In the far east of France, close to the German and Swiss borders, lies the historic city of Mulhouse. During the early 19th century, it became one of the leading centres of textile manufacture in the country. Today it is home to the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes, a museum dedicated entirely to the history of fabric printing from the 17th century right up to the present day.
Few are the serious fashion designers who have not come to visit this astonishing temple to textiles. This book, however, gives you the key to those vaults, presenting on its broad pages perfectly captured images of its collections that span four different continents – recounting a fascinating artistic and technological adventure across the world, from its origins in India to the most contemporary creations.
In the 1980, fashion wanted to make a statement and found in legendary British fashion photographer David Bailey its perfect chronicler. After Bailey shaped the style of the Swinging Sixties, fashion in the eighties posed a new challenge: brighter colours, higher glamour, statuesque models, extreme makeup, spandex, lycra, jumpsuits, power dressing, big hair, and as Grace Coddington puts it in her introduction, “jackets with padded shoulders over the shortest mini-skirts and dangerously high-heeled shoes.”
Weinfeld is renowned for work that exudes the power of classical modernism while being completely of its own moment. Biophilic design, an approach to architecture that emphasizes and embraces the natural world and its restorative qualities, is at its heart, allowing for a gorgeous aesthetics while also celebrating nature. Here, design offers sublime symbiosis where natural world and that which is human-made serve as complements. Above all, the buildings are easy to be in, inviting, and elegant—and all without ostentatiousness.