Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1488935
I n 2018, Jan Showers and her senior interior designer, Zara Taitt, traveled to Kravet headquarters in Bethpage, Long Island. That year m a r k e d K r a v e t 's 1 0 0 t h a n n i v e r - s a r y , and the two had come to peruse t h e c o m p a n y 's extensive textile archives. Showers, who first teamed with Kravet in 2012, was looking for inspiration for her second Kravet C o u t u re f a b r i c collection. And there was plenty to ignite fresh ideas. W i t h 4 0 , 0 0 0 pieces, Kravet has one of the world's l a rg e s t p r i v a t e textile archives, much of it acquired from the vaults of textile houses under the Kravet umbrella — Lee Jofa, GP & J Baker, Donghia, and Brunschwig & Fils. Originally slated to launch in 2020, Showers' new collection, Charmant, was delayed due to the pandemic and supply-chain issues. Recently released, designs influenced by the Kravet archives include Passerine's bamboo-and-leaf pattern, taken from a textile so fragile it couldn't be handled. "Zara and I were very inspired by what we saw in the archives, as well as by fabric houses I've seen shopping in Paris for 26 years," says Showers. Wi t h i n t h e 20-piece collection are new colors for existing designs, s u c h a s Ly n x Dot, a best-seller based on antique fur hide pillows that Showers has owned for years. The collection's color palette is muted — lavender, lichen, delft blue, and a coral hue she has a crush on right now. "We kept it all soft because it's easy to mix," she says. Charmant by Jan Showers for Kravet, at kravet.com. Rebecca Sherman So Charming J u s t a s w e ' r e g o i n g t o p r i n t , H a r w o o d I n t e r n a t i o n a l h a s a n n o u n c e d a n e w super-luxe hotel, Hôtel Swexan, slated to open in the Harwood District this summer on the corner of North Harwood and Moody streets. The Swiss- influenced hotel was designed by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma (his third project in the district), who applied a silver mesh curtain that surrounds the hotel's porte-cochère, much like the one he created in his renovation of legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí's Casa Batlló. The French-style canopy is lit with lanterns and lined with sculptural planters leading to the hotel's grand entrance. The hotel will also feature a rooftop pool, and the seventh floor will host a private social club and the property's signature steakhouse, Stillwell's, helmed by Harwood's executive chef, Taylor Kearney, which will be open to the public nightly. Interior design for the hotel is being executed by Harwood's design team and is inspired by a classical 19th-century Parisian residence turned hotel, with hand- carved stone and wooden fireplaces on every floor. This Just In Harwood International's new Hotel Swexan designed by Kengo Kuma, opening Summer 2023 Jan Showers' new Charmant fabric collection for Kravet includes, from left, Lynx Dot in coral and Fiorella in lichen. Above: Jan Showers in the Kravet room at her Dallas showroom 76