Fassett - Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming in Color

For Brandon Mably

: My 1999 study of rose-covered objects.

Published in 2012 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang
An imprint of ABRAMS

Text copyright 2012 Kaffe Fassett
All photographs and illustrations copyright Kaffe Fassett unless otherwise noted on .
Photograph of Nepenthe on by Morley Baer. 2012 by the Morley Baer Photography
Trust, Santa Fe. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fassett, Kaffe.
Kaffe Fassett : dreaming in color : an autobiography / Kaffe Fassett.

p. cm.

A Melanie Falick book.
ISBN 978-1-58479-996-2
1. Fassett, Kaffe. 2. Fashion designersUnited StatesBiography.
I. Title. II. Title: Dreaming in color : an autobiography.
TT505.F37F37 2012
746.92092dc23

2011049250

UK edition ISBN: 978-1-61769-007-5

Editor: Melanie Falick with Betty Christiansen and Sally Harding
Designer: Anna Christian
Production Manager: Tina Cameron

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CONTENTS

In front of a painting I did of my Welsh dresser full of china. Ive always had a passion for china, and London, with its great flea markets and antique shops, has been an excellent place to form a collection.

As I sit in my studio surrounded by my creative materialfabrics, yarns, paper prints, shelves of books, and collections of decorative objectsI cant help but reflect on the path that led me here. What astounds me the most is the confidence and faith in myself I have always possessed, from my early years as a free-spirited boy on the wild California coast, to a young man who strode into England and the world of design and made a place for himself. I never felt daunted by difficulties or blocked alleys. Somehow, I knew the path I was on was right, and my trust in that sense was stronger than the limitations of my own personal comforts or desires. If I ever doubted my direction or wanted to give up, key friends in my life encouraged me to press on.

Over the years I know I have had guidance from guardian angels, who have helped me at every turn. They have ranged from family members and collaborative partners to the colorful travelers who serendipitously crossed my path as they sought the beauty of Big Sur, California, my family home, filling my young imagination with impressions of the Old World and details of their eclectic lives. This education was more extensive than I could have known at that age. I conjured up a vivid land from all those tales told around the fire at our family restaurant. Since then, I have found a home in England, in the world of textile arts, and in a glorious life of my own design.

The magnificent Santa Lucia Mountains as seen from the terrace of Nepenthe. The patio is made of cut redwood rounds.

chapter one

19371956

Childhood
in California

School photo, aged 12, taken at my tiny Big Sur school.

My sister Dorcas and I dancing on the terrace of Nepenthe, the family restaurant in Big Sur.

The Fassett family trying out ballet positions on the Nepenthe bleachers, with our log cabin home in the background.

When I was nine, my parents built a stunning modern restaurant perched on the cliffs of Big Sur, California, where the whole family lived and worked. As a barefoot boy on the California coast, I loved the rugged terrain... redwood canyons, beaches, and steep mountains. This spectacular, isolated setting turned out to be a big draw for artists, writers, musicians, and actors, and our family-run business became a magnet for interesting peopleboth staff and visitorsfrom across the globe. Meeting these larger-than-life characters stimulated my young mind and was a powerful influence. Their confident personalities and colorful stories about the exotic worlds of Europe and the Orient filled me with longing to experience those places for myself. The progressive boarding school I attended as a teenager, which was full of cultured teachers and inquiring students, would further intensify my burgeoning enthusiasm for a creative life of my own.

My drawing of Chaco, our favorite Russian maintenance man at Nepenthe.

Me in 1938. Im told I was always laughing as a baby.

Mom stepping out in Capri in the early 1930s.

19371946

My early years in San Francisco and Carmel

I was born on December 7, 1937, at 2:47 a.m., at the Childrens Hospital in San FranciscoDecember 7 would later become the infamous Pearl Harbor day. My parents, Bill and Lolly Fassett, were both twenty-six at the time and already had a one-year-old in tow, my brother Griff. Dad and Mom debated about a name for me. Griff had been named after Dads maternal grandfather, William Eliot Griffis, so Dad said, Why not please your family and name him after