The iconic Glasgow-based design studio Timorous Beasties are celebrating 20 years since the brand’s first toile design
To celebrate 20 years since the studio’s first toile design, Timorous Beasties has unveiled Toile Tales at Musée de la Toile de Jouy in Paris — a retrospective of existing work and a special display of new toiles to accompany a series of tales from 9th February until 19th May.
Timorous Beasties, the Glasgow-based, internationally-acclaimed design studio, has unveiled Toile Tales at Musée de la Toile de Jouy, which includes a retrospective exhibition and special display of new toiles to accompany a series of tales.
Timorous Beasties has always been enchanted by the story-telling power of the toiles de Jouy. However, the toile served Timorous Beasties themselves as a medium to subvert the decorative arts. Their first toile — the Glasgow Toile, printed in 2004 — is a raw portrayal of their home city, in which they exchange the arcadian wonder of traditional toiles for some of Glasgow’s grit and gutter, and displace beaux objets for the déplaisant.
Following the Glasgow toile, Timorous Beasties explored how the world around us might be framed in a toile design genre, embracing different cities, wide-ranging occasions and subjects.
To complement this 2024 retrospective exhibition, Timorous Beasties has introduced a new collection of Toile Tales. Inspired by some of the earliest Oberkampf toile patterns depicting Fontaine’s fables, they have developed an oblique divergence whereby toile has come to represent a unique form of story-telling.
“In the absence of text, the story-telling power across time and place within the make-up of Toiles de Jouy resonates with us deeply and has set us on our own Toile Tales journey portrayed in this special exhibition,” explains Paul Simmons, Co-Founder of Timorous Beasties says,
The exhibition showcases the new toile designs alongside a curated edit of Timorous Beasties celebrated toile fabrics, wallpapers, upholstered furniture, book cover designs and decorative accessories.
If you’re in Paris and fancy popping along, head to you the Musée de la Toile de Jouy from 9th February until 19th May.
