COVER (or Modern Carpets and Textiles for Interiors as it was called then) was still relatively new back in 2008, and in our 20th edition we published this great article, ‘The 20 Best Textiles of the 20th Century’. We asked 20 prominent figures in the textile world to choose a design that was, in their eyes, the most significant textile from the 20th century. Designer Paul Smith chose his own Chatsworth fabric with Gainsborough Silks while Isle Crawford chose Green Birds by Josef Frank. Then Editor-At-Large at World of Interiors, Min Hogg, opted for colour swatches as a post 1900 phenomena and Vanita James, then editor of Wallpaper.com, selected the London Underground Moquette design. There was real variety in the choices, with Design Within Reach founder Rob Forbes going for Christo’s Running Fence artwork and design collector Michael Boyd opting for Anni Albers.
Despite the article running 17 years ago, it still seems as relevant today as it did then.
For COVER’s 20th anniversary, throughout 2025 we will be looking back at some of the great rug moments in our history as well as looking forward to new collections, designs and trends. Keep watching!
