Transport for LondonDynamic duo has designs on your seat
We have always wanted to design a moquette fabric
The designs will be manufactured in the hard-wearing, velvety 'moquette' fabric that has been used on London Tube and bus seats for more than 70 years.
It will be seen on the new Tramlink seats from September and on Overground seats in 2009.
It will also appear on mugs, notebooks, cards and gifts available from London Transport Museum.
Emma Sewell and Harriet Wallace-Jones - the design duo who won the commission - established their woven textile design studio called 'Wallace Sewell' after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1990.
'We were delighted to have one of our designs chosen,' Harriet said.
'The TfL project has been so exciting - we have always wanted to design a moquette fabric.'
The new design will be made by Yorkshire manufacturer John Holdsworth & Co.
Established in 1822, the company was responsible for producing the original moquette used in London's first Underground railway trains.
'There are elements of our work that are very suitable to be used as fabric with its varying geometric blocks of colour and stripe,' continued Harriet.
'Our inspiration comes from the Bauhaus painters and textile designers, as well as fabrics and posters from the forties.'
What is moquette?
Since the early 1900s, the seats of London's buses and Tube trains have been upholstered in a durable woven wool fabric called 'moquette' (the French word for carpet).
A weaving process known as jacquard produces the coloured patterns that the design is known for.
From the floral motifs typical of the 1920s, to the geometric designs we see today, moquette has become an instantly recognisable part of journeys around London.
