Meeting Florence Broadhurst

......and karate chopped cushions.

Barclay Butera

As a young design student, I went with my class to meet the late Florence Broadhurst. We went to her studio/factory in Paddington, (later to become infamous for being the scene of her murder) to listen to the great lady talk about her wallpapers and design philosophy.
At one point, the seventy-something Miss Broadhurst became distracted and began saying how much she disliked karate chopped cushions. I'd not heard the expression until then, but what she said must have stayed with me as I've never found it necessary to torture my cushions in such a manner.
I got quite a laugh when I came across the picture above. I wonder what Florence would say if she could see this rather ghastly example of cushions that have been over styled and over chopped?