From Emma Roberts’s lips to God’s ears, the message will be heard loud and clear: Fringe furniture is in. Almost every lampshade, curtain, and pillow inside the actor’s “grown-up dollhouse” designed by AD100 firm Pierce & Ward is covered in fringe trim. “I feel like there can never be enough stripes or fringe or tassels in a house, which I know people would disagree with, but I love it,” she says while showing off the gorgeous space in Open Door.
But for those of us who have been paying close attention from the inside—the call is quite literally coming from inside the house—in recent years, fringe furniture isn’t exactly a newfound revelation. Justina Blakeney’s humble abode featured a pair of fringe chairs she sourced from Chairish, and the bedroom suite inside Jean Philippe Demeyer’s house in Bruges is trimmed with fringe. (Not to mention that the designer has famously featured fringe in many of his restaurant projects.) SNL star Chloe Fineman was so struck by a pair of fringe chairs that she spotted on Instagram that she commissioned Blair Moore of Moore House Design to recreate a custom set for her. (Fringe furniture is also a recurring theme in the world of Bode, both at the store and at home.) For the cover of Vanity Fair’s new TV issue, award-winning actor Ayo Edebiri sits on a plush pink fringe chair.
Over the past six months, Analuisa Corrigan has been embarking on a self-described “fringe journey” within her lighting practice. The ceramicist turned designer has been going through a fringe phase ever since she started experimenting with the fabric in 2023. “I definitely feel it bleeding into other aspects of my life and wanting to put it on stools and things that are not just lampshades—especially once you get nice fringe,” she explains. “At first, I was sourcing fringe from a fabric store that I typically go to, but once I discovered that there are different tiers of silk fringe, that was a slippery slope… Once you feel a really fine-threaded silk fringe, it’s just so glamorous and gorgeous.”
Given how far fringe has veered from its original function, Analuisa was deeply fascinated when she learned that it was originally used to reduce textile waste. “[Fringe] was used to repel different natural things like rainwater and dirt. It was used by a lot of Native Americans on the ends of their clothing so that material wouldn’t fray,” she says. “Now it’s completely turned into this non-functional and decorative thing that we adorn clothing and furniture with.” Analuisa is quick to point out how, when fringe began its ascent in fashion and design, it spoke more to a social dichotomy where it was an “obnoxious, over-the-top, and ostentatious” display of wealth.
“I honestly don’t think people are ready for fringe,” she admits. “I think they’ll come around to it at some point, but for some reason people are still hesitant.” Analuisa blames this resistance on people’s unwillingness to be more playful in their living spaces, coupled with the pressure of maintaining a minimalist space that evokes calmness and serenity. “Fringe doesn’t have to be this gaudy, over-the-top design element,” she adds. “If anything, it’s a really nice avenue for light to be diffused by.”
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For Analuisa, fringe has added a dimension of lightness to her growing body of work, which is primarily ceramic. “It’s just inherently heavier, very opaque, and not transparent at all, so to have the two together has always seemed like a really interesting play on material,” she explains. “It’s exciting to refine an atmosphere or a space through something as simple as fringe… Redefining the way that it’s used and almost leaning into its practicality again is a cool way to look at it now. Yes, it’s purely decorative, but it’s diffusing the light differently than, say, a fabric or a paper shade would.” Analuisa plans on continuing to explore this material after the completion of her latest solo exhibition, “A Better Place to Be,” at Picture Room. “I’m sure I’ll have more to say about [fringe] the longer I work with it because we’re still getting to know each other; our relationship is just getting started.”