Design
Maker’s Spotlight: Toyine Sellers
“Toyine Sellers is the heart and creative mind behind her artistic atelier and conceives her fabrics as individual works of art, from their creation to the final composition.”
Quote and image courtesy of TOYINE
We love TOYINE’s unique textiles, handmade pillows, handwoven rugs, and throws. Instantaneously, you can tell that the textiles are woven on traditional looms by artisans who spend their days creating works of art. To add to the magic, note that TOYINE operates as an atelier in a small town in France; the firm’s list of clients is a “Who’s Who” of industry insiders.
“I don’t regard my fabrics as fabric; I’m creating little pieces of art.” – Toyine Sellers (courtesy of Interior Design)
Fabric: Indi Or, Cinq-Cent-Soixante-Dix
Image courtesy of TOYINE
Founder Toyine Sellers, a trained interior designer, was born in South Africa to European parents and led a rather nomadic childhood. The family spent time in four continents: Africa, Europe, North American, and South America. At the beginning of her career, Sellers worked for Peter Marino Architect where she created fabrics for interiors including Paris’ Hotel de Crillon, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry. Specifically, working on projects for Chanel strongly influenced her use of metallic threads. It was at these “five star” clients where Sellers was first introduced to the art of textile-making. The designer was intrigued by the joy she received producing the beautiful textiles that she once offered to her clients.
All textiles are made-to-order, and we love that we can customize them for our specific projects!
Image courtesy of TOYINE
At the time, some of the world’s top artisans came through Peter Marino Architect’s studio. Before too long, Sellers realized that she wanted to be an artisan herself. Unfortunately, one of Sellers’ favorite artisans had just passed away and his wife hoped that Sellers would be able to keep his legacy alive. This promise, in conjunction to a nearby atelier going out of business, seemed like fate. In 2007, Sellers opened her own atelier, TOYINE, and began to design custom textiles on historical looms; the products were produced in Southern France using only natural fibers and leathers.
The skilled weavers at the atelier work their magic on 40-60 year old mechanical looms. The machines may be slow, but the end product is magical, something you can’t produce on modern-day looms.
Images courtesy of TOYINE
The skilled weavers at the atelier work their magic on 40-60 year old mechanical looms. The machines may be slow, but the end product is magical, something you can’t produce on modern-day looms.
Images courtesy of TOYINE
The skilled weavers at the atelier work their magic on 40-60 year old mechanical looms. The machines may be slow, but the end product is magical, something you can’t produce on modern-day looms.
Images courtesy of TOYINE
The skilled weavers at the atelier work their magic on 40-60 year old mechanical looms. The machines may be slow, but the end product is magical, something you can’t produce on modern-day looms.
Images courtesy of TOYINE
With Sellers, there are no shortcuts… her pieces are produced using “old world crafting techniques.” She likens creating a fabric to (courtesy of Ravelin) “what a chef does when he creates an amazing meal. “If we are successful, both of us produce something delicious, beautiful and unique. There is considerable preparation work, which nobody sees, for both of us.”
In our Oak Park residence, a pair of club chairs by BDDW upholstered in ‘Cent-Trois’ by Toyine add to the cheerful vibe of this living room!
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell Inc., Photographed by Eric Piasecki
In our Oak Park residence, a pair of club chairs by BDDW upholstered in ‘Cent-Trois’ by Toyine add to the cheerful vibe of this living room!
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell Inc., Photographed by Eric Piasecki
Similar to a food, each fabric has a recipe where the ingredients and the quantities used are specifically noted. Obviously, the loom has to be adjusted to account for the specific fabric; this ensures that the proper density applies to the material. “When mixing many different types of yarns into one fabric as I like, their different tensile strengths and thicknesses can make weaving complicated.” The weaver provides additional quality-control… this can prove intense when working with finicky, forty year old machines.
Indi Or, Cinq-Cent-Quatre-Vingt – we recently used this gorgeous fabric as upholstery in a client’s study.
Image courtesy of TOYINE
Today, Sellers remains at the core of her studio’s artistic atelier; she is both the heart and soul of textiles produced. Sellers’ fabrics are works of art… from start to finish. Courtesy of the studio’s website, Sellers “believes that textiles should achieve more than accents within a space. When uniquely designed, they bridge art and architecture.”
For more inspiration visit TOYINE
