As we are approaching the launch of our new wallpaper collection with CKD, we took a minute to sit with Candice and get to know her better, speak about our upcoming collaboration, and her plans for the future.
HO1: Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your brand?
CKD: Hello! My name is Candice Kaye, founder and creative director of Candice Kaye Design. Candice Kaye Design is a textile company specializing in wallpaper, fabric and rugs within the commercial and private residence space. My mission has always been to push the boundaries within the textile industry through innovation and change of perspective. This is true for both CKD the brand and throughout all of my bespoke pieces. What drives me as a designer is the need to keep exploring, learning and pushing the boundaries in the textile industry. It excites me to know possibilities are endless.
HO1: When were you first introduced to the world of bespoke textiles?
CKD: I had just left an Interior Design program in Toronto. At the time I did not know what I wanted to do with my future, but I knew I loved to put together mood boards. I enjoyed getting lost in the fabric and wallpaper showrooms. I would sit in bookstores for hours looking at big photography and design coffee table books. I came across a book by English designer Alice Temperly. She weaved a brand so effortlessly hers, and although her clothes were enchanting and beautiful, her bio said she went to school for textile design at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art. Although I grew up in a home filled with entrepreneurs, I was never introduced to the design world. I never knew textile design was even an industry! I was traveling to Paris shortly after learning about Alice Temperley, and wanted to learn more about this textile world. I wandered into a fabric warehouse, and it was like my hands remembered something my mind had forgotten, it truly felt like I had returned home. I love the rolls of fabrics, the rows and rows of sewing machines, the hand painting design stations. I applied to the Fashion Institute of Design in New York City, and the rest was history.
HO1: Doing bespoke work can be very intimate. Ultimately, you’re collaborating with someone and creating a product that is tailored to their specific taste. What’s the most fun/rewarding part of that experience and what are the challenges, if any?
CKD: Every single bespoke process and client are different. I have learned the beauty of simply listening. My clients know what they want, they sometimes just need someone who listens and then can execute accordingly. The most rewarding part of this experience is how much I have learned as a designer through my clients. For instance, I am fortunate to work with some of the top interior design firms. They push me. Good enough is never an option. Operating at this capacity and vibration has in time changed the way I do everything now. I see it in my work, I see it in the way I run my business, and my personal life. You are truly the sum of the people you keep around you, so choose your team carefully. This is true for both your personal life and your professional life. Collaborate with people who push you to be better.
HO1: How does the design process differ when it comes to working with a client as opposed to working on pieces for the CKD shop?
CKD: The wallpaper, rugs and embroidered linen created for CKD’s shop is my time to dream and just have fun in whatever it is I feel like creating. This side of the business gives me so much energy and inspiration. It is creation on my own timeline. I have never created prints based off of trends or seasons. Textile should be timeless and transition effortlessly between the seasons. Collections are inspired by my travels, life lessons, or sometimes an incredible conversation with people I have never met. I like to create my own brand videos from videos taken from my iphone. CKD the brand has always been a very personal and authentic process for me. It keeps it honest and real.
HO1: There’s a lot of elements of nature in your work. How important is disconnecting and spending time outside to you?
CKD: My job requires me to be in a constant state of creativity. That can be draining mentally. Over the years I had to learn how to make this process work in my favour rather than against me. Nature has always helped. A change of scenery has also worked for me. A clean palate resets my mind. The elements of nature in my work I guess just came naturally to me to paint and draw. Nature is what inspires me and where I go to rest and reset.
HO1: So we recently collaborated on 6 pieces for our wallpaper collection. Do you have a favorite piece?
CKD: I really love the Mariposa gold on gold colourway. I have never used the two tone gold before in a print, it’s very luxe.
HO1: How is the experience of collaborating with an Interior Design company different from collaborating with a brand or a client?
CKD: The process is actually very similar. My clients have come to trust and understand my style, I trust and understand their style as well. It’s a mutual understanding that they are looking for textile that is special, a piece that has never been seen anywhere else.
HO1: A butterfly is said to symbolize change, transformation, endurance, and joy. What do those words mean to you personally?
CKD: You know, I thought about this when I was painting the butterflies and how serendipitous the timing was for me personally and professionally. The process of transformation is slow and takes time. Each step forward has presented either a different challenge or lesson to learn or bringing me to the phase in my life. I personally have been going through major shifts, and the same has been happening with CKD.
HO1: Your work is beloved by everyone who comes in contact with it. Being a designer at the forefront of bespoke textiles, how do you see yourself pushing and innovating the textile industry in years to come?
CKD: I have so many ideas! What we are producing now is just the beginning of where I see CKD going. I would like to take textiles into light projection. I want to bridge the gap between 3D animation that lives in the digital world and our everyday real life experience.
HO1: What was your favorite part about working together on this collab?
CKD: The moment I met Brittany I knew she was special. She has a vision and impeccable taste. That combination doesn’t come around very often. Working with someone with a vision is always exciting. All of these prints are pieces of work I would have never been able to come up with on my own. That’s exciting for any designer.
Here is the full collection:
