MAYA ROMANOFF

Snowflake Anniversary Collection

I attended a fascinating lecture featuring the Maya Romanoff line of decorative wallcoverings at the D & D yesterday. Hosted by Quest Magazine, the lecture featured firm president Joyce Romanoff and innovative interior designer Amy Lau.  Romanoff was a charming and entertaining speaker who shared personal anecdotes about the firm's inception and forty year history while showing an inspiring slideshow featuring the companies original tie-dyed pieces.

Maya Romanoff, the firm, began in the late 1960's when the companies namesake started selling tie-dyed t-shirts out of the back of his car.  The designs quickly caught on with fashionistas and the art community with installations appearing in Central Park's Belvedere Castle and the Sun-Times building in Chicago. Eventually, Romanoff turned his considerable creative talent to the design of innovative wallcoverings utilizing materials never before used on walls: Swarovski crystals, capiz shells, tiny glass beads and hemp are some of the unusual materials used to create the current collection of extraordinary wallcoverings.

Amy Lau introduced the firm's new Anniversary Collection,  her modern interpretation of three archival tie-dyed prints. With soft, saturated colors and a sophisticated subtle sheen, the collection is a fresh update on an old classic. The highlight of the lecture was an impromptu wallpaper painting session. Paper was hand-dyed and enhanced with a metallic paint all within a matter of minutes. Joyce Romanoff offered a cautious "Don't try this at home!"  to those of use with visions of wallpaper grandeur. I decided to leave it to the pros and headed to the Maya Romanoff Collection at Bergamo  Fabrics.

Half Plaid in saffron from the Anniversary Collection

Crystal in Silver Mocha

I love my journal in Half Plaid, a take home gift

Wallpaper demonstration (sorry Blackberry photo)