KnollTextiles is pleased to announce that the Smithsonian’s Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, has selected five upholstery fabrics and two wall coverings for its permanent collection. This new selection is the largest and most wide-ranging addition to the museum’s permanent collection in KnollTextiles’ history. The seven fabrics were created either under the direction of, or by, Dorothy Cosonas, who has been creative director of KnollTextiles since March 2005.
According to Matilda McQuaid, deputy curatorial director and head of textiles at the museum, textiles that are included in the permanent collection must show some kind of innovative quality combined with historic or contemporary significance and fit in with the existing collection.
“Seven pieces at one time is a substantial number to be selected” says McQuaid, “But when possible, we like to collect in depth when the designer’s work exhibits the quality of Dorothy’s …The selection of work by Dorothy Cosonas not only follows [our] criteria, but also represents different techniques and sources of inspiration, which are pertinent to our collecting effort.”
The fabrics that have been selected:
Tryst (2012) in color Crow is an elegant horizontal stripe that uses a unique weaving method in which polyurethane yarn is tacked down on the surface of the fabric to create a kind of floating effect.
Katazome (2011) in color Hearth is inspired by the traditional Japanese woodblock effect.
Drip (2011) in color Mercury and Drop in color Apple are two wall coverings from the Ink Collection by Abbott Miller, a partner and multi-disciplinary designer with the international design firm Pentagram. Using liquid movement as a point of departure Drip is composed of a series of organic, interconnected letters created by steering wet ink into letter forms, while Drop began with a droplet of ink that was digitally manipulated to create a kind of stripe.
Sandis (2008) in color Nightfall is a striking wood grain pattern by Proenza Schouler inspired by the designers’ Spring 2008 runway collection.
Jaipur (2008) in color Rose Hip is from the inaugural collection of Knoll Luxe, designed by Dorothy Cosonas. A highly unusual fabric, Jaipur makes use of hand guided embroidery.
Topography (2006) in color Shoreline, a complex Missoni-like texture using traditional tapestry construction, mixes an unusually large number of colors (six colors in the warp and six in the weft) in a random pattern.
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 76 Ninth Avenue, 11th floor, New York, NY 10011. Intended for commercial application and cross over residential use, the KnollTextiles collection is available for purchase on the website, www.knolltextiles.com. Visit us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/KnollTextiles/205740295716. For additional distribution and customer information, call 866-565-KTKT
