The Book of Printed Fabrics

Essential Material

Explore centuries of timeless textiles from the Musée de l’Impression sur Étoffes

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.

Across two volumes, you’ll discover nine luxuriantly illustrated chapters that being to glorious life a chronological and thematic overview of the Musée’s unprecedented retrospective of the art of printed fabrics. And that journey begins in India, with the first volume devoted to the far east origins of the designs that made these prints famous, and how they came over to the factories of Europe. You’ll also find here stories and images detailing artistic innovations such as toile de Jouy and the development of new colour ranges.

In the second volume, the reader can look back at the incredible inventiveness of manufacturers and their designers throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Explore eye-catching cashmere motifs and the intense passion for nature and flowers that emerged under the Second Empire, before the artistic avant-gardes and modernity profoundly evolved the artistic creation of textile prints.

With nearly 900 pieces reproduced here to the highest possible standard, you will journey through the extraordinary tapestry of motifs and colours, that make this book such a peerless source of inspiration for textile enthusiasts of all kinds.