Designing Komodo Dragon

Mills and archivists hold extraordinary collections of textiles and art. A source of great inspiration, the original version of this print was found in the archives of one of the United Kingdom’s oldest printing mills.

Many of our prints are uncovered in similar textile archives and refreshed through a contemporary lens; a practice that is key to James Dunlop’s creative handwriting and results in a range of patterned textiles which sit comfortably within traditional and contemporary spaces.

As James Dunlop is our legacy brand, it made sense to develop a dragon print. The dragon is a perennial surface pattern that has been celebrated for centuries and appears in the collections of many iconic fabric houses.

Traditionally in such textiles, a literal depiction of a dragon encircled by negative space creates a striking and undeniably identifiable statement. Seeking to reference these prints whilst making the dragon our own, the studio maintained the characteristic swirling movement but simplified the surrounding scene.

Designed to suit a more relaxed and approachable setting, akin to our casual Australasian lifestyle, our dragon subtlety blends into the background. Enabling Komodo Dragon to be layered with various colours and textures in the home, just as curiosities build up over a lifetime.

Each of our three custom colourways reflects our relaxed lifestyle and approach to design, featuring decorative, greyed-off shades in natural, earthy combinations designed to punctuate and connect to the wider collection.

Porcelain is a classic blue and white combination with warm neutral notes and vibrant cobalt shades. Basalt is a restorative combination of umber, caramel, and pink clay, and Bamboo is composed of muted green and earthen tones of ochre and tobacco, accented by pops of lilac. These accent shades peep through both Komodo Dragon and Kanji, our coordinating plain linen drapery.

Looking to ancient vases for inspiration, our designers felt it was essential to offer our Australasian take on a classic porcelain blue. Balancing the vibrancy of traditional cobalt with creamy ivory and ecru to express a softer perspective.

After striking off many colour combinations, three confident yet liveable palettes were selected and meticulously edited to perfect the colour placement within the motifs. These combinations are unique to each colourway and crucial for the dragon to nestle into the design just so.

The chosen base cloth is a standard width, cotton-linen blend with a natural slub that enhances the texture of the print. Komodo Dragon is a multipurpose textile, suitable for use as an accessory, drapery, and light upholstery – either on a traditional piece, contemporary frame, or dramatic headboard softened with layers of coordinating linen.

Digitally printed in the United Kingdom at a renowned mill, Komodo Dragon yields exceptional colourfastness to light due to the mill’s state of the art Ecofast inks. As well as being much better for the environment, due to using less water and energy than conventional printing, this method of pigment printing affords our designers the unique opportunity to print solid, saturated colours onto a natural base cloth.

Evoking the ideas of visual storytelling behind the Fable collection, Komodo Dragon is our Australasian interpretation of an iconic textile design.

This liveable depiction evokes a dreamlike scene where the dragon is nearly camouflaged, perhaps floating amongst the clouds or gliding across organic rock formations. Pigment printed in the United Kingdom with EcoFast inks in three custom colourways: Bamboo, Basalt, and Porcelain.