P A T peter koepke T E R n S Inside the Design Library
1 THE DESIGN LIBRARY 6 2 A-Z 40 3 the creatives 282 index 329
1 the design library
the design library No pattern should be without some sort of meaning. William Morris, Making the Best of It (c. 1879) Patterns are everywhere in nature. Likewise, there is a human impulse to impose order, and to organize systems into repeating patterns. In the world of textiles, such patterns have provided artistic inspiration for thousands of years, even before industrialization mechanized the process. Textile designs serve no practical function, but they can transform an environment, tell the story of a culture, symbolize a tradition, establish unity, convey a personality, or express a mood. Culturally, they allow us to recognize our tribe and give one a sense of belonging. Today, antique and vintage patterns can drive trends in fashion and interior design. Bold or tame, modern or romantic, patterns are a departure from the plainness of solid color or unadorned surfaces. A balanced design provides a satisfying rhythm. Structure is civilizing. Repeating patterns are dependable once we have seen an arrangement of motifs, we can anticipate seeing it again. The eye grows accustomed to the rhythm, and we notice when it is broken. The process of pattern design has been determined by the evolution of technology. Hand looms and rudimentary dye-transfer techniques gave way to mechanized textile and paper mills of the Industrial Age, the patterns rendered with engraved plates, stencils, rollers, and screens; this booming industry supported a vast system of studio artists, engravers, printers, and weavers. A pattern design would begin with a hand drawing by an artist with specific skills to work within the constraints of textile manufacturing, such as the successful delineation of a motif with limited colors (to minimize the cost or complexity of woodblocks, plates, or screens) and flat and consistent paint application so that shading could be accomplished without additional mixing. Even a simple dot would need to be carefully sized and spaced to compose a pattern in a particularly appealing way. In addition, patterns would need to be able to repeat endlessly, so that when yardage or wallpaper was joined at the seams, the pattern would be continuous and unbroken. The labor-intensive process of hand-drawn pattern design has since been supplanted by the widespread adoption of computer-based technologies: image scanning and manipulation, CAD (computer-aided design) software, and digital printing. But the most essential element of good pattern design remains the initial idea. 9
the design library Today s most talented designers of even the most forward-thinking brands routinely tap into the collective past for ideas, reinterpreting antique and vintage designs for a contemporary audience. The world s largest and most rigorously organized repository of such source material is housed in the archives of the Design Library, a twelve-thousandsquare-foot loft in a converted 1907 fabric mill in New York s Hudson Valley. The Design Library holds more than seven million antique, vintage, modern, and contemporary textiles and swatches, painted patterns, wallpapers, embroideries, yarn dyes, pattern books, and production records of important mills, dating from the 1750s to the present. A creative hub for designers, the Library sells and licenses its materials for use in the fashion, home furnishings, textile, wall covering, graphic arts, and paper product industries. More than ten thousand designers access the pattern collection each year. The Design Library was founded in 1972 by Susan Meller, a textile designer, and her husband, Herb, an investment banker. The Mellers had been assembling a collection of textiles and patchwork quilts, and found there was a market for selling pieces to designers. The collection grew to contain examples from around the world North, Central, and South America; Europe; Africa; South Asia; Central Asia; China; Japan; Indonesia including important finds from France and Italy. Peter Koepke, who had been in the business of trading South American tribal pottery and textile art, joined the Design Library in 1990 and acquired the company in 2002. Since then, it has developed into the international industry resource it is today, providing viewing sessions at its headquarters in the Hudson Valley and its branch in London, personalized visits to client offices and studios, and online access to its growing digital archives. Among the Design Library s notable holdings are massive books of eighteenth-century paper impressions from the French firm Oberkampf & Cie., considered to be the first modern print-works, as well as design collections from Bianchini-Férier, Yves Cuvelier, Giorgio Taroni Disegni, Studio François Ducharne, and Studio Tucano. Bianchini- Férier, known for producing the world s most luxurious silks, created designs for Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Feraud, Givenchy, Laroche, Nina Ricci, Scherer, and Yves St. Laurent, among others but perhaps more interesting are its collaborations with artists such as Raoul Dufy, the brilliant Fauve painter. Iconic designer Yves Cuvelier produced beautiful, quality cloth for the high-end home furnishings industry from the 1950s through the 1970s. Taroni Disegni created scarves for Oscar de la Renta for more than fifteen years, as well as a memorable and very successful series of floral designs with roses and callas for Valentino. Ducharne, a silk factory founded in 1920, produced many silks for Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli. Beppe Spadacini, founder of Studio Tucano, who planted numerous varieties of palm trees at his home in Bali, is one of the most copied designers of tropical patterns. His studio has also created paisleys for Etro and status prints for Versace. The vast majority of