Swiss textiles brand ZigZagZurich produces a range of artist-designed blankets

Woven in 100 per cent New Zealand wool in Scandinavia, the blankets are made using twisted yarns that give them blankets a unique multicolour effect – which the brand likens to the effect of looking through a kaleidoscope.

“To weave the blankets we used two yarns with the same thickness but in the different colours,” said ZigZagZurich. It explained that, “The yarns are twisted together and then woven. The beauty that comes out of this artistic choice is a kaleidoscopic game of colours and the creation, at the same time, of a pattern which cannot be controlled.”

“If you twist for example a yellow yarn and a red yarn you will get a melange yarn that once woven gives to the fabric a unique effect – melange – that cannot be decided as it’s an abstract mix of colours.”

Called Artist Wool Blankets, the colourful collection includes designs by Mexico-based artist Daniel Barreto, Swiss-born interior architect and ZigZagZurich creative director Michele Rondelli, and recent Stuttgart Academy of Fine Art graduate Sophie Probst.

Swiss textiles brand ZigZagZurich produces a range of artist-designed blankets, including several influenced by Bauhaus design principles.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, Michele Rondelli and Sophie Probst have extended the brand’s existing series of Bauhaused blankets with three new designs: Gunta, Bauhaused 3 and Bauhaused 4. Rondelli has contributed seven other bold designs that include Melange, a blanket that blends pink, orange and blue yarns, and Checkmate, a contemporary plaid pattern. The blankets feature bold geometric blocks of colour with subtle gradients, following the Bauhaus principles relating to colour and pattern. Other blankets relate to different art and design movements, from pop art to constructivism.

The Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. To mark the centenary of the school’s founding, we’re creating a series of articles exploring the school’s key figures and projects.

The school has served as a source of inspiration for a number of other designers in recent years, including fashion designer Mary Katrantzou. Her Autumn Winter 2018 collection features a series of garments that juxtapose visuals from the modernist movement with those from the Victorian era.

Meanwhile French architect India Mahdavi borrowed from the movement’s geometric style when designing the womenswear section of historic Berlin department store KaDeWe.

Meanwhile Mexican experimental artist Daniel Barreto’s wool blanket Sol Entre Ondas is a tribute to the sun and nature. Inspired by organic shapes, Barreto’s unique style is characterised by the use of abstract forms, repetition, vibrant colours and how light affects objects.

The brand quoted that, “The new collection is inspired by nostalgia, art and graphics – from pop art to the Bauhaus movement, spray-paint effects, clear and bold stripes and geometric overlapping.”Also, “With new yarn developments and weaving techniques, the shapes and the colours of the collection express the power of creativity with no limits, translated into textiles.”