PHOTOGRAPHS:
COURTESY
OF
FARROW
&
BALL;
LA
STOREFRONT
IMAGES
BY
LAURE
JOLIET
3.22.2019 | DIGS.NET 47
Midway through the 20th century, Farrow & Ball's intrepid
stewards retired from the company they forged by stepping away
from cheaper acrylic paints with high levels of plastic to stick
with original formulations and natural ingredients for their
efficacy. "is is something we've stuck to for over 70 years," says
Cosby. "Even in the 1970s and 1980s, when many brands were
creating acrylic paints with added plastics and fewer pigments,"
Farrow & Ball was doing it their way, switching to its eco-
friendly water base in 2010, but not before a raft of changes in
the 1990s—its first independent stockist, a flagship in Chelsea,
and the company's acquisition by Tom Helme, an advisor on
historic interiors, and Martin Ephson, a corporate financier.
Under their leadership, the company focused on restoring
heritage properties with colors that were sympathetic to their
era and manufactured its first rolls of wallpaper. at was in
1995. Now this fantastically popular part of the Farrow & Ball
range will embrace the first line of 25 metallic wallpapers—100-
percent recyclable and made with responsibly-sourced paper and
eco-friendly water-based paint—this spring.
For all its advancements, the Farrow & Ball of today is a
lot like the Farrow & Ball of yesterday—same quality, same
ingredients—but the luxury brand that admirably keeps in
lockstep with its cornerstones has not forsaken the needs of the
modern consumer, developing its technology, and collaborations
with kindred businesses like e Rug Company, which teamed
with Farrow & Ball in 2017 to launch the latter's first collection
of beautiful, high-quality, responsibly-made rugs
in colors that complemented the company's richly
pigmented palette.
For Los Angeles consumers, Farrow & Ball—
in addition to finding it in international cultural
institutions including the Museum of Modern
Art and Musée Rodin—has its West Hollywood
showroom, quite a colorful store where so much is
neutral territory. But Farrow & Ball's School House
White No. 291, Shadow White, Shaded White and
Drop Cloth, each created to look like white when
used in deep shade, fits the local aesthetic. e
brand's neutrals have remained enduringly popular
through the years, says Cosby. But, as people move
away from grays "in favor of something bolder
and more dramatic," she recommends the brand's
darker blues.
Regardless of the tone of the moment, Farrow
& Ball is here, doing what it's done for 70 years,
painting—and papering—the town, from Dorset
to Los Angeles. farrow-ball.com
