A thought-provoking message in The Monkey Puzzle Tree's new designer print

British award-winning company The Monkey Puzzle Tree has launched a new print for a collection of furnishing fabrics thanks to its collaboration with Yorkshire artist and illustrator Alexis Snell.

"All Tomorrow’s Futures" from The Monkey Puzzle Tree is available in three monochrome colourways - Ocean Blue, Lobster Orange and Seaweed Green, each providing a vivid pop of colour against an unbleached cotton linen background.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree's booth at 
Decorex 2021 where the new
"All Tomorrow’s Futures"  range was launched.
Photo by Lucia Carpio for MyFashionConnectGlobal.

Just launched at the Decorex 2021 high-end interior design trade fair in early October 2021, the “All Tomorrow’s Futures” range is a locally-produced textural artisan print depicting the impact of humans on the natural world.

Ms Alexis created the thought-provoking design to explore the juxtaposition between the natural and industrial worlds.  Hidden within the hand-carved lino cut pattern is a subtle message about humankind’s impact on the planet.  Flocks of swallows morph into aeroplanes and factory fumes mingled with skulls and snakes. 

"As an artist, I can’t make that much difference to climate change, but what I can do is create images that make people think about what’s happening to our planet. The name refers to the fact that the future of our planet could go in two different ways. We’ve got to act now to prevent disaster,” said Alexis, who sketched out the original design for ‘All Tomorrow’s Futures’ in pencil before hand carving it onto a lino block and printing it by hand. 

A specially commissioned cotton-linen fabric with a handcrafted, bouclé-like feel was woven on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border and the pattern was screen printed at a heritage mill in Cumbria.

All Tomorrow’s Futures is available in three monochrome colourways - Ocean Blue, Lobster Orange and Seaweed Green, each providing a vivid pop of colour against an unbleached cotton linen background.

As a printmaker working in linocuts, Alexis is well known for her darkly humorous and characterful illustrations which have been featured in everything from a cast bronze table which was commissioned by the V&A Museum, to a recent Doctor Who book for the BBC.

Alexis has collaborated with The Monkey Puzzle Tree on a number of popular designs including 'How the Leopard got his Spots' velvet (available as cushion covers and lampshades) and 'Passion Flower' wallpaper.

The Monkey Puzzle Tree is known for their award winning artist designed fabrics and wallpapers with a twist and a conscience.  

Founded by Charlotte Raffo in 2017, the business pays a 20% royalty to their artists to help provide them The Monkey Puzzle Tree with a passive income, and the unique designs are manufactured in the North of England, supporting traditional industries and maintaining high environmental standards.  

Earlier this year, it was awarded a Design Guild Mark for 2021 for its “Hit the North” real cork wallpaper, as seen in this picture on the left.