At Dallas Total Home & Gift Market’s June 22-28 edition, it was hard to ignore the blue and white signs of chinoiserie’s influence all over the market.

At Two’s Company, an entire room of the wholesale décor and fashion company’s showroom was dedicated to the two-toned iteration of the classic interior design and product style originally found primarily on ginger jars, textiles, and statuary pieces like Foo Dogs and Staffordshire Terriers. And while the room full of chinoiserie was new to the market, the home goods-focus of the room was not. Instead, it was chinoiserie’s creeping influence on fashion and other gift categories that made the biggest splash both throughout market and even at Two’s Co.’s showroom with its chinoiserie tote bags, sewing kits, scarves and more. See some of the chinoiserie-inspired fashion and jewelry pieces we found in the gallery below.

Chinoiserie – derived from the French word “chinois,” which means Chinese – originated among European manufacturers looking to capitalize on European interest in China and East Asian countries in the 17th and 18th centuries according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Though many European countries had been trading with China since the early 16th century, per research from the Victoria and Albert Museum of design in London, access to China was still restricted to most through the 17th and 18th centuries, though interest in luxury products from the country like silk and porcelain only grew during that time. Thus, chinoiserie was born, with that demand for imports fueling “Rococo designers of the mid-18th century to imitate and adapt oriental motifs and ornaments for a wide variety of objects,” per the museum. In these designs, utilized most popularly in furniture, textiles, porcelain and other home décor items, many preconceptions and motifs of Chinese culture and design like bamboo, dragons, birds and more were proliferated with little regard for authenticity by non-Chinese designers. Design elements of other countries like Japan and India were even incorporated into chinoiserie with little to no discrimination or delineation between the cultures.

Given its origins, the history of chinoiserie and its place in design and history is complicated, with many denouncing it for cultural appropriation and calling for an end to new chinoiserie pieces. Others compare it to Tex-Mex – something to be appreciated not as true Chinese design but as something entirely separate at the intersection of several cultures. Regardless it was clear in Dallas that chinoiserie, which has waxed and waned in popularity over the last several hundred years, is not going anywhere this season.

U.K. illustrator Kay Widdowson took inspiration from the same blue and white hues to create her latest homewares collection for One Hundred 80 Degrees.

The rise of chinoiserie across many categories comes in part because of the resurgence of all things traditional, intricate and elegant like toile, intense floral patterns like chintz, Victorian furniture, patterned wallpaper and more with trending styles like maximalism and the Instagram and TikTok friendly grandmillennial and granny chic design styles.

Focusing on longstanding design trends often considered too stuffy, formal or outdated by mainstream design, the terms were coined to encompass the look as it has been adopted by younger consumers – think 20s and 30s – who are assuming the patterns, porcelain, lace and more often associated with antique collectors and older generations like Boomers and the Post War generation. Grandmillenial has been trending in the home design space for several years, as has its sister style Granny Chic, and it seems that influence has finally made its way into the fashion space as exhibited both by the proliferation of chinoiserie and other more traditional fashion elements like concentrated floral patterns, ruffles, real and faux fur, chunky beading and pearls, and more. Original pieces in the traditional style along with more modern reworks and inspired pieces are all welcome, like the pictured designs from Yellow Owl Workshop and One Hundred 80 Degrees.

The Dogs Risograph Print from Yellow Owl Workshop puts a pop-art spin on traditional chinoiserie Staffordshire dogs.

To see more of our trending gift picks from market, check out 19 of our favorite finds from June’s Dallas Total Home & Gift Market.

Adelaide “Addie” Elliott is an associate editor focusing on retail coverage for Furniture Today and Casual Living. Previously, she also served as the web editor for both those brands and Designers Today. Before being promoted in May 2019 to web editor, Adelaide worked as Furniture Today’s editorial intern for a year. Get in touch with her on Twitter at @AElliott_Writes or by email at aelliott@designerstoday.com.

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