Thames and Hudson – Women Textile Designers

In conversation with Claire Allen Johnstone and Elizabeth Currie

Women Textile Designers features printed, woven and embroidered fabrics by some of the world's most accomplished designers. created for public spaces, furnishings, fashion and theatre. Illustrated with a wealth of weaves, prints, textures and patterns, it includes works by Arts and Crafts pioneer May Morris, Bauhaus designers Gunta Stölzl and Anni Albers, mid-century designers Lucienne Day and Althea McNish, contemporary pioneers such as Birgitta Hahn and Reiko Sudo, and many more.

Chapters charting the transformation of the textile industry over the 20th century including women's increased access to design education and their roles as entrepreneurs and leaders are accompanied by in-depth illustrated profiles of key designers. The book examines the creation of new products and technologies alongside changing consumer patterns and the shifting functions of modern textiles in domestic interiors, public spaces and transportation.

This celebration of female creativity is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in design or seeking an inspirational sourcebook of modern and contemporary patterns.Claire Allen-Johnstone is Assistant Curator in the Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department at the V&A and a trustee for the Museum of Cambridge. Her publications include Dress, Feminism, and New Woman Writing (2025) and ‘Scarves: History of a Fashion Object’ in Dior Scarves. Fashion Stories (2024). She was part of the editorial team for Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021).

Elizabeth Currie is an author and lecturer specializing in the history of fashion and textiles. She teaches at Central Saint Martins and has previously worked at the V&A and the Royal College of Art. She has contributed to several V&A exhibition catalogues and her most recent book is Street Style: Art and Dress in the Time of Caravaggio (2025).