Twenty Years of Artistry: An Interview with Fromental
EXPERTS 01.07.25
We sat down with Lizzie and Tim, the creative couple behind Fromental, to hear how their shared passion for textiles, storytelling, and design led to one of today’s most inspiring luxury wallcovering brands.
Q: Lizzie and Tim, it is such a pleasure to sit down with you and understand more about your beautiful brand, Fromental. Please tell us why you decided to go out on your own and become entrepreneurs?
TB: Both of us trained as textile designers and have been working together since 1996, when we started our first jobs in a silk mill. Lizzie then became a freelance muralist and had a successful business painting murals directly onto the walls of people’s homes, primarily in children’s bedrooms.
LD: “While I was there, clients would lean on me for design inspiration, asking: ‘What do you think we should do in this particular room?’ And I would spend so much time in their house that I started to think that doing the work off-site would make much more sense. I spoke to Tim and we decided that this was basically a wallpaper company.”
At the time, Tim was the creative director of another hand-painted wallpaper company.
TB: “I was very unfulfilled and I needed a push to make the jump and do it ourselves. Lizzie had the demand from clients and clarity about what she wanted to do.”
Q: If you could describe Fromental in three words what would they be?
Artistry, Innovation, Craftsmanship
Q: Lizzie, how does art inspire your work?
Every couple of weeks, I go to Paris to see any exhibition that might be interesting or spark something. They are usually fashion and textile exhibitions but not exclusively. Lots of painting, sometimes photography and mainly textile art exhibitions. I visit many that I think are relevant to our work in London. Fine art is really important and in general inspires me. As are the decorative arts in other fields and gallery visits.
Q: If you could have afternoon tea with an artist that is no longer with us who would it be?
LD: Lewis Foreman Day, a British decorative artist, academic, teacher and an important figure in the arts & crafts movement. I learned textile design through reading his 19th century books and he is really relevant to me in his social ideal of how art and craft work together. His work is extremely beautiful and he is just the most accomplished designer and academic.
Q: What has been your most challenging brief and how did you overcome it?
LD: Usually having enough time is the most challenging aspect of any project and we're never given enough time. So that's the challenge! The way to overcome this is by simply putting your head down and just ploughing through. And that really is the long and short of it; with enough time you can design anything.
Q: Your wallpapers are truly a work of art. With everything hand-crafted, how do you ensure consistency?
LD: Well we never accept second best. We're not perfectionists, because perfectionism is another word for procrastination and not understanding. That's what beauty is. So we always ensure consistency by putting in as much time as is necessary for each design.
Q: Tell us about the Millefleurs design and the Papier Chinois collection - what makes it special?
TB: Millefleurs is our newest design and launched as part of our Papier Chinois printed collection in May. Millefleurs offers an exuberant take on Chinoiserie. What makes it special is that this design is enabled with augmented reality (AR) technology, bringing the wallpaper to life in new and engaging ways. Hand-drawn animations and immersive audio like bees and birdsong create an interactive, sensorial experience. This is a first for Fromental and for any wallcovering brand, a project that we are really excited about. With our Papier Chinois printed collection, a decade ago, we saw an opportunity to translate our hand-painted silks into print and since then, we’ve been honing our expertise in digital print at our London studio.
Craftsmanship and innovation are at the heart of what we do and in our 20th anniversary year, our aim is to share and celebrate our artistry with a broader audience, letting others experience the sheer joy and transformative possibility of wrapping a room in something exceptionally beautiful.
Q: How did the collaboration with fashion designer Harris Reed come to life?
LD: We originally met with Harris to discuss wallpapers for his home.The meeting of creative minds was like an alchemical reaction. As we unrolled favourite pieces from our archive, new interpretations and combinations of techniques and colour sprang forth. Equally a dialogue began about our own past experiences in fashion.
I think it was the latent beauty in these archival pieces but also our mutual values for beauty and craftsmanship which resonated with Harris and planted the seed of reviving and transforming them into the shadow dance collection.
Working with Harris Reed and his talented and dedicated team was an exhilarating exercise. The process was as fluid and dynamic as the designs themselves. Reed’s team’s intensity and passion is rare and exciting but also mirrors our own commitment to excellence. As Harris’s ideas started taking form we would dive back into the creative and technical process to rework the materials to enable the vision to take shape.
Q: What was involved in Demi Moore’s dress at the Met Gala and how did you feel when you saw her wearing the dress made from your fabric?
LD: Moore's gown, a breathtaking masterpiece, was crafted from an extraordinary Fromental archived peony design, patiently awaiting its moment in our archives for nearly two decades. Lavished with over 400 hours of meticulous embroidery, the gown was a profound interpretation of the gala's 2024 theme, 'The Garden of Time.' Drawing inspiration from J.G. Ballard’s evocative narrative, the gown not only captured the ephemeral nature of beauty but also emerged as a definitive highlight on the red carpet.
Quite honestly, seeing Demi Moore in the dress from our fabric was a major fangirl moment for me! I mean, it’s Demi Moore! She is iconic, extremely beautiful and how exciting to see an A-lister in our designs.
Q: Any advice you would give to husbands and wives who are thinking about setting up a business together?
LD: Make sure you both love the common project. If you're setting up a business together, you've got to at least really love what you are doing and be passionate about what you are doing. You're going to want to kick each other in the shins daily, but as long as the common project keeps you afloat, then it will work.
Q: Do you ever disagree creatively, and how do you resolve those moments?
LD: Yes but I usually win! We rarely disagree. But if we do, the way we resolve it is that we both input a little bit of what both of us think and it usually results in a better product.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a creative duo building a luxury brand?
Outside economic influences like recession have been a challenge. Listening to advice but not taking all of it. We've listened to some bad advice in the past but we're doing much better now.
Q: What role does storytelling play in your wallcoverings and fabrics?
LD: At Fromental, we are storytellers first and foremost. Our work is about layering history, technique, and artistic expression to create something truly transportive. This philosophy has made Fromental a sought-after collaborator for some of the world’s most visionary designers and brands.
Q: How do you balance heritage craftsmanship with innovation?
LD: We see craftsmanship as a continuing evolution of technology. So that's all it is for us. Craftsmanship is knowing how to use your tools really well, whether they're old tools or new tools.
