Can toile transport you to a magical place? Toile des caraïbes by Yaël & Valérie certainly can. And it does. This artistic canvas pays tribute to the ornate turn-of-the-century Gingerbread Houses unique to Haiti’s Port-au-Prince.

These elegant multi-story homes are instantly recognizable for their steep metal roofs, wraparound verandahs, and fine latticework.

Their wide romantic balconies coupled with their overall size and dreamy color combinations gives off a magical, fairytale effect.  

Yaël & Valérie is a design company inspired by Valérie Louis’s Haitian-Caribbean-African heritage and named after Louis and her teenage daughter, Yaël, who Louis says signs off on each and every design.

Their designs and brand affirms strong African heritage and an authentic identity. Their mission encompasses their passion: “Our history is powerful, our culture is magical, and our art is treasure.”

As for this fabric, before the Toile des caraïbes design became a fabric it was a drawing sketched by Louis herself. “I began to draw the things I saw around me growing up in Haiti. I came to the realization that none of these visuals were reflected in wallpapers or fabrics.”

Once she tapped into her Haitian heritage and childhood memories, the ideas couldn’t stop flowing.

Toile des caraïbes, which is 100 percent cotton and available in a rich spectrum of Caribbean colors (16 to be exact), is part of the Pain d’épices (“Gingerbread”) collection from Yaël & Valérie.

Yaël & Valérie has a wide variety of elegantly detailed Afrocentric fabric collections, including Creole Divinities, Fleur des Iles, Makaya, Mardi Gras, Past & Connection (as seen above), Terter, and Viviane, in addition to wallpapers, pillows, gifts, and custom design work.