Collar and cuffs, (untitled),

1921

The renowned Swiss textile designer Elsi Giauque wove this collar and matching cuffs during her training at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich. They mark the beginning of a lifelong and prolific exploration of textile techniques. The pattern on the light cotton warp was created with gray and pink silk combined with gold and silver thread. The beads woven into the pattern lend the harmonious tonal composition a relief effect and greater complexity. In addition to garment trims, Giauque also created necklaces, brooches, and evening bags, setting down her ideas as color gouache sketches on graph paper. Inspired in the elegant look devised by the groundbreaking Paris couturier Paul Poiret, Giauque christened her beaded pieces Accessoires Poiret. In the following decades, she would successfully pursue the Parisian ideal in countless compositions for woven fabrics created in the textiles studio at her home on castle hill (Festi) in Ligerz overlooking Lake Biel. Giauque was introduced to the unusual material of glass beads by her lecturer Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943), who first challenged her students to design patterns in cross-stitch work that was well suited to further development with additional materials such as beads. The openness to new materials and techniques ultimately paved the way for Giauque to pursue a career in textile art. (Sabine Flaschberger)