Mulberry Home | Rossini Velvet

Rossini Velvet is the house's plain velvet, a viscose and cotton pile with the soft, deep-napped depth a good velvet needs and none of the stiffness a cheaper one can have. It takes light beautifully, shifting a shade or two darker or lighter depending on which way you brush the pile, which is half the pleasure of a plain velvet on a piece of furniture you look at every day, in every light the room gives it.

The composition is 70 per cent viscose, 24 per cent cotton and 6 per cent polyester, 142 centimetres wide, with no repeat to match since the cloth is a true plain. Tested to 50,000 rubs on the Martindale scale, it is rated for upholstery as well as curtains, and recommended for curtains and both loose and fixed upholstery. There is one colourway, Mole, a soft, warm taupe that behaves as a genuine neutral against almost anything.

We use a plain velvet like this on the pieces that carry a room: a chesterfield, a wing chair, a headboard, or a full pair of curtains where the depth of colour matters more than any pattern. It sits happily beside any of the house's prints, checks or stripes, and it is the cloth we reach for when a room needs one quiet, substantial gesture. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: velvet must always be cut with the pile running in one direction throughout a piece, so tell your maker before you order and allow a little extra for that. It should never be steamed hard on the face; brush and dry clean it, and never tumble dry it.

• Composition: 70% viscose, 24% cotton, 6% polyester
• Width: 142 cm (56 in)
• Abrasion resistance: 50,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Suitable for: Curtains, loose upholstery, fixed upholstery
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, tumble dry, bleach or iron
• Collection: Imperial Collection, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 1 (Mole)