Le Corbusier’s unorthodox colour palette inspires new Tekla blankets

‘Le Corbusier’s legacy has always been an inspiration for Tekla – he’s one of the most influential architects, synonymous with modern architecture,’ Charlie Hedin, co-founder and creative director of Tekla, told Wallpaper* on the launch of the Danish lifestyle brand’s first collaboration with Les Couleurs Suisse AG in 2022, which was inspired by the pioneering architect’s ‘unorthodox and playful’ use of colour. 

Launching this week, the brand’s third Le Corbusier-inspired collection of blankets – once again in collaboration with Les Couleurs Suisse AG – reaches stores. Like with the previous two collections, Hedin looked towards Le Corbusier’s seminal 63-tone palette ‘Architectural Polychromy’ – which spans two colour series, created in 1931 and 1959 – for the blankets’ distinct shades. Zurich-based Les Couleurs Suisse AG is the worldwide licensor of these colours, having been entrusted with the palette by the Le Corbusier Foundation in Paris. 

Tekla’s Le Corbusier mohair blankets

The latest collection selects four colours from ‘Architectural Polychromy’ to adorn the Spain-manufactured mohair blankets – Vert Anglais 32040, Rouge Rubia 32101, Orange Vif 4320S and Le Jaune Vif 4320W. Deeper shades than those used in the previous two iterations of the project, these, says Tekla, ‘express a maturation of Le Corbusier’s ideas’ and were utilised by the architect for the interiors and murals of Le Cabanon, a simple cabin-like structure built in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on France’s Côte d'Azur, where he would spend much of the final years of his life.

‘Colour in architecture – a means as powerful as the ground plan and section,’ he once noted of the importance of colours in his work. ‘Or better: polychromy, a component of the ground plan and the section itself.’

Architecture has long been an inspiration for Hedin, who co-founded Tekla with now-managing director Kristoffer Juhl in 2017. The work of Alvar Aalto, Mies van der Rohe and Axel Vervoordt have all been noted as touchpoints for the brand’s designs – which include bedding, sleepwear and textiles for the bathroom – while a recent collaboration between Tekla and John Pawson saw the British architect design a series of textiles inspired by his Oxfordshire home.

Earlier in 2023, Tekla opened its first store in Copenhagen, a serene space in Copenhagen’s Egmont Building meant to evoke the feeling of being at home. ‘Everything you see inside the store now is built by us,’ Hedin told Wallpaper* at the time, noting his desire to evoke the Nordic Classicism of the building’s exterior. ‘All of the fittings are inspired by the time the building is from; we tried to bring the exterior inside. It’s an iconic building here in Copenhagen so we wanted to approach it with honesty, and the story, that we could.’

The collection is available now and is sold exclusively at teklafabrics.com