Karen McCartney visited Karie Soehardi of Ella and Sofia in her studio to learn about her collaboration with Sydney Living Museums and the resulting collection of cushions and lamp shades.

Karie Soehardi, Creative Director of Ella and Sofia, is a textile designer for whom the past is very much alive in the present.

Her love affair with re-interpreting Australia's visual heritage started with a project for the Hydro Majestic Hotel in Medlow Bath, in the Blue Mountains. "I worked closely with Peter Reeve, Director of design company CRD, to create custom prints that reflected the original Art Nouveau building but brought new, original thinking," says Karie.


The Rose Bay pattern (left), and shelves in Karie's studio.

Working on wallpaper, friezes for social spaces and fabrics for selected bedrooms Karie was able to draw on motifs from the original designs but work them into new forms using an updated colour palette that they hope will represent a new, yet long-lasting, chapter for the interior.

"We worked to maintain the spirit of the past but move it on," says Karie. The process involved lots of research, many visits to the hotel combined with the back and forth of sketches as Peter's global travels brought new ideas and concepts. "I was something of the translator, interpreting things on a visual level," says Karie.


Karie's Sydney studio.

What the experience did for Karie was trigger the creative satisfaction she got from looking at the past and reimagining it for a new audience. "I am influenced by William Morris and other European designers but it is important to consider how the designs speak to today's consumer. My signature style has always been 'yesteryear with a twist'. You don't have to start from scratch every time," says Karie.

This philosophy happened to tally with that of Sydney Living Museums (formerly The Historic Houses Trust) whose remit according to Assistant Director Caroline Butler Bowen is to 'Bring the past alive'.


Ella and Sofia cushions and lamp shade, styled by Adam Powell and photographed by Denise Braki.

The remarkable Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection with its wealth of visual resources, overseen by the highly knowledgeable curator Michael Lech, was a great boon to Karie's research. Concentrating on her field of interest, the Nouveau and Deco period, Karie went through the collection to discover themes and forms that she felt she could work with. "As I went through the beautiful sample books and papers peeled off the walls of period homes I tried to deconstruct what I saw - looking at shapes rather than patterns to see what works for now," she says.

Working with geometry and boldly mixing it with organic branch shapes, pulling out big floral shapes and giving them the feel of loose painterly insects and isolating beautiful nouveau forms presented in monochrome or with the subtle blush of dusty pink. "Colour was the trend element reflecting what is happening in interiors now – purples, blues and silvery greys and pinks," says Karie.


The Kandos pattern translated to wallpaper in cobalt, and a lampshade in the mulberry colourway.

When asked how can we make it live on for another generation to enjoy, Karie makes clear it is all about the story. "These wonderful stories are being lost and I believe people want a story. They want something meaningful," she says.

And finally - what did she enjoy most about the experience?

"It was great the way everyone has got on board. I love what Sydney Living Museums are doing with their brand and I wanted to be supportive of that and breathe life into what is old and allow it to be re-appreciated in a new way, to a new audience', says Karie.