The Importance of Fabric

It’s probably safe to assume that few of us rarely stop to consider the important role that fabric plays in our daily lives. We sleep on it, after which we get up and wash and dry with it, before using it to get dressed. Almost every facet of our lives involves an intimate connection with fabric.

I have loved fabric for most of my life, which has prompted me to begin this blog. More specifically I am enamored of American, English, and French vintage and antique fabrics. They “speak” to me with their timeless designs, beautiful prints, and warm sophistication. Over the years I have collected vintage and antique fabrics, and now have a collection in excess of 1,000,000 fabric documents, which is widely considered to be one of the largest private collections in the United States

As a collector, I watched over the past twenty years as the amount of original vintage and antique fabric in the marketplace began to drastically decline. Over a span of about five years, I went from canvassing the country and stuffing a 20’ truck full of original vintage fabric, to being lucky to canvass the country by airplane and fill a good sized suitcase.

I had an almost missionary zeal to ensure that the beauty and quality of the original fabrics did not get lost in the trendy commercialization of the mass marketplace. Consequently I left a high-paying job as a costume designer in Hollywood, to chase my dream. I began designing and producing high quality reproduction vintage and antique fabrics, the kind that had so captivated me as a child. Today I am founder, chief designer and CEO of American Folk and Fabric, Inc. ™, arguably the country’s leading producer of reproduction vintage and antique fabric. You can view my collection at www.americanfolkandfabric.com.

Part of my fascination with fabric stems from its historical significance. Fabric pre-dates photographs as a window into our past, while documenting history, time and place. Fabric can make a room, create a mood, or simply make a statement. I often say that “the magic is in the fabric”.