This is an invitation to discover the spectacular world of French Art Deco textiles. Hundreds of full-colour photographs bring to life the age when craftsmanship and industry worked side by side: Lyons silk and the first artificial fibres; carved wooden printing blocks and huge multiplecylinder rotary presses; indigo and madder and aniline and alizarin dyes; tradition and progress. By turns sumptuous or minimalist, featuring extravagant floral patterns or simple arrangements of shapes and colours, timelessly classical or celebrating the most recent triumphs of contemporary life, here is a rich cornucopia of fabric creations that will provide endless inspiration to designers and students, and enthrall anyone keen to discover the key role of textiles at the cutting edge of Art Deco style.

The decorative arts were given a fresh lease of life by the Paris International Exhibition of 1925, and experienced a boom that was to shape the lifestyles of a whole generation. Whether following the elitist decorative trents of Ruhlmann and Sue, or the more egalitarian, functionalist movement led by Le Corbusier, the worlds of interior decoration and fashion went through radical changes that were both influenced by and reflected in the textiles of the day, and French artists and designers found themselves at the hub of the activity.

This is an invitation to discover the spectacular world of French Art Deco textiles. Hundreds of full-colour photographs bring to life the age when craftsmanship and industry worked side by side: Lyons silk and the first artificial fibres; carved wooden printing blocks and huge multiplecylinder rotary presses; indigo and madder and aniline and alizarin dyes; tradition and progress. By turns sumptuous or minimalist, featuring extravagant floral patterns or simple arrangements of shapes and colours, timelessly classical or celebrating the most recent triumphs of contemporary life, here is a rich cornucopia of fabric creations that will provide endless inspiration to designers and students, and enthrall anyone keen to discover the key role of textiles at the cutting edge of Art Deco style.

INTRODUCTION

A NEW BEGINNING (1910-23)

FLORAL ART DECO (1919-31)

MODERNISM AND GEOMETRY (1923-36)

THE LATE PERIOD (1931-45)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INDEX

FURTHER READING

PICTURE CREDITS