This week, we want to honour a very special friend and fellow designer, Sally McQuillan, who sadly passed away last week at her home in Santa Barbara. Sally and her late husband, Tim, founded Raoul Textiles in a prefab steel Quonset hut in Santa Barbara in 1981. It is a family-run business now led by Sally’s children, Maddy and Gene McQuillan.
Raoul Textiles has become an influential force in the textile industry, renowned for its vibrant sense of colour and unexpected approach to design. Sally was the heart of Raoul Textiles; her enthusiasm and creativity were expansive.
All of Raoul’s fabrics are hand-printed on the finest Belgian linen. Every step of the process is still done by hand in their factory, from the earliest sketches to the original ink recipes and hand-built screens.
At our Design Studio, we have used Raoul Textiles many times over the years throughout our hotels. Their designs are timeless—neither too modern nor too traditional. One of our all-time favourite fabrics is ‘Sari’, a small-scale paisley hand block print. At The Soho Hotel, in room 400, we have used it above the dado on the walls.
In the drawing room at my home in London, I have used their ‘Eve’ fabric design on the sofa—a bold pomegranate design combining orange tones with soft pink leaves on a duck egg blue base cloth.
At The Whitby Hotel, we emphasised the feast of colour on the bold and rich design of the headboard. This wonderful fabric, inspired by the art of Asafo flags, is one of our favourites from Raoul Textiles.
At Number Sixteen, in room 201, the curvaceous headboard takes centre stage, upholstered in the glorious ‘Bombay’ fabric. This hand-printed textile exudes joy with its large-scale paisley print in fuchsia pinks and happy saffron yellow tones.
We could go on forever about where we have used Sally’s designs and her remarkable talent. We will be reminded of her and her brilliance everywhere we look at Firmdale Hotels. Sally’s legacy will continue and never be forgotten.
