10 TALENTS: Contemporary Textile Design & Makers
Updated on: August 4, 2026
Textiles are among the oldest human art forms and functional crafts, integral to civilisations since ancient times. From hand-spun threads and early looms to the machinery of the Industrial Revolution, the evolution and commerce of textile design has shaped how societies developed. It is therefore striking to watch traditional techniques being maintained, passed down through generations, and valued for their cultural inheritance — a continuity not often found in other artistic disciplines.
Originally driven by necessity and passed down for survival, these skills now demand active preservation as an art form, in an era where practicality often yields to artistic expression. Yet practicality remains essential, as rug-making traditions continue to evolve alongside societal change and new technology. Our featured 10 TALENTS carry that legacy forward while pushing boundaries, ensuring textile design remains as mutable and influential as ever.
Furthermore, amidst increasing demand for transparency and sustainability, these designers place a high value on slow practice and low-impact methods. They are committed to reducing the environmental cost of textile production. In an industry often criticised for its ecological footprint, these ten studios demonstrate that innovation and tradition can coexist.
Their works span throws and cushions, rugs and wall decoration, and together they map where textile design currently sits: between the tactile depth of hand processes and the reach of contemporary machinery.
What is textile design?
Textile design is the practice of designing cloth and the structures that make it — deciding the fibre, the construction, the pattern and the finish before anything is produced. It covers woven, knitted, printed, dyed and non-woven work, and it operates across furnishing, fashion, and art. Notably it differs from surface pattern alone: a textile designer is working with structure as much as image, which is why the same motif reads differently as a kilim, a jacquard tapestry or a knitted panel.
In contemporary practice the discipline splits roughly two ways. Some designers work at the loom or the knitting machine themselves, making one-off and limited pieces. Others design for production and collaborate with mills and workshops. Consequently the ten studios below span both, and several move between them.
Types of contemporary textile design
Handweaving and kilims
A flatweave with no pile, worked on a shaft or backstrap loom, where the pattern is built in the weft rather than applied afterwards. Kilims carry graphic, geometric vocabulary well, and the technique remains the most direct route from a weaver’s decision to a finished surface.
Jacquard and digital weaving
Jacquard weaving addresses every warp thread individually, so imagery can be woven rather than printed. Because the pattern is stored as data, it is the point where digital design meets a loom directly — and the reason a woven tapestry can now hold photographic gradients.
Knitted textiles
Knitting loops one continuous yarn rather than interlacing two systems, giving elasticity and volume that weaving cannot. Fully-fashion machine knitting shapes each panel to size, which nearly eliminates cutting waste.
Hand-knotting and pile rugs
Knots tied individually around the warp build a pile surface, counted in knots per square inch. Slow, dense and durable, the technique underpins most fine wool rugs, and it remains concentrated in workshops in Nepal, Iran and India.
Tapestry and woven wall pieces
Tapestry uses discontinuous weft: colour is built area by area rather than run across the full width, which is what allows pictorial work. Historically tapestries insulated and decorated rooms in equal measure. Today the same format returns as wall art, whether handwoven or machine-woven to a digital file.
Composite and reclaimed textiles
Off-cuts, worn linens and agricultural waste can be milled, bound and pressed into rigid boards or moulded forms. As a result textiles move out of the soft category entirely and into furniture and objects — an area several of the studios below are actively opening up.
10 TALENTS: the textile designers
Tartaruga Studio (Łódź, Poland)
Tartaruga Studio, founded by Jadzia Lenart and Wiktoria Podolec in Łódź, Poland, stands out for its heartfelt and personal approach to textile design. Drawing inspiration from their immediate surroundings, the duo infuses their kilims with elements of nature, daily life, and personal rituals. This intimate connection to their environment translates into patterns and symbols that reflect their memories and emotions. Consequently, each piece becomes a deeply personal expression, or as they describe it, “a mosaic of memories etched in the mind… a kind of postcard or personal souvenir from a trip”.
Tartaruga demonstrates a strong commitment to material responsibility through their choice of yarns: recycled wool and hand-dyed natural wool. Utilising recycled wool from industrial carpet weaving leftovers ensures durability and promotes a second life for materials, while their plant-dyed yarns, made from kitchen waste and local flora, give their works an inimitable quality. As a result, this approach minimises waste, with only 2 grams of biodegradable waste produced per square metre of kilim.
