Skip to main content directly
0
Design Days 2022
KnollTextiles

Design Days 2022

During MillerKnoll Design Days, KnollTextiles celebrated its 75th anniversary with an archival textiles exhibit and a preview of The Heritage Collection—eight new products inspired by the KnollTextiles archives, including fabrics that date back to the company's founding in 1947.

KnollTextiles Founder Florence Knoll's handwritten notes
Florence Knoll's Handwritten Notes
The pioneering design icon introduced the first commercial textiles.Learn More

Celebrating 75 Years of Pioneering Design​​

“A good fabric has to relate to the person, the object, and the atmosphere.” - Florence Knoll​

The origin of Knoll’s textile division lay in what Florence Knoll called “necessity,” as her design vision was initially hampered by the lack of “suitable fabrics” available in the post-war period. Inspired by menswear, Florence employed garment fabric for upholstery use and introduced the first commercial textile. This unexpected adaptation of simple menswear fabric for furniture application signified the beginning of Florence Knoll’s enduring legacy of innovation and the founding of the KnollTextiles business in 1947.

KnollTextiles Heritage Collection

KnollTextiles at Fulton Market

We were honored to tell the story of KnollTextiles’ founding and share our rich history at MillerKnoll Design Days, which took place at Knoll’s Chicago showroom between June 13-15, 2022.

Over three days, our Fulton Market space was bustling with excitement as hundreds of visitors stopped by to explore classic KnollTextiles fabrics and catch a glimpse of our upcoming Heritage Collection.

Showcasing a wide range of textiles, from recent collections to never-before-seen samples​, our showroom was a celebratory display of KnollTextiles’ commitment to modern design over the past 75 years.

KnollTextiles at Design Days 2022
KnollTextiles at Design Days 2022
Knoll Textiles Heritage Collection
Summer 2022

The Heritage Collection

The Heritage Collection comprises eight archive-inspired textiles that honor the history of Knoll Textiles and build upon the brand’s modernist traditions.​

Explore the collection →

Knoll Textiles Rivers Archive
Marabu, 1972
Archival contributions, including Marabu (1972), inform The Heritage Collection.
Knoll Textiles Rivers
Homage, 2022
A nod to Knoll Textiles’ history of creating textures with a handcrafted aesthetic.
Florence Knoll and the KnollTextiles Archive
THE ARCHIVE

Modern Textiles Over the Years

Called "the single most powerful figure in the field of modern design” by The New York Times, Florence Knoll was a design icon who pioneered the concept of integrated fabrics for modern interiors.⁠ Under her leadership, KnollTextiles became well known for textural solid upholsteries that could withstand the demands of the workplace.

She established a practice of collaborating with highly talented designers and publicly crediting them for their work, forever changing the language of modern textiles. Some of the iconic fabrics that have helped define the KnollTextiles line include Nylon Homespun (1965) by Suzanne Huguenin, Eclat (1974) by Anni Albers, and Cato (1961) by Paul Maute, which became one of Knoll’s most successful products and is currently still in production.

Today, we continue to honor the principles of exacting and pioneering design set forth by Florence Knoll almost 75 years ago.

Explore The Archive →

Shop Archive-Inspired Fabrics

Watch: Florence Knoll and the Story of KnollTextiles