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A Livingetc interiors report describes designers using tassels and other passementerie in contemporary spaces, from curtain tiebacks and light pulls to sculptural accents. Designers interviewed favor considered placement, unexpected color or texture, and designs that stand out against pared-back interiors.
Tassels and passementerie—decorative cords, trims and related textile details—are appearing in contemporary interiors, according to a Livingetc report featuring makers and designers. The examples range from monochrome curtain tiebacks and light pulls to larger sculptural accents, showing how a traditional craft can be used in otherwise pared-back rooms.
The report centers on Jessica Light, an East London passementerie weaver and tassel maker who has worked by hand for more than 30 years. Light says she is receiving bespoke requests for single statement tassels, which can function as hanging sculptures and bring color, texture and visual focus to a room. Her materials include linen, wool, horsehair and paper, as well as deadstock materials from her atelier where possible.
Light recommends using one overtly decorative element in a sparse setting rather than adding trim everywhere. She says a contrast can make the detail feel intentional: an ice-blue trim against earthy ochres, browns and brick reds, for example. She also favors tiebacks in different colors, even when they share the same design. The report notes that a pared-back, single-color tassel can be as prominent as a more elaborate one.
Marisa Gutmacher, senior vice president of design at New York passementerie firm Samuel & Sons, describes using color and material to connect a trim with a room. On patterned fabric, she likes a trim that brings forward a hue that appears only briefly in the design. With plain fabric, she says a close tonal pairing can work when the trim differs in texture or luster. These are design perspectives from the people interviewed, not evidence of a measured change in consumer demand.
Traditional Trim Meets Minimal Rooms
The report’s design point is that tassels need not dictate a maximalist scheme. In the examples described, a single small detail can add texture, color or contrast without changing the room’s overall restrained character. That gives readers a practical way to interpret the trend: use the embellishment selectively, and let its scale and placement relate to the rest of the space.
The coverage also draws attention to passementerie as a handcraft, rather than just a decorative look. Light describes the craft as a largely lost world and traces its lineage to historical techniques; the report says its appeal has shifted with changing interior tastes. For designers and homeowners, the current examples show how traditional making skills can be adapted to contemporary lighting, furniture and textiles.
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From Heritage Craft to Current Design
Passementerie refers to ornamental textile work such as tassels, cords, fringes and trims. Livingetc describes it as a heritage craft with a history reaching back to ancient Egypt. Light says its popularity has ebbed and flowed, and that modernism nearly ended its use. She argues that its varied techniques leave makers room to develop forms that fit current interiors.
The report gives examples across different scales. A black tassel light pull by Light for East London Cloth adds ornament to a glass wall light, while monochrome silk tassels from a selection made with East London Cloth appear on tiebacks, light pulls and keys. British studio Penrose Tilbury used a black tassel tieback on a shower curtain in a Victorian townhouse project. The report says the project was designed to meet the clients’ brief for a sophisticated, classic interior with subtle Parisian influence.
It also points to French designers Hauvette & Madani, whose Betty lamp launched in 2021 after an encounter with Paris passementerie workshop Verrier. The report says the designers worked with Verrier artisans again on their 2026 La 23ème Heur furniture collection, which includes a birch-and-lacquer lounge chair with a bolster secured by passementerie cords and two large tassels.
““Passementerie has always ebbed and flowed according to the contemporary tastes of the time.””
— Jessica Light, passementerie weaver and tassel maker
handmade passementerie light pulls
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How Broad Is the Design Shift?
The report offers design examples and expert observations, but it does not provide sales figures, survey data or other measures showing how widely tassels are being adopted by homeowners. Its account of growing bespoke commissions comes from Light; the size of that demand and how it compares with earlier periods are not specified.
It is also unclear whether the featured designs indicate a lasting shift or a short-lived fashion. The examples establish that tassels are being used in some contemporary projects, but they do not show how common the approach is across the wider interiors industry or whether consumers are buying these pieces at higher rates.
decorative textile tassels for interiors
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More Projects Will Test the Trend
The next indicators will be whether designers continue to commission passementerie for new projects and whether makers report sustained interest beyond the examples in the report. The Hauvette & Madani furniture collection cited by Livingetc adds a recent design example, while Light’s commissions offer a maker’s account of current requests.
No broader market data or follow-up announcement is included in the source material. For now, the confirmed development is a set of contemporary applications and designers’ views on how to use them: selectively, with attention to color, texture and placement.
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Key Questions
What is passementerie?
Passementerie is ornamental textile work that includes tassels, cords, fringes and trims. The Livingetc report presents it as a heritage craft used in both traditional and contemporary interiors.
How are designers using tassels in modern homes?
The examples include curtain and shower-curtain tiebacks, light pulls, pendant lights and furniture details. Some are small monochrome accents; others are larger statement pieces.
What does Jessica Light recommend?
Light favors using a single decorative element in a sparse room and experimenting with colors that contrast with, rather than simply match, the surrounding scheme.
Does the report show that tassels are becoming widely popular?
No market-wide evidence is provided. The report gives examples and comments from designers and makers, including Light’s account of bespoke commissions, but does not include sales data or a measure of consumer adoption.
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