Desert Field Collection
Melbourne interior design studio Fiona Lynch Office has collaborated with Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest operating textile mill, to create the Desert Field Collection – a range of four merino wool blankets inspired by the hues of the Larapinta Trail in Alice Springs, Australia.
Drawing on the distinctive desert landscape, Fiona Lynch Office has translated the trail’s shifting light into four colourways that move from morning through afternoon to dusk. In 2023, following Melbourne’s Covid-19 lockdowns, Fiona Lynch, director of the eponymous studio, walked the trail with a group of friends. The vastness of the desert, experienced after years of lockdown, left a lasting impression that would later inform the collection.
“The colours of the landscape are etched into my memory,” says Lynch. “Each day was an adrenaline hit as we walked across different parts of the Larapinta Trail. The colours shifted from the pale grasses to soft violets across the sky. Deep reds, then bright reds – depending on how the light was illuminating the rock formations – would then shift into inky deep blues. Creating this blanket collection in its four colour ranges captures the different intensities of the light and natural landscape of the trail.”
Woven from fine merino wool at Waverley Mills in Tasmania, the blankets hold another personal connection for Lynch. The wool is grown at the historic Winton Estate in Campbell Town, Tasmania – a property much admired by Lynch’s grandfather, renowned sheep judge JW Benham, whose connection to Winton genetics influenced his own sheep flock.
Translating the depth and subtlety of colour that Lynch experienced on the Larapinta Trail into woven form, Waverley Mills set out to create something that was both functional and expressive. The collaboration with Fiona Lynch Office also reflects the two parties’ shared values and respect for natural materials and craft.
“The Fiona Lynch x Waverley Mills Collection reflects a shared commitment to sustainability, design excellence, craftsmanship and a deep love of merino wool,” says Fran Maiale, CEO of Waverley Mills. “Featuring richly coloured throws made from single‑source merino, the collection offers timeless beauty and year‑round versatility.”
