Filed under: Design, etc, News & Trends
A glimpse at some of our favorite zebra finds on eBay. Check The Inside Source for more of our picks! Photos: eBay.
Before hunting for zebras on eBay for The Inside Source, we took a look at where the trendlet came from...
Its Roots: Poor zebras. While their graphic stripes have garnered enormous popularity -- and even backlash! -- in the design community, the zebras themselves don't get nearly as much love. Sure, they've had their moments in the limelight from time to time -- they're popular in African folktales, they had cameos in Madagascar, Racing Stripes and oh, does anyone remember the sweet Fruit Stripe gum zebra? But when it comes to decor, these striped horses finally got some love in the late 1930's, when Scalamandré introduced the iconic (and now recreated) zebra wallpaper for the New York restaurant Gino's. (Sadly for us -- and for Tory Burch -- it's now shut down.)
Clockwise from top left: Scalamandre Zebras Wallpaper (Photo courtesy of Scalamandre); Turner Pocock Zebras wallpaper (Photo courtesy of Turner Pocock Cazalet); WildLife Prints Stripes Print (Photo courtesy of WildLife Prints); Sian Keegan's Patchwork Horse (Photo courtesy of Sian Keegan); Anthropologie's Through-the-Jungle Dishtowel, Zebra (Photo courtesy of Anthropologie).
Left to right: Miles Redd's design in Elle Decor (Photo by Miguel Flores-Vianna, courtesy of Elle Decor); Melissa Warner's design (Photo courtesy of Massucco Warner Miller Interior Design).
Top to bottom: THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, 2001. (C)Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; THE DARJEELING LIMITED, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, 2007. (C)Fox Searchlight/courtesy Everett Collection.
Loved By: While Scalamandré's wallpaper was originally created for Gino's, it's been used again and again by zebra devotees. Designer Miles Redd used the iconic Masai Red version in a home featured in Elle Decor that became an instant blog-world favorite, and Massucco Warner Miller Interior Design brought us the Safari Brown version in a guest bathroom. It was also used (in Serengeti Green!) in the lovely Kate Spade's guest bathroom, which should come as no surprise to any fans of Ms. Spade's candy-colored aesthetic. It was also spotted in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite and Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, behind the pouting face of Gwyneth Paltrow's Margot Tenenbaum. Further proof that Hollywood hipster golden boy Anderson is a true zebra fan? The Louis Vuitton-designed luggage in his film The Darjeeling Limited features zebras alongside giraffes and elephants.
And one of zebra's most vocal adorers is the hilarious and tastemaking blogger Christian May of Maison21. "I like zebras because I love animals of all kinds, and I adore black and white as a decorating motif," he tells us, via email. "And zebras embody the best of both worlds -- I mean, who can resist a horse in fancy evening wear?" Well, when he puts it that way...certainly not us!
Want to see more zebra picks? Check out The Inside Source for more of our favorite zebras on eBay!
...And check out our past collaborations with The Inside Source here.
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