Tartaruga Studio’s innovative spirit shows in their exploration of traditional techniques. They emphasise the importance of returning to hand processes while also experimenting with new forms. Currently, they are exploring three-dimensional structures that challenge the conventional flatness of kilims, thus expanding the possibilities of this ancient craft. Named after the Italian word for turtle, Tartaruga symbolises nobility, deliberate pace, and longevity — an apt reflection of the studio’s ethos. Here, memory is as integral as wool and loom, where the synthesis of personal recollection and traditional technique preserves and conveys the stories of their makers.
Ebba Lindgren (Malmö, Sweden)
Ebba Lindgren, based in Malmö, Sweden, bridges industrial design and art with a keen focus on shape and texture. Her collections exemplify a penchant for reimagining historical aesthetics through low-impact practice.
Lindgren’s approach makes use of Kvadrat’s “Really Board,” a textile fibreboard akin to MDF, valued for its precision CNC-cutting and showcased in her Really Rococo project. Really Board repurposes textile industry off-cuts, materials from industrial laundries, and worn-out hotel bed linens. These components are milled and pressed with a textile binder, giving them a second life. Her work illustrates how textiles can expand beyond blankets or tapestries into structural, load-bearing applications.
Lindgren’s commitment to upcycling permeates every aspect of her work. Beyond individual pieces, she collaborates on initiatives like Fiber Land, which promotes wool, flax, and hemp production in Sweden. Her dedication to merging textile design with broader design practice underscores her role in making functional art that carries both historical reference and contemporary material awareness.
Lucas Gutierrez Studio (Berlin, Germany)
Lucas Gutierrez Studio, based in Berlin, drives a fusion of traditional technique and digital design, as exemplified in their tapestries. The work carries a spectrum of colour, from neon to muted pale shades, evoking dense landscapes with delicate accents adding depth. Each piece is machine-woven yet finished by hand, reflecting Gutierrez’s commitment to work that bridges past and present.
Inspired by themes of infinity and transformation drawn from digital worlds, Gutierrez’s tapestries narrate stories of digital culture. They read as a contemporary interpretation of ancient technique, built on luminosity, form, and saturated colour. Using jacquard weaving, a technique that has always sat at the forefront of textile technology, the works achieve an immersive, almost hypnotic quality. Remarkably, Gutierrez manages a 3D effect within a 2D tapestry. Viewers are drawn in, feeling as though they could fall into the piece — a portal into another world.
Developed and assembled in Berlin and woven in Italy, these limited edition pieces offer a tangible manifestation of intangible concepts. Looking ahead, Gutierrez plans to move into 3D weaving, pushing further into textile artistry and digital sculpture.
Maria Sigma (London, United Kingdom)
Maria Sigma, founded by Maria Stavropoulou, blends Greek heritage with a dedication to hand process in contemporary textiles. Her studio is distinguished by a pared-back aesthetic in warm, neutral yet saturated colour, reflecting an exploration of architecture, natural landscape, and traditional weaving techniques. Maria’s approach challenges convention by deconstructing traditional methods, deliberately eschewing perfect symmetry in favour of more authentic exploration.
Central to Maria Sigma’s approach is zero-waste design. Maria emphasises high-quality natural fibres, preferring undyed and hand-spun yarns to minimise environmental impact. Her textiles are made through slow processes, ensuring longevity and reducing resource consumption. Wool, valued for its versatility, holds a special place in her designs, transforming into different textures depending on weave structure and finishing.
Beyond its low-waste commitment, Maria Sigma champions the cultural significance of textiles by integrating ancient technique with new thinking. Stavropoulou advocates for weaving’s pivotal role, as fabrics permeate every facet of daily life, bridging humanity, nature, and personal identity. Her work narrates stories through texture and material, envisioning a future where textiles are artistic expressions of cultural heritage and environmental responsibility.
