Fabrics Inspired by the KnollTextiles Archives Introduced

February 27, 2015

NEW YORK, New York, February 27, 2015 – KnollTextiles introduces its latest Archival Collection, which consists of five upholstery fabrics designed under the creative direction of Dorothy Cosonas. The collection builds on the company’s rich history spanning over sixty-five years. The historic fabrics are a source of design inspiration and color work, used as a jumping-off point to create textiles that are relevant for today’s interior designer. The collection draws upon the work of multiple designers across many decades, including KnollTextiles’s founder, Florence Knoll.

Striae Stripe is based on Rugby, a 1955 fabric designed by a then well-known Swedish textile designer, Astride Sampe (1909-2002). Following WWII, Hans and Florence Knoll visited Sweden seeking new designers and business contacts and initiating a long a productive relationship with Sampe. The textile was featured in the famous Good Design show at the Museum of Modern Art the same year; it was also used in a Knoll advertisement by Herbert Matter. Dorothy has taken this classic cotton and wool epingle and added texture and depth, creating a rich, 9-yarn color warp stripe. Striae Stripe is 79% Cotton, 21% polyester, exceeds 100,000 Wyzenbeek Rubs and is woven in 8 colorways.

Kingston is a updated version of Florence Knoll’s “Plain Linen” from 1953. It adds a new face to a classic canvas duck cloth, with an innovative polyurethane and ceramic skim coat atop a cotton ground. Kingston comes in seven colorways, exceeds 90,000 double Wyzenbeek rubs and is composed 80% cotton with coating of 17% polyurethane, 3% ceramic.

Radiance is drawn from a 1951 fabric by Marianne Strengell (1909-1998) called Puli. Strengell, a Finish textile designer who succeeded Loja Saarinen as head of the weaving department at Cranbrook, was an important early advisor and contributor of both print and woven fabrics to the nascent KnollTextiles division. Puli was Strengell’s last textile for Knoll and one perhaps most closely related to her handweavings. Dorothy’s interpretation uses an olefin yarn to enhance the shimmer effect of the complicated and dynamic weave structure. Radiance is made of 47% cotton, 28% polyester, 16% acrylic and 9% olefin. It comes in 8 colors and passes 80,000 double rubs.

Melange is a new upholstery fabric based on a panel fabric called Galaxy from 1984. It has a more heathered finish as compared to the original panel fabric, which has pronounced points of contrasting color. This new premium wool is extremely dense, barely revealing its weave structure on the face. Also a good palette builder, Melange has soft flecks of color that allow it to be pulled in many different directions. It is composed of 88% wool/12% nylon, exceeds 40,000 Martindale rubs and comes in nine colorways.

Liberty is an updated version of an all-over solid classic solid wool/cotton texture called Sahara, from 1959. Dorothy wanted to capture the "slubby strie" personality of the original, in a new, tighter-weave fashion. Liberty is made of 55% Wool, 41% polyester, 4% nylon, passes 30,000 Martindale rubs. It comes in 8 colorways.

About KnollTextiles

KnollTextiles is currently under the creative direction of Dorothy Cosonas who combines clean, clear color with modern, elegant patterns and textures. Influenced by a passion for fine art and international fashion, Cosonas is the recipient of numerous awards, including Gold at Best of NeoCon. Her work was a major part of KnollTextiles 2011 retrospective exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center and has been accepted into the permanent collection of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

Founded by Florence Knoll in 1947, KnollTextiles is a division of Knoll, Inc., and maintains a marketing and design studio at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Intended for commercial application and cross over residential use, the KnollTextiles collection is available for purchase online, www.knolltextiles.com. Visit us on facebook at www.facebook.com/knolltextiles. For additional distribution and customer information, call 866-565-KTKT

Media Contacts

Colleen James
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