Casamance | Saint Louis

Saint Louis is a satin jacquard of large, open flowers, woven with a heat-shrink yarn that puckers the ground around the blooms so they stand up in relief, and a fine lurex thread that traces their outlines. Linen in the weft keeps the surface from looking too polished. The scale is generous and contemporary, more mural than sprig, and the design takes its name from the island in the middle of the Seine. It has been reissued this season in a fresh set of colours.

The cloth is 28 per cent viscose, 24 per cent polyester, 23 per cent polyamide, 13 per cent acrylic and 12 per cent linen, made in India at 129 centimetres wide and 300 grams per square metre. The repeat is 70 centimetres vertically and 43 centimetres horizontally with a straight match. There are 5 colourways: Gris Cendré, Jaune, Praline, Nacre and Marine. Nacre and Praline are the soft, pearly ones; Marine and Gris Cendré give the flowers a darker ground and a more graphic edge.

We would use it as a single statement: one pair of curtains in a dining room, a headboard, or a folding screen. On a bed it works as a throw-over cover with a plain linen beneath. Because of the lurex it wants a little evening light, so a room used after dark suits it. Pair it with a plain from Dolce Vita in a colour picked out of the flower rather than the ground. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: with a 70 centimetre repeat, plan the drop so a full flower sits just below the heading, and allow one repeat extra per width. The shrink-yarn texture means the cloth is not entirely flat, so ask for a soft interlining rather than a stiff one, and avoid it on seats that get hard daily use; backs, headboards and curtains are where it belongs.

• Composition: 28% viscose, 24% polyester, 23% polyamide, 13% acrylic, 12% linen
• Width: 129 cm (51 in)
• Pattern repeat: 70 cm vertical, 43 cm horizontal
• Weight: 300 g per square metre
• Match: Straight match
• Care: Dry clean recommended
• Origin: Made in India
• Collection: Paris Lumière, Casamance
• Colourways: 5 (Gris Cendré, Jaune, Praline, Nacre, Marine)