Last Updated on May 3, 2024 by
One of my favorite iconic designers is Florence Broadhurst. Her designs are big, bold, beautifully crisp and funky. Florence was a fascinating character from outback Australia. She led people to believe she was English in Australia yet in London where she had a shop she pretended to be French. She was a chanteuse in Shanghi in the 1920s and in the 30s she was a couturier in Bond Street.
Interior Design Concept Board created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com
During the 1950s Florence was a painter. But it was in the 1960s and early 70s she became famous and shone as a designer of brilliant wallpaper. Florence died as she had lived in mysterious circumstances. Her brutal murder has remained unsolved.
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Florence’s designs revealed her background in travel to exotic places in stylized patterns of Asian influence. Her bold psychedelic colored prints were very much on trend in the swinging 1960s. She created her famous huge peacock like birds using a gold background and five different silk screens.
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Broadhurst worked very closely with a number of young designers and interior designers in the city where she created her master pieces; Sydney. Unfortunately her wallpapers went out of fashion for years. The minimalist styles of the 2000s would not accommodate her magnificent bold wallpaper designs.
Concept Board created by Rosena on SampleBoard.com
However Signature Prints an Australian company has been working for a number of years to restore Florence Broadhurst’s prints to their place as hot décor items. In 2003 Florence Broadhurst designs were launched in the USA by John Buscemi the owner of Classic Revivals in Boston.
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I must admit I am so glad Florence’s work has had a continuing revival. Her designs have also been used to create magnificent floor rugs and fabrics. I have created a number of concept boards featuring some of her wonderful designs. Hope you are inspired and enjoy her designs as much as I do.
Author: Rosena MacFadzean for SampleBoard.com – concept creation online