Meet Our Maker
Chamois
Scandinavian design meets Indian block-printing techniques
There is something about a beautifully patterned tablecloth that can completely change a table, even before you have added the plates, flowers or food. This is one of the reasons we have always loved Chamois.
Founded by Charlotte Amlé, Chamois is a Swedish textile brand shaped by Charlotte’s travels through India and her fascination with the country’s extraordinary textile traditions. What began as a love of old fabrics, pattern and craftsmanship has grown into collections of table linens and home textiles that bring together Scandinavian colour sensibility with centuries-old Indian techniques.
The fabrics are produced in India, particularly around Jaipur, working with skilled artisans and small family-run workshops. Many of the designs begin with antique textiles Charlotte has discovered on her travels. These old motifs are reworked with new colour combinations, so they feel fresh while still retaining something of their history.
What we particularly love is the way they are made. Chamois patterns are printed by hand using traditional wooden blocks. Each carved block is carefully dipped into colour and pressed onto the fabric, then repeated across its surface to slowly build the pattern. Different blocks may be used for different elements and colours. It is a process that depends on the printer’s eye and hand rather than a machine, which means tiny variations in colour and placement are simply part of the cloth’s character.
The colours themselves are mixed by hand too, and Chamois notes that factors such as humidity can slightly alter the finished shade from one batch to another. We think those small differences are exactly what makes hand-printed textiles so appealing in that they have a softness and individuality that a perfectly uniform print simply doesn’t.
The result is linen and cotton tablecloths, napkins and cushions that feel both special and wonderfully usable. We love them mixed with simple ceramics, mismatched plates, flowers from the garden and all the other layers that make a table feel personal rather than overly arranged.
It is the sort of craftsmanship we are always drawn to at Mondocherry. Beautiful materials and patterns with a story behind it, and evidence of the hands that made it. That fits closely with our belief that handmade pieces carry care, variation and the presence of a real person.