FEATURED STORY
Magnificent transformation

"VICTORIAN" is the name of the first designer cooperation between V&B Fliesen GmbH in over 20 years. It was designed by fashion designer Mary Katrantzou. Those who know her designs know that she does not shy away from grand gestures. Her work features large patterns, bright colours and a mixture of motifs that link the present with the past. Katrantzou has always brought together supposedly opposing poles, beginning with her studies of architecture, textile and fashion design as in the course of her internationally renowned fabric designs. For Villeroy & Boch Tiles, she fuses elements from the tile specialist's two hundred years of design and production history with the fascinating aesthetics of tropical butterfly species. She also drew graphic inspiration from the historic floor tiles in the corridors of Villeroy & Boch AG's headquarters in Mettlach, like the jagged edge of stamps. "VICTORIAN" preserves, like a nostalgic treasure chest, fragments of a design that threaten to disappear in the modern age, as butterfly lore, like writing letters by hand and philately, have fallen out of fashion. The designer makes use of these remnants of a bygone era to create a new work with them - the motif of the butterfly is emblematic in this process of the constant transformation of the familiar into a new form.

Through a repetition of motifs, the addition of concentric patterns and her sense of symmetry as well as proportion, the tiled surface does not appear overloaded despite the striking design. The eye finds detailed sections that one wants to approach for closer inspection, like graphic voids that allow one to come to rest briefly in the visual frenzy of the motifs. Each change of perspective reveals new levels of the varied tiled picture. Moreover, as the four magnificent butterfly designs in total are created using a combination of modern digital printing and traditional printing techniques on the white or black marbled background, a visual 3D effect is created that gives the tiles a handcrafted look. "It is a privilege to work with Villeroy & Boch tiles - an exciting process to imagine and create spaces where people will live every day," says Mary Katrantzou. Thanks to the richly varied collection, there is plenty of scope to put together an individual work of art for the room from it: Eight different decorative sets measuring 20 x 20 centimetres, as well as borders and corners can be chosen. The butterflies are decorated straight or at a 45-degree angle with golden, black or perforated borders. While the decors may decorate the walls, the collection offers complementary polished floor tiles in marble look made of glazed porcelain stoneware.

With "VICTORIAN", the traditional company looks ahead with a bold design without forgetting its own roots. "As one of the most style-defining companies, V&B Fliesen GmbH is characterised by its love of outstanding design. The collaboration with Mary Katrantzou is a natural development to take Villeroy & Boch tiles in a new direction and to offer design lovers the opportunity to create rooms with tiles from this inspiring collection," says Dr. Jörg Schwall, Managing Director of V&B Fliesen GmbH. (am)