If you want to learn how to layer fabrics so the end result is unexpected and effortless, take a leaf out of interior designer Drew McGukin’s notebook for Perspective New York, a design event exploring Sunbrella performance and style through the eyes of inspiring designers. McGukin is one of five designers chosen to share their unique vision of creative excellence in full-scale vignettes using Sunbrella fabrics.

McGukin tackled the design challenge posed by Perspective New York by showcasing his unique talent for creative juxtaposition.

Known for including a touch of the unexpected in his designs, McGukin mixes pattern, color and texture in a way that is bold and sexy while still remaining elegant and inviting. The end result is the interior design version of a colorful runway show at New York fashion week.

McGukin achieves this fashion-forward, contemporary look by combining Sunbrella fabrics available to the trade with unique furniture shapes and profiles from his own collection with Bjork Studio. A custom Sunbrella rug with a border in Dupione – Deep Sea, available through United Fabrics and Silver State, sets the bold and colorful tone for the vignette.

The sofa with attached chaise features simple lines, which allows the Bayeux – Turquoise damask Sunbrella fabric by Pindler to take center stage. A modern channel chairs upholstered in Oslo – Sunflower, a yellow and gray Sunbrella fabric by Pindler, recall 1960s Pop Art by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, while decorative pillows feature inventive combinations of turquoise and golden yellow fabrics in Oslo – Sunflower, Cuba Libre – Azul and Havana Stripe – Azul by Holly Hunt and Optima – Golden Rod by Robert Allen.

Upholstered wall panels serve as the backdrop to a fabulous geometric console table and offer an exciting and inventive way to use Sunbrella fabric. Constructed by Bjork Studio, the wall panel features a dotted stripe pattern in Sparrow – Emerald Sunbrella fabric available through Donghia. The geometric lines of a one-of-a-kind swivel chair–the McSwivel–designed by McGukin in collaboration with Bjork Studio are highlighted with strategically placed textural Sunbrella fabric–Nairobi – Oasis available from Holly Hunt–and contrast welting.

Like a great piece of abstract art, Drew McGukin’s Perspective New York vignette offers an explosion of color, shape and pattern that draws you in and convinces you to stay awhile.