THE ROARING TWENTIES

After great turmoil and heartache, it is testament to the strength of the human spirit that we somehow find our way back to hope and to light. In the aftermath of the First World War, with Europe reeling from the catastrophic loss of life and the old sense of order, bold and defiant creative ideas emerged. These ideas were to translate into dramatic new styles of art and interior design, and were to show humanity’s innate need to strive forward, against the odds, embracing change and modernity. The 1920s is one of the most iconic decades of the 20th century and one whose ethos and innovation was to influence the decorative arts for many years to come. It introduced an array of cutting-edge, ambitious design, and 100 years on, we still look to its originality and its inventiveness for our own interiors inspiration.

The roaring 1920s was the decade of jazz, of flappers, of bobbed hair and dark red lips, fast cars, dance halls, and that prevailing sense. Society wanted to put the austerity and bleakness of the war years well behind them and that not only included fashion and night life, but also art, furniture and interiors, with designers of the day creating broad and distinctive looks that incorporated the whole room or, indeed, the whole building. From the tables to the rugs, the tiles and the ornaments, the 1920s aesthetic was as all encompassing as it was original and dynamic. The old, heavy classicised styles of yesteryear were utterly swept away to make room for something far more avant-garde.