It ’ s ironic that what we associate with a French Bourgeois fabric has its origins in Ireland . But it was German born dyer Christophe-Philipe Oberkampf who opened a factory in Jouy-en-Josas , conveniently en route to the Palace of Versailles , and his obsession with the cloth sealed its fate and gave us its name .
ULRA-MODERN AND INVERSED TOILE Toile de Jouy has somehow remained relevant — perhaps due to its powerful storytelling ability . Now part of the DNA of Christian Dior , it was Monsieur Dior who , with the help of his design team , had custom Toile de Jouy decorate the walls of his Maison . This toile was the springboard for Dior ’ s current creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri , who reinvented the motif of tigers and monkeys now synonymous with the brand and placed it and inversed versions on everything from totes to ponchos .
Other fashion designers have also taken variations of Toile de Jouy and made it their own . Dries Van Noten , a master of print , has hand painted Toile de Jouy motifs on porcelain fragrance bottles as if there were vases . Thom Browne , the designer known for irreverent classic ensembles , has used the print to soften the look of rigid schoolboy style blazers .
And whether you love a head-to-toe look or you ’ re a print skeptic and believe a little goes a long way , one thing is for certain — Toile de Jouy is no flash in the pan , and the once old , now modern toile , is here to stay .
WETHERS FIELD DRESS BY JACOBEAN ROUGE ,
$ 895 , MONKEESMP . COM
WE World 29 Winter 2022 / 23