Lost & Found Collection by Christiane Müller

People’s connection with textiles is deep and intimate. We wrap them around our bodies from the day we are born. We sit on them, sleep on them, furnish our rooms with them. Fabrics protect us, make us feel warm and safe, hug and embrace us all our lives. Without them we are naked.

Besides offering us comfort, textiles express who we are. As individuals, as groups, as cultures. They tell stories, embody values, evoke memories. The fabrics on our fashion, furniture and finishes of our interiors define us. They speak.

That human dimension is what I want to celebrate with the Lost & Found Collection. In my opinion, textile surfaces should improve a space, soften hard edges, create personality, provide comfort, enhance acoustics and reflect the right mood. Such surfaces are woven into the fabric of our lives, acquiring meaning and increasing in value over time. They set the scene for the theatre of everyday life.

Material, texture, colour and technique. Quilted, woven, embroidered, felted, pleated, needle-punched, knitted, padded. This is the language of textiles. People with wonderful knowledge and skills — the makers — have practiced these crafts since time immemorial, crafts that resonate with us in ways that modern methods of mass production often fail to do.

As a result, many textile crafts of great cultural value are threatened with extinction. With this collection, I want to imbue textile skills with new life, translating age-old knowledge and techniques into products with a soul, made with the most up-to-date manufacturing methods to reach the highest possible performance standards for today’s contract interiors.

The Lost & Found Collection re-examines the rich world of textiles, reinterprets their techniques, reconnects us with their history, reflects on their meaning, reinforces their functionality, renews their significance, reaffirms their value, and rediscovers their timeless beauty. What is almost lost is found again.

Stedelijk Museum/ Tinguely