I don’t know what it is with the Dragon business in design. I suppose it’s an ancient theme, especially in Chinoiserie, that never gets tired. What does, however get tired is Schumacher’s Chiang Mai Dragon. I do LOVE it, and I have used it many, many times (in my own home included), but right now I am feeling like, “enough already…” I need a break from it, I suppose.

Enter the Dragons… I am a huge fan of Jim Thompson textiles, for their retro, Asian and 60′s hippy-chic vibe.

Staying true to Thompson’s own aesthetic, (he was a famous expatriated designer who lived in Thailand creating a fashionable textile business until an accident took his life), most of the fabrics are light, linen and have a great painterly quality to them; in fact they feel and look like art to me.

My client who was considering the Suzanne Kasler Paisley vs. the Chaing Mai in Aquamarine agrees. I sent her a memo of this JT dragon fabric to consider before pulling the trigger on the Chiang Mai (clearly, the dragon won that war…) and she went as nuts when she saw it! With this path, we can stick with many of the already chosen textiles for her family room, and of course the furnishings and rug. So, I guess you could say this new Dragon now has a home.