Animal print upholstery fabric works best when the animal is drawn, not just suggested. A pattern with real figures in it, used in a considered colourway on one or two pieces, reads as art rather than fashion, and it g tigers among winding vines.
01Our tigers
Three of our patterns began as hand-drawn illustrations by the Ukrainian artist Yevheniia Vynokurova, redrawn in our studio as repeats and printed on velvet and linen in England.
- Tora: tigers leaping through winding vines in a flowing, seamless repeat.
- Panthera: poised tigers among botanicals and classical figures, mirrored about a central stem.
- Penrose Prowl: tigers climbing Escher’s impossible Penrose stairs.
02Choose the colour before the animal
The colourway decides how loud a tiger print is. Tonal colourways such as Champagne or Ash let the drawing emerge slowly and sit happily with plain walls and timber. High-contrast ones such as Cobalt, Bauhaus or Roisin make the pattern the centre of the room.
03Where animal print works
- A single armchair or pair of dining chairs, against plain walls.
- A headboard, where a symmetrical pattern like Panthera centres above the bed.
- Cushions on a plain sofa, to try the idea before committing to more.
- Curtains in a large scale, in a room with little other pattern.
04Scale and mixing
Choose a small scale for chairs and cushions and a medium or large scale for headboards and curtains. To mix an animal print with other fabrics, keep one pattern dominant and pair it with plains or a quiet texture in a colour taken from the print.
See all 24 tiger colourways together on our animal print upholstery fabric page, every colourway in our velvet and linen libraries, or order samples at £4.20 each to see the tigers in your own light.
