s innate ability to understand materiality makes her an exceptional partner for HBF Textiles,” notes HBF Textiles Vice President of Design Mary Jo Miller. “Our vision is about bringing texture to life, and the new Christiane Müller Collection fuses that with color and dimension in fresh and unexpected ways.”
Adds Müller, “The dialogue with the HBF Textiles team throughout the design process was so inspiring. I was incredibly impressed with their love for textiles, collaborative spirit, and careful attention to detail.”
As with all HBF Textiles, the Christiane Müller Collection bears sustainability as a key cornerstone of its designs. All of the fabrics are SCS Indoor Advantage™ Gold Certified.
Fabrics in the Christiane Müller Collection include:
Complex is a chenille waffle weave with a soft, graphic grid. The accent color yarn puts the emphasis on structure, creating depth and dimension. Complex showcases the beauty of its construction as its final product, inspired by the work of Dutch artist Jan Schoonhoven. Complex is available in six fresh colorways: Pebble, Lemon, Bittersweet, Sky, Overcast, Smoke.
Dreamy’s soft chenille yarns employ a subtle ombre that blurs the line of where one color ends and a new one begins. The softness of the material adds a feeling of depth and layering, and its large-scale repeat means that every piece upholstered in it can look unified yet unique. The fabric feels almost designed by accident, but is purposeful in its color choices. When creating Dreamy, Müller was inspired by the abstract paintings of Alexis Semtner. Dreamy’s elegant ombre is highlighted in six shades: Pebble, Lemon, Coral, Lagoon, Dutch Blue, Overcast.
Eccentric offers luxury in its purest form with a mohair velvet construction. For its unique color story, Müller looked to the colorful, raw process of Lex Pott. The velvet is created by two components: a cotton ground cloth and a mohair wool pile. By keeping the pile more open, the ground cloth can be seen. The fabric is dyed in two steps and uses extreme accent colors for the ground, which adds a two-tone richness to the fabric. Eccentric is beautifully displayed in five colorways: Peppercorn, Dutch Blue, Fern, Currant, Overcast.
Flirt is a vivid boucle fabric with a fluffy textural yarn that creates an immediate sense of comfort.The fabric showcases a range of almost fluorescent yarns that lend an unexpected whimsy to the piece. The expressive color palette is a nod to the playful work of fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck. Flirt’s fun boucle stands out in five hues: Whitewash, Lemon, Coral, Lagoon, Shadow.
Honest showcases the power of the ordinary, a natural and modest textile inspired by the work of architect Peter Zumthor. The soft color mélange melds easily with its surroundings, and can serve as a base or accent when paired with the line’s other fabrics. The hues of the fabric are intermingled in the weave to give a fresh take on a solid. Honest has a companion fabric, Honest Square, and the two can be dramatically partnered for a signature upholstery application. The elegant Honest is showcased in 10 colors: Pebble, Lemon, Driftwood, Peppercorn, Coral, Bittersweet, Sky, Burgundy, Overcast, Smoke.
Honest Square is designed to soften its surroundings, lend a feeling of comfort, improve acoustics, and create privacy as needed. To create a fabric with 3D volume and tactile value, Müller and HBF Textiles employed an embroidery technique in combination with a base cloth(Honest). The softness of the cushiony square and the color accents of the stitching (which highlight the “hidden” colors) make Honest Square an expressive fabric confident in its own architectural simplicity. Honest Square shines in seven chic hues: Pebble, Lemon, Bittersweet,Sky, Lagoon, Overcast, Smoke.
Smart surprises with a playful interaction of texture and hue. Inspired by Isa Gensken’s unique combinations of color and material, Smart is a three-dimensional plaid softened by its luxurious velvet composition. By using different colors and materials in warp and weft, Smart offers a modern update on a classic design. Six colors accent Smart’s clean lines: Pebble, Lemon, Coral, Bachelor’s Button, Overcast, Smoke.
About HBF Textiles
HBF Textiles gives dimension to the lives and spaces of users, designers and communities through the essential qualities of fabric. Our expertise comes from understanding the inherent qualities of fabric—yarn, dyeing, spinning, structure and weave. What we produce is not just textiles, but a larger web of relationships. Weaving textiles together with manufacturing and production, we are part of a two-hundred year old legacy of textile manufacturing within North Carolina. And, with like-minded mills and collaborators––locally and globally––we explore together the myriad of possibilities of what fabric can be.
Visit us at: www.hbftextiles.com.
About Christiane Müller
Christiane Müller creates surface materials. She exploits the possibilities of machine production through a design process rooted in craftwork. Originally from Germany, Christiane now creates designs from her studio in Amsterdam. With broad international experience as an industrial designer, she develops color and material concepts for innovative products like floors, rugs, walls, interior textiles, lighting and furniture. To Christiane Müller, good design means more than functionality and aesthetics. It means ensuring affordability and capturing the zeitgeist.
