Grande Terre Curtain Fabric by Mokum- Looking up Through the Canopy
By Amanda Stewart, Showroom Manager, Lahood Window Furnishings
Amanda has worked in textiles for over 20 years and curates Lahood’s fabric selection across curtains, upholstery, and soft furnishings.
• Grande Terre is a multipurpose cotton-linen fabric by Mokum, based on a hand-painted design by Sydney textile designer Leisa Wake.
• Available in three colourways: Jungle, Tamarind, and Lagoon. All three are in the Lahood showroom
• Suited for curtains and light duty upholstery with a 42cm width and 77 x 60cm pattern repeat
• Part of Mokum’s Soleil Voyage collection, it marks a shift toward more abstract, expressive botanical design, that are a classic in textile history rather than a trend.
Grande Terre by Mokum is a hand-painted multipurpose fabric that captures the feeling of looking up through a tropical forest canopy. Designed by Sydney-based textile designer Leisa Wake and painted gouache in the Mokum studio, it translates botanical forms into abstract, layered shapes that work across a wide range of interior styles. The fabric is available to view at Lahood’s Auckland showroom in all three colourways with Tamarind shown in a full curtain drop, where the scale and character of the design becomes fully apparent.
What distinguishes Grande Terre is the combination of a genuinely hand -painted origin and a practical 70 x 66cm repeat that makes it as useful on upholstered pieces as it is at the window. It is not a difficult fabric to specify. It is a fabric with depth.
Specification | Detail |
Designer | Leisa Wake, textile designer (Sydney) |
Brand | Mokum (part of the James Dunlop Textiles group) |
Collection | Soleil Voyage |
Composition | Cotton (90%) linen 10% blend |
Width | 42cm |
Pattern repeat | 70 x 66cm |
Colourways | Jungle, Tamarind, Lagoon |
Suitable applications | Curtains (drapery) and light duty upholstery |
Design technique | Hand-painted in gouache, digitally printed |
Available at Lahood | Yes. All three colourways in-showroom at 104 Mount Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland |
Grande Terre was designed to capture the feeling of escapism and the experience of bringing something of a place home to live with. In Leisa Wake’s own words, the design captures:
“the feeling of walking beneath a tropical canopy and looking up through the mass of botanical forms and pockets of light through a mesmerizing tangle of botanical motifs.” Leisa Wake, textile designer, Mokum
The motifs in Grande Terre are deliberately abstract rather than illustrative. Wake describes bringing the outside in through an abstract lens, allowing botanical motifs to simply become shapes which can be perceived as botanical but are not literal leaves. This abstraction is precisely what gives the fabric its versatility: it reads as nature without demanding naturalism from the room around it, and works across a wide range of interior styles as a result.
On the question of whether botanical design is a trend, Wake is direct. She describes it as a classic deeply rooted in textile history, and identifies how designers interpret and reimagine botanical references as what keeps the category genuinely fresh.
Grande Terre began as a hand-rendered artwork in gouache before a metre of fabric was produced. Wake chose the gouache medium for the way it flows and melts into the next colour, leaving a chalky opaque finish behind. The painting itself was done in a deliberately uncontrived way. Wake describes the process as:
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“A ‘stream of consciousness’ style of painting where nothing was carefully controlled and the abstract shapes morph into one another.” Leisa Wake, textile designer, Mokum |
The initial concept painting was done on a sunny day on Wake’s deck overlooking the bush, which she credits with helping transport her to the island feeling the design required. Once completed in the Mokum studio, the artwork was scanned and manipulated digitally into a multilayered file. Digital printing then captured the fine detail and tonal variance of the original, maintaining what Wake describes as the human hand in the final product. That handmade quality is visible in the finished cloth: no two metres read in quite the same way when the light changes.
Grande Terre is available in three distinct palettes, each derived from the landscape and flora of the South Pacific Islands. The base cloth across all three is a cotton-linen blend with a natural scoured ground colour, deliberately chosen over ivory to allow the colours to subdue and settle into the cloth, giving the fabric what Wake describes as a nostalgic, lived-in appearance.
The fabric’s natural slub adds texture and its soft, tumbled handle makes it practical for both curtains and light upholstery. It falls with a relaxed ease that suits layered, informal interiors rather than tailored, formal window treatments.
