Porthault's Colorful New Spring Designs
D. Porthault is always inventing and reinventing itself with exuberant bed linens. As the first company to initiate screen-printed patterns on bed linens, Porthault started a revolution in "dressing the bed." In the 1920s when the company was founded, it was de rigueur to have pristine white sheets, yet Porthault opted for the sunny colors of the Impressionist painters. Today, those sunny colors ---in carefully controlled small doses ---continue to enhance and enliven their sheets, towels, tableware, and much more. Yet, it's not just color and patterns that distinguish the new creations, but hand-embroidery of the most delicate type. Consider the new Mimosa bed linens which have pale yellow and lime tiny flowers, probably inspired by Bonnard's painting "Studio with Mimosa." The look is rainbow-bright, yet still classic.
Filed away in its Paris archive, Porthault has some 10,000 designs which resurface periodically in newer, more contemporary versions. What's required for anyone seeking perfect Porthault is to pile on the patterns. As a rule sheets range in price from about $1,100 -$3,600 for queen-size and about $1,400-$4,000 for king bed sets. Boudoir and neck pillows tend to run between $165 and $450. For summer, a new innovation is a superbly chic bathrobe made of extremely light white cotton, edged in blue piping, $450. Cool and just as classy are the delicate lingerie night gowns with spaghetti straps printed in soft pastel colors.
If you are looking for the perfect gift for your hosts on a summer weekend, you can't do much better than the new beach towels with big, brassy parrots, $390.
Another winner, any time of year, is the intriguingly scented Dahlia candle.
