Monkey Puzzle Tree showcased new textile wallcovering at Decorex

The Monkey Puzzle Tree founder, Charlotte Raffo
at Decorex October 2022.

The award-winning British company The Monkey Puzzle Tree has launched their new "Blues Fantasia" textile wallcovering at the premier interiors fair Decorex held in London Kensington Olympia in October.

Wallpaper entitled ‘Blues Fantasia’ from Monkey Puzzle Tree was co-created with Ghana-born artist Josephine McYebuah whose original design took inspiration from  African wildlife,
comic book art, Bollywood films and Art Deco style. 
Image courtesy of Monkey Puzzle Tree.

Blue Fantasia showcases a modern take on Art Deco.  The design contrasts a natural toned textile background, with bold colours and metallic gold featuring a striking African-inspired graphic print depicting “elegant antelopes intertwined with rich gold and jewel coloured motifs”.  

The design was co-created with Josephine McYebuah (in picture below) who was chosen for her unique style and interesting and unusual influences.

Growing up in Accra, Ghana, she was fascinated by the cartoons and animation she saw on television as well as Bollywood films and the wildlife and colours in her surroundings.

Company founder, Charlotte Raffo said, "To achieve its astonishing depth of colour and texture, Blues Fantasia is silk screen printed onto a natural toned textile base.  The wallpaper takes two people five hours to produce each run of 30m, with each colour having to be left to painstakingly dry before the next is applied."  With a mandate to help preserve local industry and traditional skills, the wallcovering  is hand-made by craftsmen in the North of England.

Charlotte founded The Monkey Puzzle Tree in 2017 in Leeds.  The company is known for its individual fabrics and wallcoverings, putting art at the heart of their designs. Via unique collaborations with talented artists from England's industrial north, the company produces "joyful textiles that defy passing trends, bringing originality, imagination and beauty to interior."  

Awarded a Design Guild Mark and nominated for an Eco Award , "All Tomorrow's Futures"
 was among the wnning designs at The Monkey Puzzle Tree.

Designers who have worked with Charlotte include Drew Millward whose award-winning design 'Hit the North' wallpaper features an intricate industrial design printed on cork.  And the 'Body Lace' voile from artist Sarah Jane Parker has erotic nudes hidden beneath its veneer of delicate respectability.