How Textile Trends Have Changed in 2021, According to Experts

Unexpected color combos, botanicals, and a new take on classic stripes are just some of the trends Callie Jenschke, co-owner of the Austin-based to-the-trade textile boutique, Supply Showroom, has seen this year. Supply offers hundreds of fabric and wallpaper selections from designers throughout the world.

“Everyone is wanting to live large, and we’ve definitely noticed more color and pattern being pulled,” Jenschke says, who co-founded Supply in 2014 alongside Kim West and Kristin Gish. “Designers are no longer playing it safe.”

So, what has been trending this year? There’s a major return to “granny chic”, the grandmillennial style that has sparked a resurgence on Instagram. “People are really drawn to these florals with a traditional bend,” she says. “It’s a return to elaborate design.”

Supply just started carrying an array of prints from Ottoline, the London-based Dutch design house, and they have flown off the shelves. "Her color combos are fresh and unique, yet her patterns are bold and sophisticated at the same time,” she says.

Abigail Borg, a British designer, takes a UK spin with both large- and small-scale patterns with tone-on-tone, bright blue, pink, and green hues as exhibited in her Polka, Foxtail Lily, and Feverfew designs. Louise Jones, an Australian designer, also looks to her environment for inspiration, showcasing wildflowers from Alice Springs and native plants from Wilson’s Promontory in Southeast Victoria in her pieces.

“It’s the color offerings that are making these botanical prints modern again,” Jenschke adds. Then there’s Lulie Wallace, who epitomizes the grandmillennial style in her Eila, Bea, Julia, and Georgia patterns. 

Then, there are the ever-popular designs from Voutsa. “All of his patterns just came out with over-the-top florals and big polka dots,” she says. Voutsa recently collaborated with fashion designer Brandon Maxwell, and the Audrey, a bold polka dot pattern, can be seen in Maxwell's Resort 2022 collection. It comes in six color offerings, but the multicolored dot has been the most unexpected pick for Jenschke. 

Jenschke’s other favorites are those from The Lawns. “The striped grasscloth is offered in ochre, cigar, a beautiful rust color, and cabana, a sage green, and teal,” she says. “We haven’t seen those color combinations in a while.”

While Voutsa and The Lines hit the mark in dots and stripes, Ottoline also has graphic squiggles like the Madam Ziggle wallpaper in pink and green, Sporty Stripes in saffron and Moroccan Stripes print. For those wanting vibrant geometric prints, Annie Coop offers bold stripes and equally bold color with her Almo pattern in olive and alabaster and Faro in apricot and red.

“We sell an equal amount of wallpaper and fabric, but what has changed in the design world is that pattern and color are now easier for people to wrap their heads around,” she says. “I see people that are now gravitating toward something that they wouldn't have before. Wallpaper is mainstream again.”