‘Gerd Hay-Edie: Evolutionary Weaver’ at Margaret Howell
A Robin Day Centenary Edition Reclining Chair loaned by twentytwentyone is currently on display at Margaret Howell’s Wigmore Street shop.
‘Gerd Hay-Edie: Evolutionary Weaver’ at Margaret Howell
Upholstered in a classic tweed woven by Mourne Textiles and designed by Gerd Hay-Edie in the 1950s, the chair forms part of the exhibition ‘Gerd Hay-Edie: Evolutionary Weaver’ which opened with a private view on 12th October.
Norwegian-born Gerd Hay-Edie (1909-1997) was an influential textile designer whose fabrics were championed by design luminaries such as Robin Day, Hille, Conran and Liberty.
After settling in Ireland in the 1950s, Hay-Edie founded a hand-weaving workshop after failing to find a suitable means of production for the textiles she was designing at the time.
Today, Mourne Textiles – now run by Hay-Edie’s grandson – works to ensure her classic mid-century designs remain in production while staying entirely faithful to the unique spirit of Hay-Edie’s originals.
Hay-Edie produced several textile designs for specifically for Robin Day, and her Blazer Mourne tweed was used to cover a High, Wide and Handsome chair in the Days’ own home.
It was particularly apposite, therefore, that this was the fabric chosen by Margaret Howell when she was invited to upholster a Robin Day Reclining Chair as part of twentytwentyone’s celebration of Robin Day’s Centenary.
Celebrating the vision and expertise of two significant forces in mid-century British design, the Margaret Howell Centenary Edition Reclining Chair takes its place in the exhibition alongside other examples of Hay-Edie’s work and a loom from Mourne Textile’s studio.
The exhibition is on display at Margaret Howell, 34 Wigmore Street, until Sunday 30th October.
View the Robin Day Centenary Edition Reclining Chair here.
