Danish Textile Prints: 100 Years of Craft and Design, Kirsten Toftegaard

The printed textile is elevated from surface to story: every repeat, colour-block, and hand-drawn motif becomes part of the rich narrative of Danish design. The book journeys from the craft-revival beginnings of the 1920s—when textile printing had nearly vanished in Denmark—to its flourishing role in modern interiors, fashion and craft workshops. Anchored in the vast holdings of Designmuseum Danmark, it reveals how practitioners such as Marie Gudme Leth, Helga Foght and Grete Ehs Østergaard pushed forward techniques from batik and block-printing through screen and digital methods, all while weaving thread and print into the fabric of Danish identity.

But beyond historical survey, the book invites a tactile gaze: the layers of rhythm and repetition, the subtle humour in motif choice, the way colour and texture articulate space. It is a volume for the Selvedge reader who delights in the meeting of design mind and maker’s hand—the fabric not just as pattern but as gesture, context, world. The pages allow you to slow-see the printed textile: the impression of block, the ghost of registration, the vibrant modern-ist palette—all nestled in the distinctive clarity of Danish craft heritage.

About the Author
Kirsten Toftegaard is Head of the Fashion and Textile Collection at the Designmuseum Danmark, and her scholarship bridges craft, design history and material culture. Her voice is calm but exacting: the kind that sees the warp and weft of history, as much as the warp and weft of fabric.

Publication date: 2025
Publisher: Strandberg Publishing
Pages: 204
ISBN: 9788792894076

If you’re inspired by the rich history and craftsmanship of Danish textile design captured in Danish Textile Prints – 100 Years of Craft and Design, then you’ll definitely want to check out the our blog post — it offers a beautifully illustrated and insightful companion read that deepens your appreciation of how the craft evolved over a century: read here.