Often called “England’s Eamses,” Robin and Lucienne Day were a designing couple utterly committed to modernism. The unexpectedness and vitality of their postwar interior furnishings, particularly Lucienne’s pattern designs for textiles, carpets, wallcoverings, and dishware, shaped the look of modern England in the 1950s. Lucienne is rightfully famous for Calyx, the organic design inspired by the work...

a href="http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/view/objects/asitem/id/192804">Fibra. Designed by Eszter Haraszty for Knoll Textiles. United States, 1953. Screenprinted linen. Gift of Larry Weinberg, 2011-20-1. Photo: Matt Flynn For over seventy years, Knoll has been a leader in modern workplace furnishings and textiles. Cooper-Hewitt recently added forty pieces of Knoll textiles and furniture to the collection, most of which were recently...

Richard Cranch Greenleaf (1887–1961) was a prolific collector of lace, costume, and textiles. To a large extent, the strength of Cooper-Hewitt’s collection in these areas can be attributed to his generosity. Starting in 1950, Greenleaf began donating groups of lace, small accessories such as purses and coifs, and finely woven European silks and embroidered textiles....

Textiles serve as the most engaging and tactile vehicle for color and life. They wrap, protect, and define us, and tell stories of the maker, user, and culture in which they were woven. This lively conversation with fashion curator, Dilys Blum; artist, Sheila Hicks; and designer, Luca Missoni will cover topics related to current exhibitions...

Design Watch Members explored the International Contemporary Furniture Fair with Matilda McQuaid, Deputy Curatorial Director. The tour’s theme, wallcoverings and textiles, led us to Scrapwood Wallpaper Made in Holland by Piet Hein Eek. Best known for crafting furniture from salvaged wood, Hein Eek created a line of non-woven, washable wallpaper. Next, we visited Trove for...

Engelberg, Trübsee/Switzerland, 1936. Herbert Matter (Swiss, 1907 – 1984). Offset lithograph on white wove paper, 40 1/8 × 25 1/16 in. (1019 × 637 mm). Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund, 2006-15-1 Two articles in the May issue of Dwell magazine have special resonance for Cooper-Hewitt’s followers. The first, “Printed...

Dr. Sherry Buckberrough, Delaunay scholar and author of Sonia Delaunay: A Retrospective, will discuss Sonia Delaunay as a modern fashion and textile designer and a radical force in shaping the image of the Parisian “New Woman” of the 1920s. Buckberrough will illuminate how her designs emphatically deployed the look of modernity across two hemispheres.”

Dr. Sherry Buckberrough, associate professor at the University of Hartford and author of Sonia Delaunay: A Retrospective, will discuss Sonia Delaunay’s role in 1920s Paris and the remarkable effect her designs had on shaping the modern woman. Placing her work in the context of Paris fashion of the time, Dr. Buckberrough will illuminate Delaunay’s impact...

Petra Timmer, design scholar and Delaunay expert, will moderate a discussion between Matteo de Monti and Elaine Lustig Cohen, as they recount their personal experiences with Sonia Delaunay and offer unique insight into the life and work of this iconic artist and designer. Matteo de Monti is the grandson of the director of Metz and...

Brooklyn-based design duo Felted Signal Processing creates plush, alien-looking synths and sensors that make noise on contact. Sisters Lara and Sarah Grant combine their skills in art, fashion and engineering to perform their outlandish experiments in “electronic textiles.” There’s a whole catalog of stretchy samplers and woolen warblers on their website, fsp.fm. A felted sensor...

  The evening of May 19th capped off a three-day residency at the Cooper-Hewitt for Natalie Chanin, founder and designer of the design studio Alabama Chanin. Chanin, one of the founders of the burgeoning “slow fashion” movement, followed up her two-day Design Directions workshop for teenagers with an hour-long public lecture and book signing. “Lecture”...

Crown Fountain Recently in Chicago for NeoCon and the the unveiling of the Architecture & Design Galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago. Enjoyed showroom after showroom, despite the dizzying effect of the Merchandise Mart! Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger’s innovative new Antenna Workspace was the center of attention at Knoll. Celebratory dinner in the...