Interior Designer Max Humphrey Reveals Iconic and Cherished American Patterns in His New Fabric Collection

Interior designer Max Humphrey talks about his new fabric collection in collaboration with Sunbrella and Pindler

June 21, 2023

Darla Worden,

©2022 David Tsay Photography | Www.davidtsay.com

After working in TV and film production and touring the U.S. and England as the bass player in a punk rock band signed to a major record label, Max Humphrey discovered a passion for interior design. The Portland, Oregon-based interior designer now brings his unique experiences and perspective to design, creating the lived-in, layered look that has received accolades. His first coffee table book, Modern Americana, was released in 2021, and his most recent book, LODGE: An Indoorsy Tour of America’s National Parks, was featured in Mountain Living’s May/June 2023 issue.

Humphrey’s work is nostalgic, embracing iconic and cherished American patterns like ginghams, florals and bandanas to create a distinctive style. We talked to him about his most recent endeavor, Max Humphrey x Pindler x Sunbrella collection, a new performance fabric collection available in 69 textiles across 10 unique patterns, with Sunbrella, known for its innovative and luxurious fabrics. The collection will be offered exclusively to the trade through Pindler.

ML: How did the collaboration with Sunbrella come to be?

MH: I’ve known both the Sunbrella and Pindler teams for almost 10 years as a customer of both brands. A few years ago, I started putting ideas on paper for a fabric collection and brought it to the Sunbrella design team. We tweaked the patterns and then brought it to Pindler as the exclusive showroom partner. It took about two years from start to finish to get the collection launched, but a fabric collection has been a dream of mine since I started out in the industry.

ML: Where did you find inspiration for the collection?

MH: A lot of the aesthetic themes I’m drawn to now can be traced back to decoration styles that were familiar to me growing up in New Hampshire. But I wanted to create modern interpretations of these themes (like plaids, stripes, quilts and florals) that are super easy for designers to incorporate into their projects. My house growing up was a mish-mash of vintage stuff my parents found at antique malls in nearby Vermont combined with preppy, New England-y furniture.

A modern take on a classic style, the collection is right at home in this updated vintage trailer. Pillows covered in Gingham, Vintage Stripe, Crosshatch, and Floral Stripe — a pattern inspired by vintage Western menswear. ©2022 David Tsay Photography

ML: Tell us about working with Sunbrella.

MH: The Sunbrella design team helped translate my ideas into a beautiful collection of fabrics. I had to learn a whole new language once I presented the initial sketches. Part of what was fun about developing the collection with Sunbrella was how they would explain to me how to achieve the designs based on the weaving techniques and ground fabrics available. It was important to me to be able to layer the fabrics together without them all looking the same—which is why there are patterns on bouclé grounds mixed with more linen-like grounds mixed with matelassé, and more.

The Sunbrella team worked with Humphrey to develop high-performance fabrics that would not feel too “precious.” The designs look familiar yet deliver a fresh modern perspective on cherished motifs. ©2022 David Tsay Photography