In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. Knoll Luxe was launched in 2008 as a luxury fabric division of Knoll Textiles. The brand utilizes a global network of specialized and highly skilled textile mills to realize fabrics that combine classic modernism with a strong...

In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. In 2012, Knoll Textiles’ Creative Director Dorothy Cosonas approached Dutch graphic and book designer Irma Boom to develop a collection of textiles based on two of her books: Colour (Kleur) Based on Art, 2005 and Colour Based...

Skiers, skaters, and other winter athletes run an increased risk of lung and bronchial infections when training in cold weather. Stoll, a German manufacturer of knitting machinery, worked together with academic and industry partners to incorporate smart textile technology in this balaclava. A mesh panel over the mouth and nose is knitted with copper wire...

Author: Jeffery McCullough One of the most challenging aspects of researching quilts is that, for many of them, there is no identifying information about the maker. Fortunately, this quilt top has a handwritten label stitched to it, which states “Made by Martha Brownlee born 1 Nov. 1801 Mother of Mary Brownlee Meloy.” Martha Brownlee was...

In 2015, Eileen Fisher announced an ambitious corporate goal: to be fully sustainable by 2020. Vision 2020, as the initiative is called, includes moving toward 100% organic fibers and non-polluting dyes, on-shoring more production, rigorous supply-chain and social responsibility monitoring, and a take-back policy for used Eileen Fisher clothing. So far, nearly half a million...

Author: Jeffery McCullough Many surviving nineteenth-century crib quilts are evidence that it was more common to make a child-size quilt in colors and patterns that were popular for adult-size bed quilts, rather than in specific “baby” colors. An 1840-1860 crib quilt in the collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum represents common coloration and a...

Saddle blankets — placed under the saddle to protect the horse from chafing and pressure from the saddle — continued to be used by the Navajo long after handwoven garments became impractical. By the 1950s, when this blanket was woven, the dramatic shoulder blankets for which the Navajo are famous were made far more frequently...

This English trumpeter’s banner dates to the mid-19th century. The crest, or the coat of arms of Great Britain, is flanked by the lion and the unicorn, the symbols of England and Scotland. Additionally, the motto of the English chivalric Order of the Garter, “Honi soit qui mal y pense,” and the motto of the...

In pre-industrial Japan, aprons were a basic element of everyday dress, worn by children and adults to protect one’s clothing, which was infrequently cleaned. Some form of apron was worn by workers of all sorts, from shop-keeping to field work to fishing. Like other work clothes, aprons were often made of repurposed cloth, as this...