From Edmund Dulac’s illustrations for Au Royaume de la Perle and several cases of cloth samples from two or three continents; through sketching, pattern cutting, stitching and fitting; to flying far west in search of some tropical depth and glory…

Dulac’s Perle illustrations combine the exotic, detailed feel of Indian miniatures with the ideal of a perfect and magical tropic. They were the starting point for our collection, built on over the months with other references – mood boards of tear sheets, photographs, colours, samples of fabric, drawings… Until the collection was complete and we could search for a place that would echo Dulac’s tropical world.

We chose to photograph the catalogue in Mexico for Deborah Turbeville’s house: more than just a home, it’s a deliberate manifestation of an artistic idea and holds an equal, though darker, sense of magic to that we found in Dulac’s paintings. It does not matter where the house is; it is the mood it creates that is important.

But Mexico was wonderful: a deep and resonant culture founded on strong tradition, religion, history. The buildings were washed in sun-saturated, clear earth colours – reds, ochres, cobalts; the sea was the perfect turquoise blue and the deep, buried pools of the cenotes, with their green depth, contain mystery and magic just as we found in the Dulac pictures…