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| Debutantes wearing Americana Prints, rehearsing for a fund raiser. | |
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The above image of a newspaper clipping, attributed to the New York Times, 1925, show several young ladies wearing dresses sewn from a line of apparel fabrics, "Americana Silks", developed by the Stehli Silk Company and designed by American artists.
In October, DH and I ventured to the Met, and down a flight of stairs to a small gallery, a sort of anteroom just outside the Antonio Ratti Textile Center. There's usually a very interesting exhibit relating to textiles in this somewhat hidden away space. Through April 8, 2025 a collection of delightful "jazz-age" silks, and contemporary ephemera, is on display.
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The gallery outside the Ratti Center.
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From the wall text:
The Stehli Silks Corporation was founded in 1840 as a small family-owned silk weaving firm in Obfelden, Switzerland. At first, the company operated about thirty power looms, producing all-silk fabrics for clothing. As the company in Switzerland expanded throughout the 1880s and 1890s (by 1895 they were running five hundred looms), they established a New York office to sell their textiles to the U. S. market. But American tariffs on foreign goods enacted in the late 1890s made the Stehli family decide to take a radical new approach by also setting up a factory in the United States. In November 1897, land for a large mill was purchased in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a year later, with the first mill building finished, two hundred fifty looms were producing yardage. Other buildings followed; by 1914, more than one thousand looms were in use, and the business was making $3 million per year (about $90 million in today's money).
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"Americana Silks" on display.
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Wall text continues:
In the early 1920s, the Stehli Silks management realized that the market was changing. Following World War 1, consumers adopted a generally more informal lifestyle, favoring soft crepes and chiffons (like those used for the Americana Prints) over stiff dress fabrics like the taffetas and satins Stehli had traditionally produced. The garment business was booming in New York City, and Stehli organized a special sales force to market their goods directly to the trade. The groundwork for the creation of the Americana Prints line was in place.
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Detail, Falling Leaves dress fabric, by Ralph Barton.
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Booklet of dress ideas, illustration by Ralph Barton, 1926.
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More wall text:
In 1925, the International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was held in Paris. While the United States declined to send examples of current American design, representatives from various industries visited. Among these was a delegation from the silk industry, including Kneeland L. (Ruzzie) Green, the newly hired art director for the Stehli Silks Corporation. The trip inspired him to create the Americana Prints line, in direct reaction against American fashion's heavy dependence on French design. He quickly gathered a group of American men and women illustrators, graphic designers, cartoonists, and eventually photographer, to create fabric designs for the Spring season 1926. The saturated colors and lighthearted patterns were meant to reflect the innovative and optimistic American spirit of the 1920s.
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Silk crepe dress featuring Manhattan fabric design.
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Samples of colorways of Manhattan design, Clayton Knight, 1925.
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An article in the New York Times, November 1, 1925, introduced the first series (of three) of Americana Prints and predicted that "possibly the biggest hit of the entire threes dozen designs will be 'Manhattan', which is so modern that it suggests a view of all of our skyscrapers piled up together, seen from an elevated train rounding a sharp curve." It was indeed one of the most successful designs.
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Clipping from the New York Times.
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Concluding wall text:
The Americana Prints line, available in high-end department stores around the country both as yardage and ready-made dresses, was heavily promoted by Stehli in the general and fashion press. It was not inexpensive when first introduced, the silk yardage sold for $4.50 per yard (about $75 today) and dresses were $39.50 (about $675 today). The line continued for three years, in three different series. Ultimately, there were about ninety-five designs by fifteen artists, and in 1927, the Stehli Silks Corporation had its most successful year ever. However, by late 1928, overproduction and falling demand saw an end to this groundbreaking design line.
Unless otherwise note, all fabrics pictured are silk crepe.
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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Ralph Barton, 1925.
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Hollywood, Neysa McMein, 1925.
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Ticker Tape, Charles Buckles Falls, 1925.
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April, Clayton Knight, 1927.
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Plum Blossoms, Katharine Sturges.
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Dress made with Plum Blossoms fabric.
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Inca, Charles Buckles Falls, 1925.
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Model wearing dress stitched from Inca fabric.
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The images of models in dresses were produced by the Kadel and Herbert Commercial Department, in New York City, 1925. I love seeing the hair styles and shoes of the era. Below is one of my favorite patterns, created after the artist made a trip to Paris. You can see the Ile de la Cité and the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
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My Trip Abroad, Ralph Barton, 1925.
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My Trip Abroad detail with Eiffel Tower.
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Model in My Trip Abroad dress.
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Many of the fabrics and other items in the exhibit were donated to the museum by Hilary Knight, the son of featured artists Clayton Knight and Katharine Sturges. Hilary Knight is still alive (at the time of this post) and may be best known as the illustrator/co-author of the Eloise books.
