Autumn 2025 new wallpaper launches – a Review of Focus & Decorex

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Nov 6
5 min read

In London, autumn’s unmissable interior design events include Focus/25 on Design at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and Decorex, which takes place a few weeks later at Olympia. It’s a fantastic opportunity to discover the latest launches and inspiration from a raft of leading brands, along with new interpretations from historic documents.

Over the years, Lewis & Wood has developed as a creative collaboration between two people whose love for what they do is combined with a determination to use British talent and manufacture in their Gloucestershire mill. Whereas most mainstream fabric and wallpaper companies bring out dozens of new designs every year, Lewis & Wood introduce a select half dozen. Whilst the company is small, its output is distinctive and is loved by decorators who enjoy pulling their papers out of the bag to delight their clients. Their designs have been described equally as bold, gentle, sophisticated, eccentric, traditional and innovative. Uniting them all is a sense of individuality, a quality that is carefully crafted, as opposed to mass-produced.

Their latest launch, The Historic Papers Collection, brings together four completely different wall patterns, each with a unique history and created with a particular technique. The Georgia design was discovered by Philip Jebb in 1966 in a derelict building in Brentford. He gave the wallpaper to John Fowler who donated it to the V&A. They believed it to be inspired by a silk damask, dated it to c.1755-60 and have given permission for it to be reproduced. Another eye-catching design in this collection is Folklore based on a 19^th-century American stencil pattern now part of a collection in the American Museum in Bath.

Framed photographs show where the Georgia design was discovered in a derelict building

Georgia Folklore © Lewis & Wood

Known for their elegant panoramic tapestries and chinoiseries, Zardi & Zardi was formed in 2004 at the start of the digital print revoloution with the aim of reproducing museum-grade reproductions of antique tapestries designed to hang on the walls while originals were sent away for conservation and cleaning, along with manufacturing pieces for various historic properties, TV and film sets. By 2016 the company had diversified to add a range of wallpaper products taken from original tapestry designs so more people could own a beautiful piece of history. The latest Fiori e Leoni Collection is a collaboration with Sir John Soane’s Museum. The museum holds 30,000 works on paper, amongst them drawings and watercolours by Giuseppe Mannocchi who worked in the architectural office of Robert and James Adam. These gave the brothers wallpaper and ceiling ideas for interior decorative schemes. The 18^th-century watercolours and drawings serve as the inspiration for these delighful wallpaper designs with a distinct Italian neo-classical flavour.

Leone Allegra Arabesque Primavera

Leone image by the author, others ©Zardi & Zardi

There’s no mistaking the signature of Timney Fowler, founded by Sue Timney and Graeme Fowler in the 1980s. They are renowned for their iconic black and white neo-classical designs, which draw inspiration from diverse historical and architectural sources including powerful Greco-Roman imagery, heraldic patterns and graphic emblems of European art and architecture, and combine them in unexpected juxtapositions. Their design imagery captures an atmosphere of romanticism to create truly eclectic collections. Focus/25 The Longer View showcased the wonderful designs from their Architect and Cityscape collections.

Tamesis (London) Triomphe (Paris) Tudor Rose Porticos

In 1861 William Morris formed his company Morris & Co and from then until the 1920s they issued over 100 block-printed wallpapers, of which Morris designed over half. Although wallpapers were not a significant part of Morris’ output at the time, these papers have continued to influence interior decoration throughout the world. So it’s thrilling that new designs have been launched this autumn that both William Morris and his protégéJohn Henry Dearle started but never completed. These are housed in The Huntington library and art museum in California, which owns over 3,500 items in its William Morris Collection, following its purchase of the Berger collection in 1999. Twelve designs, originally intended for wallpaper, textile, embroideries, carpet and stained glass, have been launched as part of The Unfinished Works collection. The Morris & Co. design team have managed to capture the very essence of Morris and Dearle’s signatures in these interpretations from the original drawings on paper.

Wild Tulip & Vine Walthamstow Chamomile Lent Lily

In the 1920s Morris & Co. introduced borders into their range. Over the decades the wallpaper industry has generally fallen out of love with borders, but they’ve made a comeback within this collection with two friezes and four borders, influenced by carpet borders and stained-glass window designs. Printed on a non-woven paper they’re a simple way of adding a touch of Morris in an overall decorative scheme.

Original handblock printed borders. The Unfinished Works friezes & borders

Distributed through Osborne & Little, Nina Campbell is one of the world’s most respected and influential interior designers, having started her career aged 19 working for John Fowler and Sybil Colefax. She went on to establish her own business using her distinct style of rich and elegant colour palettes. Her Honfleur wallpaper launch is inspired by French towns, villages and historic gardens. Referencing traditional motifs and artisan techniques, the colour palette brings a sense of quiet elegance.

Anduze Annecy Castellane Fener Grove

Exploring brands at Decorex uncovers hidden gems.

Ian Sanderson is a British family business established in 1962. This creative textile house is first and foremost a purveyor of colour and pattern. They primarily work with natural fabrics, enhancing the inherent characteristics of natural yarns. Their Dulcie wallpaper in two scales is taken from their popular fabric design with a seaweed-inspired pattern. It’s an ideal backdrop design for any room.

Galerie Wallcoverings are a renowned British wallpaper brand founded in 1990. They pride themselves on supplying quality and trend-led designs across the world. One of their latest launches is a range of murals designed by Daisy Bennett available in grasscloth, non-woven and vinyl finishes.

1838 Wallcoverings takes its name from the date when the first wallpaper printing technique was pioneered, nearby to their factory in Darwen. A family-owned business, they have once again collaborated with the V&A, launching their third collection, Decorative Papers III. With this exquisite collection the company has reimagined a selection of artworks from the V&A to elegantly connect the past and the present. It celebrates the creative brilliance of the original designs while blending in traditional wallpaper printing skills, in particular surface printing.