know any Herb dealers?

no no no, I'm not talking about THAT kind of herb! hell, if i were looking for pot, I'd only have to walk a half-block from my house-- there are several medical marijuana shops in my neighborhood (note: I don't personally partake, but I believe in legalizing it for medical use). anyway, I'm getting off the subject...

the kind of herb I'm looking for is actually a printed fabric called Herb Chintz...here's the back-story: before I moved to Los Angeles, I used to housesit for this faaabulous man who had faaaabulous taste. his art collection was tour-worthy (Warhol, Mapplethorpe, Walker Evans!) and his furniture was to die for. when he moved from his smaller in-town home to an old millhouse out in the country, several pieces came out of storage, including a wingback that had recently been reupholstered in a striking fabric...

it actually took me forever to notice that the pattern wasn't a typical roses-and-ivy chintz, but a 17-screen print of the cannabis plant. i thought it was so cheeky for such a proper, upscale man to display something so (gasp!) controversial (although any man who has a Mappelthorpe in his den probably isn't bothered by controversy).

the fabric was commissioned by Nest magazine and designed by Kazumi Yoshida. at the time it was being sold for $95 a yard, so I can only imagine the pretty penny it cost to upholster that wingback. I'd be very willing to fork over some of my savings for a mere two yards, but Nest magazine closed it's doors long ago and I have been unsuccessful in finding any other outlets that have any material leftover...Kazumi Yoshida is the art director at Clarence House, but my emails to him have gone unanswered.

i spotted Herb Chintz again when Amy Sedaris' house was featured in the last issue of Home and Garden:

and I also found it pictured again in New York Magazine, in an article that profiled Nest's editor, Joseph Holtzman. the fabric is briefly mentioned in the article that discusses Holtzman's truly bizarre taste in interior design...

But look closer, and you see the winks in the fantasy. The piano wears a French maid’s ruffle. And Holtzman’s furniture is slipcovered in fabric of his own design called Herb—a cannabis-leaf chintz. “There’s a whole history of chintz being figured with entertainment foliage: poppies, and tobacco-leaf chintz from the late eighteenth century,” he observes.

the weirdest part of my whole quest for this fabric is when I flew back home for a long weekend last August. I spent some time in the attic digging through boxes of my old stuff...and what did i find? well, the issue of Nest that featured the Herb Chintz fabric, of course!

click the photo for a seriously detailed image

my plan was to have two thick cushions made for these Danish chairs I scored off of craigslist...

unfortunately, i dont think i'll ever find a source for this fabric...but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying! at this point, I'd even settle for a rad tobacco leaf chintz as a nod to my Kentucky heritage, but that's been a wild goose too. oh well...I'll keep hunting and maybe I'll get lucky one day when I least expect it!