Color And Comfort -- As Laura Ashley Firm Turns 40, Its Romantic Look Is Being Updated With Some Lively Ideas About Interior Design

"Laura Ashley was a romantic, a sentimentalist, a traditionalist. Unashamed of her taste for nostalgia, she brought poetry and fantasy back into ordinary domestic life, liberating design from chrome, plastics and man-made fibers." - Iain Gales and Susan Irvine, "Laura Ashley Style"

The Laura Ashley name evokes images of sweet pastel floral miniprinted frocks, and pretty, romantic bedrooms decorated from floor to ceiling with coordinating patterns. But the firm is not resting on its laurels - or any other bouquet - as it looks toward its 40th birthday in March. Middle age is encouraging the company to change with the times - both in fashion and in home furnishings.

"We're not trying to move away from the traditional country floral pretty image," says Mark Winstanley, design manager in London for Laura Ashley primary products, which include wall coverings, fabrics and bed linens. "It's just that that's not the only thing we're about."

"Making a statement with color was one of our goals for 1993," says Winstanley. "We're saying, `Hey, folks, use your imaginations. Come in and take notice of what we've got.' "

Take, for example, the Aragon collection pictured in Laura Ashley's latest Autumn/Winter Home Furnishings Catalog. It's a symphony of mega-scaled stripes, polka dots and solids in bold primary hues.

The patterns were actually created by sewing together the solid-hued damask strips into broad stripes or appliqueing giant

circles on solid-colored fabric. If they were actually printed, such bold fabrics might not have widespread appeal, but the idea is to encourage consumers to think beyond the collections and use the Laura Ashley fabrics to fashion their own personal style.

The solids of the Aragon collection are a departure from the typical Laura Ashley look. And what makes this so surprising is that pattern has been the bread and butter of the business. Early designs came from 18th- and 19th-century print books, swatches of old patchwork quilts, and motifs used to decorate antique ceramics and porcelains.

When Laura Ashley stores began to proliferate in this country, after the first shop opened in San Francisco in 1974, romantics were smitten.

"The country became Laurified," said New York-based designer Mario Buatta, America's prince of chintz and English-stylophile. "People were responding to nostalgia, a little old English snobbism, a very cottage-y style and the pretty pastels, and soft florals, which have since been knocked off by lots of bedsheet designers. Laura Ashley became a classic because of trust and faith in a name."

The Ashley style of decorating became known on the continent as "deshabille anglaise" or "English undress," according to authors Iain Gale and Susan Irvine, who wrote "Laura Ashley Style." Decorator John Fowler rechristened it as "humble elegance." The authors credit Ashley with teaching us to appreciate the notion of prettiness against a "chain-store ethic of cheap and disposable."

The woman who embodied the style didn't set out to create one. An unassuming woman, Ashley, like her products, was not at all pretentious. Her business was launched in 1953 when, fed up with postwar synthetics, she began to make silk-screened tea towels out of pure cotton at the kitchen table of her modest London flat. Cotton nightgowns followed, and the enthusiastic reception supported a fashion and home furnishings business. Although Laura Ashley died in 1985, today her chain includes 500 stores in 28 countries.

"My mother wanted to stress to people that wherever they live, they should decorate the interiors to be as homey as possible," said son Nick, 35, who oversees development of all Laura Ashley products. "Her whole philosophy centered around the home, the family, family values, making products that make people feel comfortable, cozy. She never set out to create design statements."

Though perhaps not thought of as a trendsetter, Laura Ashley was, in fact, ahead of her time. Her preference for natural materials predated the ecological movement. Her fabrics, wall coverings and products revolved around what she called a "design for living," which came to be known as "lifestyle" collections, a concept later epitomized by Ralph Lauren and a host of designers with licensed home furnishings lines.

But, above all, behind all of her design for the home was the notion that it be comfortable.

In the preface to her home decorating book in 1982, she wrote: "For me the more faded and mellow the interior, the more beautiful it is. I long for a newly decorated room to `settle down.' Handmade patchworks, needleworks, rag rugs, lots of lace and white starched linens (together with old-fashioned smoothing irons) are all bliss to me."

Nick Ashley thinks this homespun attitude still suits the '90s. "People again are focused on their homes, on comfort," he said. "We're going to fewer colors, less complication. It's no longer necessary to think in terms of multiples or coordination."

Winstanley agrees. "In the last few years we've moved away from the fuss and clutter of country house decorating, away from overdecorating. The move is to something more open in feel, to go with clean lines in architecture. It is more contemporary, but without losing our signature. It's easier to live with."

There are obvious overtures to those seeking eclectic or more urban looks. The Portobello collection, for example, includes a strong pattern that is a combination of paisleys and florals in hues of rose and different shades of green. The fall/winter catalog shows this collection in a rich malachite green room. Even the use of a border is different: Instead of circling the ceiling, it hugs the baseboard molding.

And in the spring 1993 catalog, a sofa in the bright cherry print Calypso is shown with chairs and curtains outfitted in the bold Suffolk stripe. The mixture gives a traditional Laura Ashley interior a non-traditional twist.

A quieter collection, the Winter Lily group, a floral set against a cool blue on warm cream or snowy ground, has an appealing crispness. A companion pattern, Cirque Stripe, a medium-sized stripe in tan and ivory, nicely balances the floral print. The way the patterns are put together emphasizes a recurring theme of simplicity. The group is shown in the fall/winter catalog in a subdued country setting.

Indeed Laura Ashley is still looking to its country roots. However, just like the overall trend, whether English, American, French or Italian country style, the look has become more simplified and more streamlined. Pattern is used sparingly for more dramatic effect.

There are some constants, but even some of the familiar designs may be recolored for a fresh interpretation. The 1993 line also will include the "Heritage" collection, a grouping of fabrics and wallcoverings taken from the Laura Ashley archives.

But Nick Ashley is reaching beyond the archives for some of the new concepts within the Laura Ashley brand. "They might include electrical appliances, cars, food, the house itself or restaurants," he says. There are already two inns in Wales and one on Chesapeake Bay. The inns, of course, are completely furnished in Laura Ashley.

Don't expect a chain of Laura Ashley inns, however. The company and its subsidiaries are proceeding slowly with the new concepts. Very much a market-driven company as well as one so clearly defined by a particular design aesthetic, Laura Ashley has not ignored consumers. The company will continue to offer the patterned fabrics that were the foundation of the company as well as the new solid alternatives.

And the home furnishing collections are still designed to fit into a variety of places, from Welsh farmhouses to Swiss chalets, from British embassies to Norwegian log cabins, to federal-style homes on Long Island. Just as when Laura Ashley began selling home furnishings, the company is not touting specific design styles. "The eclectic or individual look is very important," says Winstanley.

Laura Ashley once was asked why people like to come to her shops. She answered, "I suppose as Dr. Johnson said, `our nonsense suits their nonsense.' After all, there is no actual need to decorate, but what fun it is and how entertaining."