Celebrating the women of the Bauhaus
… Our new limited edition collection launching this week
The Bauhaus Weaving Workshop
When we think of the Bauhaus, powerful words come to mind - “modern”, “pioneering”, “revolutionary”. The school was considered ahead of its time and certainly paved the way for enormous advances in design. However, a closer look reveals there was still much inequality when it came to the men and women that inhabited its classrooms.
“Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius believed that while men thought in three dimensions, women could only handle two.”
Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius believed that while men thought in three dimensions, women could only handle two. After completing the foundation course, the standard path for any female student was a straight one to the weaving workshop. Other studies, including wood and metalwork, were only open to male students, and there was no question of a woman being permitted to study architecture.
Despite the fact that many of the students in the weaving workshop had no natural inclination to study textiles, they taught themselves the skills and technical knowledge required to become masters of the looms and yarns at their disposal. The weaving workshop flourished creating groundbreaking advances in textiles and print design. These explorations with warp and weft have been the inspirations for our latest limited edition collection.
Like all Bauhaus workshops, the weaving workshop had to show turnover and work contracts for industry. It was one of the most commercially successful departments in the school’s history, registering the rights to over 900 designs by 1924.
Today, more than 100 years since the school opened its doors, the female students, teachers, artists and designers are coming to the forefront, their work is finally being recognised and celebrated.
Our new Otti print adorning the studio walls
“Our limited edition collection is a colourful celebration of the women of The Bauhaus - an ode to their creativity, determination and long-lasting legacy.”
Our new limited edition collection launches on Thursday (25th February) and has been inspired by our research into the women of the Bauhaus. The range will include a new print design named Otti after Bauhaus weaver Otti Berger. You’ll find Otti adorning our new Layflat Notebooks and Patterned Postcards, as well as part of our new gift sets - ideal for sending in time for Mother’s Day. It’s a colourful celebration of the women of the Bauhaus - an ode to their creativity, determination and long-lasting legacy.
Over the next month, we will be delving deeper into this history and profiling some of the women who inspire our latest collection, including Anni Albers, Gunta Stolzl and Otti Berger.