Love Story - the inspiration and creation of Body Lace

How it all started...

Artist Sarah Jane Palmer and Charlotte Raffo felt an instant connection when they first met as two outsiders at a corporate networking event in Leeds.

Sarah is a multiple media artist based in Sheffield with a passion for visual trickery and illusion, drawing on elements of eroticism and suspense in her work.

On her first visit to artist Sarah’s studio, Charlotte spotted the potential of the delicate drawing which was to become Body Lace. The sketch depicting two couples embraced in an erotic act had been inspired by a 5th century Greek plate.

Upon finding out that her Great Great Grandfather had been a Nottingham Lace designer, Sarah’s ambition was that her design would one day be realised as a lace fabric.

From sketch to fabric

Charlotte’s passion for using innovative and forgotten techniques lead her to work with a heritage print works in Lancaster. The fabric was created by the use of a technique called burn out screen printing which was first developed at the turn of the 19th Century.

A lace effect was created by printing the design with a special paste which dissolves some fibres in the fabric, creating transparent areas and leaving the unprinted parts intact.

The end result!

The delicate but naughty voile is a modern take on the net curtain and is perfect for softening and adding privacy to bathroom and bedroom schemes.

Now available in Nude and Limited Edition Black.

As seen in...

Body Lace was exhibited under the title 'What will the neighbours think' in 2018 as part the 'This Class Works' exhibition curated by graphic artist Pete McKee.

By using hidden erotic imagery in this contemporary take on the net curtain, Sarah is playing on the idea that something which has been created to conceal and cover is actually hiding it’s own secret within the surface of the fabric itself.

Body lace has also been featured on the Evening Standard Homes and Property website and in the Colour Hive trend forecast for Spring Summer 2021

One recent project has seen the lace used to great effect in the ensuite bathroom of a London Victorian Villa. The bathroom, in white marble with black fittings is softened by the addition of a full length Body Lace curtain in delicate pink, creating privacy from the road outside without detracting from the beautiful period window and balcony.

Samples of Body Lace available here.