designs held in the collections of the Design Library are unsigned, the work of anonymous artists who created entire collections each season for the textile industry, resulting in book upon book of textile samples that have been hidden away for centuries. the design library The pattern designs are unearthed from all over even dank castle basements and airy abandoned studios. But just because a design is old or fine or even famous does not mean it will be useful to designers. The Design Library s acquisition decisions are based on years of experience and a sensitivity to historic designs that transcend their original context and can translate easily to today s sensibilities and tomorrow s. The Design Library holdings are archived using a system created by Meller based on the biological classification system of family, genus, and species. The patterns are divided into four main families of design: Floral, Geometric, Ethnic, and Conversational. Altogether, there are more than 1,200 different categories in the main archive. Kosmos, the library s growing digital collection of thousands of prints, is categorized 130 ways. When designers or design teams come to the Design Library, they often have a specific print type or mood in mind. Other times, designers visit for general inspiration. As with any selection process, a larger grouping must be pared down to aid in decision making. Because the Design Library holds millions of original designs, a staff consultant learns the client s ideas, interprets the project s needs, and pulls a unique array of designs anywhere from ten to twenty to thousands from among the library s seemingly unlimited choices. The focus of these pulls depends on the information provided by the designer. Often it is visual a clipping from a newspaper or magazine, or a website image showing a recent runway pattern, for example; sometimes it is verbal, a description of a mood or an era. After taking in the large assortment, the designer sets aside favorites and strong contenders and further pares down the choices to a more realistic grouping for final consideration. The designs ultimately selected may simply initiate the client s journey of inspiration and direction, or they may find a direct, literal reuse, appearing on a new product much as they did originally. If the meeting is held in the Hudson Valley office, the client has access to the entire archive. In London they have access to tens of thousands of designs selected for the current market and season. Meetings can also be held offsite, either at the Design Library s New York City office or at a designer s own studio. The consultant refines the selection and fills one or two large suitcases to bring for the viewing. The goal is always to provide the best solutions for a project in a short session of direct contact with the actual designs. A designer never knows what he or she will find when entering the Design Library, but inspiration is guaranteed. Exploration sparks ideas that lead to a line or a collection, which in turn inspire individuals in their own creative expression, whether with the clothing they wear or the decor of a home or public space. A nineteenth-century swatch of chintz becomes a stylish shirt, an elegant couch, beautiful stationery. That is the magic that happens when designers interact with this magnificent collection. The Design Library places patterns from the past into today s most creative hands, sending them back into the world. 10 11
the design library the design library 14 15
The Design Library organizes its holdings with a classification system of four main families of design Floral, Geometric, Ethnic, and Conversational and more than 1,200 subcategories of genus and species. The conventional categories in the physical archive are based on, for example, specific time periods, art movements, various techniques, fabric type or appearance, motifs present. Terms are also modeled on the kinds of words designers tend to use when describing a look they are seeking, such as feelings elicited, moods projected, locations invoked. This descriptive system helps the Design Library staff begin the complex process of making selections for presentation. Some design patterns naturally fall under more than one classification. This collection of patterns A to Z is not inclusive, of course, but each image was chosen because it is unusual, striking, and best exemplifies the category. The possibilities are infinite. 43
abstract A catchall category for nonrepresentational images that cannot easily be classified elsewhere: bold explorations of line, shape, color, and contrasts. Motifs sometimes recur within the pattern, but the overall design gives the impression of freedom. Abstract s lack of structure enables a distinctly modernist look. opposite: Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. Studio Giorgio Taroni Disegni. Italy A 44
Abstract abstract Hand-painted silk. Late 20th century. United States Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. Studio Chantal Geskoff. France Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. France Printed fabric. Mid-20th century. France Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. Studio Tucano. Italy A 46 47 A
Bling Drawn from bling-bling, a contemporary term that arose to describe the sound of light reflecting off shiny jewelry or faceted gems such as diamonds, Bling in the fashion sense normally connotes flashy accessories or decorative embellishments, not textile motifs. But, in the hands of a capable designer, this zingy quality can be rendered convincingly in two dimensions. Look, and listen, carefully we can almost hear the Bling. opposite: Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. Studio Tucano. Italy B 52
BLING BLING Paper impression. 1983. Studio Bianchini-Férier. France Hand-painted paper. Late 20th century. Studio Giorgio Taroni Disegni. Italy B 54 55 B