A brand to watch
ASSEMBLAGE, a wallcovering manufacturer founded by the dynamic husband and wife team Christian and Heidi Batteau, is on a mission to craft the most exquisite handmade wallpaper. Operating out of their repurposed seed mill turned factory in rural America, Assemblage has quickly gained recognition for their artisanal approach and impeccable craftsmanship. With a prestigious client portfolio featuring luxury brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Dior, and Chloe, their wallpapers have also graced the pages of Vogue, Elle Decor, and The New York Times. Assemblage is definitely one to watch! Join us as we delve into the story behind this exceptional brand and explore what makes their creations truly unique.
Heidi and Christian both hold degrees in fine art and together they bring years of artist methods and material investigation to the handcrafted, fine art quality wallpapers they design and fabricate. These methods involve pushing marble dust, encaustic, resin leaf and micaceous powders beyond the historical limits. Their broad array of mediums is approached through additive and subtractive processes, tooling, burnishing and several proprietary techniques they have invented and refined.
Keep scrolling to discover the story of a brand that should be on everyone’s radar…
When/where did your creative journey start?
We met at the Kansas City Art Institute in 2001 where we started to collaborate and have been making art and a life together ever since.
PLEASE ALSO TALK US THROUGH YOUR REPURPOSED SEED MILL, IT SOUNDS FASCINATING! WE WANT TO VISIT!
You have worked with some incredible fashion brands, how did that come about? Any stand-out moments/projects?
In the beginning we made a collection of experimental papers that we thought were beautiful and unusual. We then made leather roll books for the samples and brought them directly to designers and architects. Over years of continuing to produce work of a certain quality we have developed a word-of-mouth reputation and remain one of the go-to artisans for many fashion houses. We like to think of ourselves as luxury interior designers’ “secret weapon”. Seeing our Tremolo paper in David Collins book ABCDCS was also spectacular.
What’s your proudest work moment to date?
Having our work accepted into the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. It secured a place for us in American craft history.
Please talk us through the latest collection(s).
The Euclid collection, our latest, is a celebration of forms and patterns found in nature. Betula is reminiscent of birch bark, Petosky is inspired by glacial fossils and Tufa borrows its pattern from sentinel limestone forms found in lakes. We also introduced ‘Bracket Leaf’ one of our favourite dimensional wallpapers, elevated with moments of precious metal leaf.
What does craftsmanship mean to you?
Craft is the absolute most critical component of our work. Each paper must have the perfect balance of fidelity to the pattern and hand of the artist. If it does not have this quality, we remake the entire roll.
What does being a family-run business mean to you?
Being a family run business means all our decisions, from the wallpapers to the work environment, are approached in a very personal way. We spend so much time with the team at our studio that they feel like an extension of our family. We believe part of the magic and beauty of the work is the camaraderie and laughter that is created around the table while the papers are being produced.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Patterns in nature, reimagining ancient structures in textiles, and our favourite, the happy accident. This can be a mark a tool makes or from a foreign object being trapped under the sheet as we work. We systematise the accidents and turn them into repeats.
When did your love for wallpaper start?
Heidi has been designing wallpaper since she left college and has always been obsessed with patterns in repeat. Her education is in fibre arts with a weaving background. I was doing direct installs of trowelled marble plaster in the 00s and could not fly to Japan to decorate the walls of retail space there, so the client sent us mulberry paper and we applied the finish to the paper which they then hung. We have both always loved materials and patterns so this was a moment when we realised wallpaper is a place where we can experiment and play with these through many different processes. It was a perfect combination of experiences to create the wallpaper studio that you see today.
Do you have a preferred or best-selling wallpaper?
This is hard because all our papers have qualities that made them part of our line for good reasons. If I had to choose, my favourite look and feel is Arashi, but my favourite to make is Basho. Arashi is multiple layers of marble plaster that create an almost reptilian texture and in a seamless, soft vertical stripe. Basho is gold-leafed calligraphic strokes on a base of plaster. As all marks are made by hand with a pattern, every piece is unique but still speak to each other.
WATCH THE MAGIC HAPPEN!
Please describe the Assemblage brand in three words.
Handmade, bespoke, unparalleled.
Do you think there are any rules when it comes to interiors?
People should decorate their spaces in a way that makes them happy to be there. That said, I think we should choose as many things made of natural materials as possible. Everything we create is of natural materials.
We often refer to ‘trends,’ do you think they exist in interiors?
Yes. Organic soft shapes seem to be trending in furniture. We are seeing lots of dark walls as well, and we are also seeing an increased interest in browns.
Are you a fan of investing in pieces that last?
I am a fan of investing in beautifully crafted artworks of exquisite materials. This is how we push back against the mass-produced trends and fast fashion.
Please talk us through your partnership with HOLLY HUNT. How/when did that come about?
In 2015 Holly Hunt started selling our work in Dallas and Houston in the US. Then, in 2018, we officially became part of the Holly Hunt family and were put in all the showrooms in the U.S., as well as London.
What’s next?
We are always investigating new materials and processes to incorporate into our work and are currently working on the new collection to be introduced in the spring of 2025.
For more information, visit ASSEMBLAGE.
