By Donna Cornelius
Fabric designer Lisa Fine loves to travel, especially to India, where she finds inspiration for her linen textiles. She’s lived in Paris, calls a New York apartment home and spends most summers in Dallas.
There’s one place she’s never visited: Birmingham. But that will change when Fine appears at the Antiques at The Gardens show, set for Oct. 3-6 at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. She’ll be part of a Sunday panel discussion following a brunch she’ll host with Richard Keith Langham, the show ambassador and her longtime friend.
Fine is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, but has the heart of a Texan.
“I went to boarding school at The Hockaday School in Dallas, so I really feel like I grew up there,” she said.
Fine went on to Brandeis University and then graduated from Southern Methodist University. While she lived in Paris, where her chic apartment was featured in Elle Décor, she worked at several Conde Nast publications, including fashion magazines Mademoiselle and Mirabella.
At one time, she owned a fashion company with business partner Carolina Irving. Now, she focuses on fabrics through her company, Lisa Fine Textiles. Her creations are rich with color, charm and drama – much like India, a country she visited for the first time about 20 years ago.
“I had friends who had spent time in India, and I saw that influence in their apartments,” she said. “I wanted to do customized embroidery from India.”
To keep the designs and quality of her fabrics consistent, she has them made in Europe and the United States. She said that’s because the people who make the designs are artists and thus might do designs a little differently from time to time.
She tries to visit at least one new city in India every year.
“People ask me if I go to India for work or pleasure,” Fine said. “I tell them, ‘What’s the difference?’”
She recently completed a book, “Near & Far: Interiors I Love.” Its release date is Sept. 24, but you can pre-order it on amazon.com. Fine also will have copies of the book at the show.
The book includes sections on flowers and design, collections and favorite faraway places. Readers will get a look at Fine’s homes in Dallas, New York and Paris, and at exotic sites such as Mughal palaces and gardens in India, the Swedish home of Carl Linnaeus and London designer Penny Morrison’s country house and garden.
“The book is a real mix of things from all over the world,” Fine said. “It was a fun project.”
Among her passions are dogs, especially those in need of a home.
“I have a heart for rescue dogs,” she said. “The last one I had ended up with my mom. She kept him for a while, and they got attached to each other.”
She even writes about dogs in the introduction to her book: “I grew up with five dogs. Our two toy poodles and German shepherd were joined by two neighborhood strays who figured out that our house had lots of food and an open-door, dog-friendly policy. There was never a sofa or bed too precious or too clean for any or all five of the dogs to romp or wallow on at will.”
Her canine companion now is Go-Go, a Bedlington terrier who often travels with her.
Southern Roots
Her home base these days is her New York apartment, but she said her summers in Dallas help her “recharge.” Even though she’s an ardent traveler, she still values her Southern roots.
“What I love about the South is the tradition, the classic designs,” Fine said. “There’s nothing prettier than an old-fashioned cabbage rose chintz. I think of sitting on a veranda with a big glass of iced tea. I love remembering silver place settings and big lunches.”
She finds reminders of home even in India.
“In New Delhi, there are colonial bungalows with verandas and columns that are very reminiscent of the South,” Fine said.
While her fabric designs are decidedly glamorous, she said she’s a proponent of “effortless glamour.”
“You have to keep a person’s tastes and their comfort in mind,” she said.
She talks about her fascination with design in her book.
“After some reflection, I’ve realized that the strongest legacy from my childhood was a sense of how to live in a house,” she writes. “Although my parents never fussed over paint colors and fabric swatches, or pored over auction catalogues, they instilled in me an appreciation for beauty that was never contrived, and they valued comfort over pretension.
“Material things are replaceable. Ambience and lifestyle flourish with curiosity, education, and pleasure. For me, without the presence of good books, delicious food, family, friends, and devoted pets, a house is truly not alive, regardless of the decoration.”
Fine’s warm personality – a few minutes’ conversation with her makes you feel like you’ve made a good friend – as well as her talents likely will make her a popular guest in Birmingham. She’s particularly looking forward to experiencing one of the city’s most popular features.
“I’ve heard there are some really great restaurants in Birmingham,” she said.
For more information about the designer, visit lisafinetextiles.com.