BOI (Berlin, Germany)
BOI, led by founder and designer Goran Sidjimovski in Berlin, is known for its approach to knitted textiles. Embracing a hands-on methodology rooted in trial and error, the studio challenges convention by experimenting directly with materials and techniques on knitting machines. Each textile surface evolves organically, guided by its optical and tactile qualities, which shape its eventual form and function.
The studio releases an annual collection built as a thematic exploration. Their latest delves into social integration. The textiles produced under this theme reject traditional pattern, intentionally disrupt commonality, and follow unconventional paths into distinctive forms. Throughout, waste reduction remains a guiding principle. BOI employs the Fully Fashion knitting method, which shapes each panel directly, resulting in less than 1% material waste. Moreover, waste materials are repurposed as filling for seat cushions, demonstrating circular practice.
In addition to environmental concerns, BOI is dedicated to social impact. They collaborate with NGOs such as HOPS in North Macedonia, where hand stitching for selected products is undertaken as part of a social project. This initiative supports marginalised communities, providing skills and fair compensation.
BOI thrives at the intersection of knit technology and considered design. Beyond their own collections, they share expertise through collaborations with fashion and interior designers, amplifying their influence in the textile industry. By opening new possibilities in knitted textiles and holding to meaningful social and environmental practice, BOI exemplifies a commitment to innovation and inclusive design leadership.
Twelve Degrees (Amman, Jordan)
Twelve Degrees, a multidisciplinary team of designers and engineers based in Amman, Jordan, introduces the Made From Jordan rug as a test of their approach to product design. Faced with difficulty sourcing local material, they turned to palm waste, an abundant agricultural resource in Jordan, as the primary material. This initiative addresses economic constraint while promoting local resource use.
Comprising 91 pieces, each formed from blended and moulded agricultural waste infused with indigo dye, the Made From Jordan rug demonstrates considered making from inception to completion. Hand-stitched and designed for sound absorption, it works as a display piece as much as a floor covering. Beyond its function, it represents Twelve Degrees’ commitment to reuse, showing how agricultural by-products can become considered objects.
Laura Dominici (Vienna, Austria)
Laura Dominici, based in Vienna, works as an object designer, with a notable textile piece in the Magic Tapestry. It functions as a portable personal workspace that unfolds into an enclosed environment with a domestic quality, aimed at remote workers. Beyond that role, the Magic Tapestry reverts to its more conventional use as a decorative wall tapestry, holding both utility and presence.
The Magic Tapestry integrates a soft handwoven carpet with a practical table for a laptop, offering a restrained yet functional workspace. Hand-woven from local sheep wool sourced in Haslach, Austria, and complemented with anodised aluminium, each tapestry displays the dates marking the duration of its weaving. This detail highlights the deliberate, time-intensive process often overlooked in a fast fashion world, setting it against contemporary ideals of productivity. In an era of remote work that offers flexibility alongside the expectation of constant availability, it reads as a reminder to take moments of intentional living where they can be found.
Laura draws on the historical role of tapestries, which were once essential household items for travelling courts, serving as thermal insulation and as portable symbols of home. She positions the Magic Tapestry as a companion for contemporary wanderers — people working on laptops, moving between locations like modern-day monarchs managing their affairs.
Through her exploration of unconventional materials and her attention to weaving technique, Laura Dominici invites interaction with her designs, encouraging people to connect with the sense of place and purpose woven into each tapestry. Her approach blends historical resonance with practicality, redefining workspace and comfort in a nomadic world.
Ishraq Zraikat (Wallkill, New York)
Ishraq Zraikat draws on cultural heritage and historical technique. She is captivated by the evolution of crafts, tools, and methods, which she believes reflect the ingenuity of people throughout history. This appreciation for the past sits alongside a willingness to take on newer technology, creating a dynamic blend in her work. As a hand weaver who also works in industrial weaving, Ishraq’s range shows in her output.
With an approach rooted in learning, her collection of woven jacquard throws marks a significant move into computerised jacquard looms, a departure from her usual hand weaving. The patterns are derived from her archive of vintage fabrics collected over many years from various countries. She enjoys reinventing these patterns, transforming them through weaving and knitting to observe the variations. Although she predominantly works with natural fibres such as wool, she chose cotton for her jacquard throws to achieve textiles that are easy to care for.
Ishraq envisions a future with better-informed buyers who prioritise quality over quantity, favouring products made with natural or less toxic materials and produced through slower, traditional methods. This aligns with her design philosophy, which emphasises being closely involved in production. She values the personal connection to her work and the sense of control that comes from being present at each step.
Susanna Costantini (Silvi Marina, Italy)
Susanna Costantini Atelier in Silvi Marina, Italy, works from the interaction between hands and materials, building each piece through an individual process. Beginning with observation of natural pattern, Susanna explores the synergy between different yarns and materials.
Costantini’s handweavings on a traditional 4-shaft loom use diverse techniques and materials, including selected, recycled, or hand-spun yarns, often with manual spinning and natural dyeing, producing distinctive qualities and welcome irregularities. Recently, Costantini introduced her Gleaning Series, featuring pared-back textile panels inspired by the practice of collecting leftover crops after harvest. For Susanna, gleaning symbolises the recovery of both material and emotional value, guiding her decisions on whether to let go, recover, or process remnants.
This approach reflects Susanna’s respect for the longevity and heritage of textiles. Reflecting on her great-grandmother’s legacy, Susanna shares: “My great-grandmother was a weaver who cultivated and spun linen threads, dressed the loom, and wove fabrics for everyday use. I still have worn-out rags and incredibly fresh linen sheets over 100 years old… These antique fabrics continue to impart wisdom through their tactile history.”
In her work, Susanna Costantini bridges past and present, holding a deep respect for traditional technique while exploring new ground in textile art. As she considers the future of textile design, Susanna challenges us to weigh what we leave behind against what we carry forward.
Frequently asked questions
What does a textile designer do?
A textile designer decides how cloth is constructed as well as how it looks: fibre, yarn, structure, colour order and finish. Some work the loom or knitting machine themselves and produce limited pieces. Others design for production and hand specifications to a mill or workshop.
What is a tapestry?
A tapestry is a woven textile in which the weft is discontinuous — colour is built area by area rather than carried across the full width, which is what allows pictorial and figurative work. Historically tapestries were hung for insulation as much as decoration. The term is now used loosely for most woven wall pieces.
How do you hang a tapestry or woven wall piece?
Distribute the weight across the full top edge rather than at two points, using a sleeve and dowel, a batten, or a row of hook-and-loop tape bonded to webbing. Fix into studs or use anchors rated well above the piece’s weight. Keep it out of direct sunlight, since dyes fade, and avoid damp walls.
What is the difference between a kilim and a knotted rug?
A kilim is a flatweave with no pile, so the pattern is the structure. A knotted rug has knots tied individually around the warp to build a pile surface. Kilims are lighter, reversible and quicker to produce; knotted rugs are denser, more durable underfoot and considerably slower to make.
How do you care for handwoven textiles?
Air rather than wash where possible, and spot-clean with cool water and a wool-safe detergent. Never wring or tumble wool. Vacuum flatweaves on low suction without a beater bar, rotate rugs to even out wear and light exposure, and store folded with acid-free tissue rather than hung.
What makes a textile design sustainable?
Fibre source, dye process, waste at the cutting stage, and how long the piece lasts. Undyed or plant-dyed natural fibre, fully-fashion knitting that shapes panels to size, recycled yarn from industrial off-cuts, and repairability all reduce impact. Longevity matters most: a piece kept for decades outperforms any single material choice.
Where textile design goes next
Textiles, integral to human history and culture, have moved from necessity to artistic expression without ever abandoning use. That dual character sets them apart from sculpture or painting, which never had to keep anyone warm. Our 10 TALENTS exemplify the shift, weaving heritage and technique into each piece while taking on new tools and material responsibility.
As Maria Stavropoulou puts it, fabrics reside in the everyday and create a sense of something familiar and beloved — a reminder of how close textiles sit to daily life. Through that closeness, these designers navigate the demands of the present, balancing expression against ethical responsibility.
Between them, the ten studios above cover handweaving, jacquard, knit, hand-knotting, moulded agricultural waste and pressed textile board. Taken together they suggest the discipline is widening rather than narrowing: textile design now reaches from the wall to the floor to the structure of the furniture itself.
