How Microbatch Textiles Became Cool

When Fawn Galli, an interior designer, needed drapery for floor-to-ceiling French windows overlooking Central Park in the apartment of the screenwriter David Koepp, no ordinary fabric would do. Plain silk, traditional florals and damasks all lacked the sense of freshness she desired. Instead, she chose something that seemed to be brimming with life: fabric with a washed-out kaleidoscopic pattern by a small Brooklyn company called Eskayel. “It’s dreamy, punchy and fun,” Ms. Galli said, noting that Eskayel’s collection has a “kind of refined hippie vibe.” It also offered something unexpected. “I love that they’re in Brooklyn and have a point of view,” she added, “not a big company doing the same designs we’ve seen for hundreds of years.” Ms. Galli is far from alone. If screen-printed wallpaper enjoyed a revival in the aughts, and handmade ceramics were hot the last few years, the artisanal product of the moment seems to be fabric made in small quantities by upstart textile boutiques. Long the domain of established players such as Kravet, Scalamandré, Schumacher and others holed up in Manhattan’s trade-only Decoration & Design Building, fabric for the home is being pushed in a new direction by a bevy of micromakers. Read more at The New York Times.