With a clientele that reaches the top-tier of the interior design industry, Sam Kasten had been hand weaving classic, one-of-a-kind textiles since the 1970's. Building these textiles from the ground up, Kasten uses only the purest, finest raw materials such as silk, linen, mohair or cashmere that he has chosen and dyed especially for each individual work. The fabrics are simple woven structures that resonate with the subtle complexity of the yarns he deftly combines for use as drapery, upholstery, casement and area rugs.

For over 20 years, Sam Kasten has owned a handweaving studio near his home in Stockbridge, Massachusetts where he and a staff of 10 work on 15 looms. With a degree from the University of Iowa, where he studied under South African textile artist Naomi Schedl, Kasten later apprenticed in Nantucket with Andy Oates of Nantucket Looms. Oates, one of only 30 people to graduate from Black Mountain College, was trained in the Bauhaus aesthetic under Anni Albers. The Albers/Oates legacy continues through Kasten who likewise honors the ancient weaving craft with Modernist sensibilities, honesty to materials, and unadorned simplicity. Over the years, designers and architects such as I.M. Pei, Billy Baldwin, Peter Marino, David Easton, Thierry Despont, John Saladino, Victoria Hagan, and Calvin Tsao have collaborated with Kasten to obtain exquisite fabrics that they know only his mastery can create.

The translation of his hand woven masterpieces into industrially produced textiles is something Sam Kasten has been contemplating for many years. Now, thanks to this collaboration with interior designer Suzanne Lovell and her strong editing and coloration skills, Twill Textiles has brought that dream to life.

  www.samkasten.com