Colour | Palette | Best Suited To |
Jungle | Verdant greens, oxide accents, deep martini and bark | Formal living rooms, dining rooms, studies |
Tamarind | Molten rusts, burgundy, bronze on a peachy ground | Bedrooms, sitting rooms, warm-light spaces |
Lagoon | Pacific blues, powder, sky tones, guava on seagrass | Coastal interiors, bathrooms, lighter living spaces |
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“Grande Terre reads very differently at different scales. The colourway behaviour changes significantly between artificial light and daylight. Seeing it at full curtain drop is the only way to make a confident decision on a fabric like this.” Amanda Stewart, Showroom Manager, Lahood Window Furnishings
Grande Terre is suited to curtains where a relaxed, organic drape is the design intent. The cotton-linen construction means it falls softly rather than holding a structured form, which makes it well-matched to relaxed pleat styles and unfussy hardware. Lahood’s design consultants can advise on lining options, pleat styles, and suitable tracks for Grande Terre during a complimentary in-home consultation. Seeing the fabric in the actual light conditions of your room, alongside potential lining combinations, is the most reliable way to make the right decision.
Design Consideration | Guidance for Grande Terre |
Pleat style | Wave or inverted pleat style. Avoid pencil pleat, which tightens the fabric and compresses the pattern repeat. |
Lining | Lined or interlined recommended to protect the digital print from UV degradation and improve drape weight. |
Stack-back | Allow generous stack-back. The 70 x 66cm repeat benefits from being seen at full width when open. |
Light conditions | Test colourway in situ. Jungle deepens significantly in low light; Lagoon reads much lighter in direct sun. |
Room application | Living rooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms. Not recommended for high-humidity environments. |
Hardware | Simple rods or tracks in natural finishes (brass, bronze, brushed steel) complement the hand-painted aesthetic. |
Q: What is Grande Terre by Mokum?
A: Grande Terre is a multipurpose printed fabric by Mokum, hand-painted in gouache by Sydney-based textile designer Leisa Wake. Available in three colourways (Jungle, Tamarind, Lagoon) on a cotton-linen base cloth, it is suitable for curtains and light duty upholstery. The pattern repeat is 70 x 66cm. All three colourways are available to view at Lahood’s Auckland showroom at 104 Mount Eden Road, Mt Eden.
Q: Is Grande Terre suitable for curtains?
A: Yes. The cotton-linen construction gives Grande Terre a relaxed, natural drape suited to living rooms, bedrooms, and dining rooms. It works best with pinch pleat or ripple fold styles and should be lined to protect the digital print and improve drape weight. The 70 x 66cm repeat also makes it practical for light duty upholstery and cushions.
Q: What are the three Grande Terre colourways and what rooms do they suit?
A: Jungle (deep greens, martini, bark, and oxide) suits formal living rooms, dining rooms, and studies. Tamarind (molten rusts, burgundy, bronze on a peachy ground) suits bedrooms and warm-light sitting rooms. Lagoon (Pacific and sky blues with guava accents on a seagrass ground) suits coastal interiors and lighter living spaces. All three should be viewed in the actual light conditions of your room before specifying.
Q: Where can I see Grande Terre fabric in Auckland?
A: All three colourways of Grande Terre are available at Lahood’s showroom at 104 Mount Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland. Lahood holds one of Auckland’s largest ranges of New Zealand and international curtain fabrics. Complimentary in-home consultations are also available for clients who want to see the fabric in their own space. Appointments can be booked at lahood.co.nz.
Q: Will a botanical fabric like Grande Terre date quickly?
A: Botanical design is a classic in textile history, not a trend. Leisa Wake, who designed Grande Terre, is explicit on this point. The abstraction of Grande Terre’s motifs, which read as botanical without being literal leaves, means the fabric works across a wide range of interiors and is less likely to feel period-specific than illustrative botanical prints. The cotton-linen base cloth with its natural scoured ground colour further reinforces the timeless, lived-in quality of the design.
Q: What lining should I use with Grande Terre curtains?
A: Lining is recommended for Grande Terre curtains to protect the digital print from UV degradation and to add weight that improves the drape of the cotton-linen cloth. Lahood’s design consultants can advise on the right lining for your specific room, light exposure, and pleat style during a complimentary consultation. The choice of lining also affects thermal performance, which is worth considering in rooms with large glazed areas.
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To explore Grande Terre and Lahood’s full curtain fabric range in person, book a complimentary consultation at lahood.co.nz or visit the showroom at 104 Mount Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland.