London, United Kingdom
London-based designers Emma Sewell and Harriet Wallace-Jones get inspired by Transport for London’s design archives and create the new seating fabric for the new Cross Rail or Elizabeth Line as it is also known.
The British textile design studio has revealed its pinstripe-patterned seat moquette, which takes cues from royalty.
The design is woven using only a handful of colored yarns, yet the way they are interwoven creates many more tones and hues.
The fabric is a progression of the original design on the Liverpool Street to Shenfield line, inspired by traveling the route and abstracting the surroundings into rectangles and linear motifs,” the studio says.
“The Elizabeth Line then adds more pinstripe details, as a nod to the suits in the City of London and creating a sense of speed as the line travels from east to west.”
The designers at fabric manufacturer Camira, which is responsible for producing the textile, chose purple in the Pantone shade 3515 C for the upholstery of the new trains, as it matches the purple color of the Elizabeth line on the London Underground map.
The color was chosen as purple is synonymous with royalty.
The same rich gradient of purple is the color associated with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which will take place later this year.
The designers had to overcome numerous challenges as designing for the public realm brings new parameters. The fabric should be both low maintenance, and also to fit effortlessly into its environment.
The seating is made from a highly durable specialized woven fabric velveteen called moquette.
As far as the pattern is concerned, the linear motifs are mimicking the speed of the Cross Line as it is a high-speed rail train.
Project: Elizabeth Line Seat Moquette
Designers: Wallace Sewell Studio
Manufacturer: Camira
Client: Transport for London
