Fashioning Felt

Felt is the oldest fabric known to mankind; its earliest examples date back to 6,500 B.C. In recent years, the fabric has found contemporary applications in an extraordinary range of fields, including product design, fashion, architecture and home furnishings. Felt’s first revival in modern times occurred as a part of the fiber-arts movement of the 1970s; the 1990s saw a surge of innovations in its production, triggering the current resurgence of interest in the fabric. A combination of scholarly research into its history, the exploration of its technical applications and sustainability issues have inspired many leading artists and designers to work with felt. Fashioning Felt examines this recent explosion of interest. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, it presents handmade and commercially produced designs for felt, and explores through essays and full-color illustrations the material’s rich history.