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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.”
Throughout history, brocades and damasks have fallen in and out of favor. “From the 18th century onwards, great architects have encouraged the use of these fabrics in interior decoration,” observes art historian Aziza Gril-Mariotte, who authored Taschen’s The Book of Printed Fabric. Gril-Mariotte credits William Morris for reviving the taste for these fabrics in contemporary interiors.
Later in the 19th century, when Paris-born Frederic Schumacher opened his doors in New York in 1889, damasks and brocades from France were particularly popular with his clientele. A decade later, architect Stanford White would commission Schumacher to make the Blue Room Lampas fabric, a precursor to brocade, for the White House in 1902. Jackie Kennedy would turn again to the textile for her famed White House restoration in 1962.
But these fabrics aren’t just for traditional interiors. “Because these varieties of fabric are so old-fashioned and luxurious, they have often found their way into modernist spaces–for instance, you see them in the work of Ward Bennett,” notes Charlap Hyman. “In these otherwise very minimal spaces, brocade still makes sense, because there is something so ‘essential’ and timeless about it.”
Careful not to overwhelm a space, designers are thoughtfully using the opulent fabrics as choice accents. “These fabrics, heavier than breezy cotton or linen, prove effective in small doses–an upholstered pillow or screen creates a layered look that feels rooted in time,” says Christine Gachot, principal of AD100 firm Gachot. They can also be used monochromatically or tonally to not appear dated. “When done in brighter or lighter colors, they feel fresh and unique,” adds Nicole Fisher, founder of BNR Interiors, who has worked with textiles throughout her career, which began as an editorial stylist for Lady Gaga under Nicola Formichetti.
To be clear, there’s nothing stuffy about the way today’s designers are repurposing these historical fabrics. In a modern interpretation of the material, French multidisciplinary design collective Uchronia worked with Manufacture Prelle, a silk manufacturer from Lyon, to produce a whole line of colorful silk and satin jacquard that they’ve applied to cushions, headboards, and curtains. Similarly, textile and interior designer Flora Soames also created a modern take on antique fabrics. To do so, she opened her archive of textiles to create bespoke one-of-one items through her One Day Box collection.
The demand for damask is showing no sign of waning. Anthropologie Home is rolling out new variations of patterned furniture which “includes new jacquards, like the Lorelei chair in our all-over Irena print and the Winnie Bed in our fresh Landon stripe,” according to chief merchandising officer, Katherine Finder.
These fabrics are finding a space in the home beyond just furniture. “Textiles have a warmth and tactility that is appealing to design lovers, who see pillows and blankets and wall coverings as a viable alternative to paintings and other items traditionally categorized as fine art,” says Anthony Barzilay-Freund, editorial director at 1stDibs.
Whether people are reaching for these fabrics to add dimension to their curtains or their closets, it appears that the draw is deeper than just aesthetic appeal. “Fabrics like these remind us that one of design’s key tenets is to evoke or inspire emotion,” says Zak Profera, creative director of Zak + Fox. “In an age where so much feels fleeting, there is something deeply reassuring in how hearty and elaborate these textiles can feel.”
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