When Burberry creative director Daniel Lee sought inspiration for the brand’s 2025 autumn/winter collection, he turned to the home. Not to his actual home, but rather the grand and bohemian country manors that draw London’s weekend warriors (and Burberry clients) out of the city for a rural jaunt. These fabulous but oft-faded interiors—marked by hand-painted wallpapers, elaborate wall hangings, and sumptuous tapestries—came to life on the Burberry catwalk in February as velvet brocade jackets, damask dresses, and tapestry-motifed saddle bags.
These opulent textiles have long been woven into the fabric of upper class living. “Historically, because brocades and damasks were made with fine material like silk and were time-consuming to produce, they were only available to nobility,” says Kristen Robinson, Schumacher archivist, who explained that the fabrics originated in China and were disseminated to Europe through the Silk Road. (It’s worth noting this was the case until the early 1800s, when the invention of the Jacquard loom brought these textiles to the masses).
Burberry isn’t the only fashion house bringing fabrics typical of curtains and carpets to the catwalk. Some of the coolest Copenhagen-based brands, Stine Goya and Ganni, have updated the look with their signature bright colors and large-format prints, while Emilia Wickstead and Sézane have leaned into more classic silhouettes. There have even been technological updates to the making process—cult-followed menswear brand Kestin sources their jacquard from Takisada, a specialist Japanese mill, that has turned the delicate fabric into one durable enough for everyday wear.
These textiles aren’t just finding a home in your closet. Interior designers around the world are seeing demand for textured fabrics too. Online antique marketplace 1stDibs reported that their audience is showing an increased interest for these materials, with searches for the keywords “brocade” or “jacquard” up 14% year-on-year for 2025 so far, while Pinterest saw search traffic for “Jacquard cushion” rise by 125% and “brocade cushion covers” increase by 83% over the past year.
It might seem unusual that these age-old fabrics have captured the zeitgeist, but Laura Gonzalez, an AD100 interior designer known for her maximalist projects (such as the luxurious Printemps department store), sees the interest as timely. “There’s a desire for spaces that feel layered, immersive, and full of history—perhaps as a reaction to years of minimalism,” says Gonzalez. “These fabrics add depth and a tactile luxury that feels comforting in our increasingly digital world.”
AD100 talent Adam Charlap Hyman echoes the sentiment. “In general, there seems to be this yearning right now for a more classical type of beauty in interiors. I think that in the world of fabric, damask, and brocade are the answer to that yearning.”
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