Last week I took my students to Brooklyn’s Flavor Paper. I’ve been a huge fan of FP since their ICFF debut and have watched them grow from a grass roots beginning in New Orleans to the hottest wall covering manufacturer in the US.
How They Began
Founded on the Oregon coast by a guy named Ted, this small handscreened wallpaper company flourished in the Age of Aquarius.
Many years later, some young designers seeking striking wallcoverings discovered Ted’s greatness- just days before the designs and equipment were to be destroyed. Knowing what had to be done, these young designers headed west to save Ted’s legacy.
Relocated to the Bywater District of New Orleans, Flavor Paper continued to print using Ted’s traditional printing methods and vacuum table, but with greatly increased accuracy and detail.
The Flavor Lab is now located in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn and is home to Flavor Paper’s design and screenprinting operations. Two re-engineered versions of Ted’s original table are the centerpiece of the Lab and the backbone of our wallpaper printing operation. To support the hand screened printing process, the Flavor Lab houses a darkroom, screen etching equipment, and an ink room where we custom mix all of our colors. Printing becomes street art as the front windows allow pedestrians to watch the process happen in the massive overhead mirrors. The Flavor Paper showroom is located on the second floor and offers clients a unique way to view wallpaper and experience the bespoke offerings that make Flavor Paper the only place to purchase fine wallpaper in the city of New York.
Flavor Lair
The New Orleans Flavor Paper location is currently being transformed into the Flavor Fabric facility, but more to follow on that later. We can’t wait!
The Flavor Lair
A large majority of Flavor Paper’s clients and suppliers are in the New York area, so when they decided it was time to expand out of our original Flavor Lab in New Orleans it made sense to look in Brooklyn. It is in a fantastic location and it’s worth a visit!
The Flavor Lair houses all of the wallpaper production facilities, offices and showroom and won the 2010 Best of the Year Showroom from Interior Design Magazine. The Skylab Architecture design features an open kitchen of wallpaper approach where you can watch wallpaper being handscreened from the sidewalk and really see how the patterns come together through numerous screens overlaying pattern and color in the 70’ long overhead mirrors. The second floor contains offices, the incredible showroom and the digital printing area. The showroom is truly one of a kind and the layout is based off of the Cycloid pattern and allows a single client to a full firm to sit comfortably and see our patterns in their true glory.
Pattern is integral to the building design and is showcased throughout in many different forms. The staircase has the five story back wall papered in custom colored Sakura and Lite Brite create a neon sculpture of the pattern to run up the center to add some curb appeal and make you want to take the steps. Not that our blacklight wallpapered elevator isn’t an experience either.
The upper floors house a few of the Flavor People, possibly the craziest hallway in Brooklyn and a phenomenal rooftop meadow that has nice views of Manhattan.
Please schedule an appointment to visit Flavor Paper in person! See my behind the scenes photos of our field trip here.
