Jazz-Age Silks: The Stehli Silks Americana Collection, 1925–1928

This installation introduces a charming and historically significant group of 1920s dress silks designed by some of the leading commercial artists of that era. While the American fashion industry was previously dependent on French textile and dress design, the “Americana Collection” set out to prove that the fifteen American designers commissioned (a group that included both male and female designers) were as talented as French designers. 

The Stehli Silks Corporation took a gamble on these bold designs, many showing images of 1920s American life. The installation includes information on the rise of American design for the American consumer in the early years of the twentieth century, the visual and popular culture of the 1920s that informed the textile designs, and it also introduces the various designers who were involved with this groundbreaking textile line. Some of the designers, like photographer Edward Steichen and cartoonist John Held, Jr., are still remembered today, while others, considered equally talented in their day, have faded from memory.​​

The installation features 16 textiles, as well as photographs of models wearing “flapper” dresses made from the textiles, illustrated books and newspaper clippings about the textile line, and examples of the designs featured in the fashion magazines of the day.

Credit: Overview from museum website