Historic Los Angeles Wallpaper Brand Relaunches With New Owner and Iconic Banana Leaf Design

CW Stockwell, the historic wallpaper and textiles brand founded in 1905 in Los Angeles, is known for the Martinique banana-leaf pattern that famously graced the Beverly Hills Hotel during the mid-20th century and still appears in the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Fountain Coffee Room, including a new outdoor cabana designed by Dallas native Gray Malin. (The artist, who lives in Los Angeles, recently paid homage to his hometown with his first self-portrait).

This storied banana-leaf wallpaper was conceived in 1942 by Lucile Chatain, the daughter of founder Clifton W. Stockwell and alumnus of the Parsons School of Design. Chatain and her son Remy Chatain — who also studied at Parsons — were inspired to create the wallpaper design after vacationing in the South Seas.

They covered the showroom walls in it like a mural, catching the eye of legendary apparel and interior designer Don Loper, who had been hired to redo the Beverly Hills Hotel. He swathed the hotel’s corridors in Martinique, and the wallpaper’s verdant green fronds became synonymous with the laidback luxury of film stars and the ultra-rich who cloistered there.

CW Stockwell continued to produce Martinique by hand for more than 75 years. After third-generation owner Remy Chatain Jr. died, family friend and design industry veteran Katy Polsby purchased the heritage brand in 2019. She relaunched the company with 14 new wallpaper and textile patterns drawn from and inspired by its century-old pattern archive, including the iconic Martinique wallpaper in the original green and also in navy ($298 per roll).

Polsby recently teamed with Sunbrella on a collection of performance fabrics using four of the most coveted patterns for the new Joy performance collection, including Martinique in green, navy, pink, platinum, and sand.