TOILE DE JOUY FABRIC
In the sitting room of Les Terres de Gaalon, Gaâla’s founder, Kelly de Gaalon's ancestral home in Normandie, France, the "Hunting Landscape" mural by Zuber has long graced the walls. This panoramic masterpiece, printed with antique woodblocks from 1253, captures the pastoral beauty of the Norman region—the verdant fields, majestic woods, and the enduring spirit of the French countryside—a narrative beautifully echoed in Gaâla's Toile de Jouy fabric.
Toile de Jouy, a fabric rooted in French tradition, is known for its intricate pastoral scenes, often in a single color on a white or cream background. Originating in the late 18th century in Jouy-en-Josas near Versailles, it was popularized by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, whose innovative techniques made it a symbol of French elegance. The fabric typically depicts idyllic country life, mythological figures, or historical events in detailed patterns.
Designed through a collaboration between Kelly’s brother, David de Gaalon, and a talented artist, Gaâla's Toile de Jouy print is a personal tribute to this rich heritage and savoir-faire. The artists chose a delicate blue toile printed on sustainable rayon and luxurious silk, depicting a bucolic rural scene of horses native to the Norman region in their natural habitat—whether alone, with their young, or accompanied by playful dogs—repeated across the fabric in true Toile de Jouy fashion.
Our Toile de Jouy designs are wearable art, weaving life’s simple pleasures into the fabric of everyday life. Each adornment offers a momentary escape from the bustle of modern living to the serenity of the French countryside.
“Toile de Jouy is to France what chintz is to England or patchwork-type calico is to the United States; the fabric of the nation.”
Marilyn Bethany — New York Magazine
