Salem van der Swaagh
"Weaving is the most ancient craft. The loom... is the first computer mankind ever created!"
Salem van der Swaagh is a materials and colour expert based in New York. After earning a degree in textile design from the Rhode Island School of Design, she completed a second diploma in sustainable product design at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. She has worked in the field of eco-friendly textile design, founding her own brand of sustainably produced interior products in 2015. She currently collaborates with numerous European clients and design studios as a textile designer and colour specialist.
"When I’m at the loom, I’m performing the same physical gesture as someone did a thousand years before me. There’s something magical in this connection, a sense of time dissolving, of everything becoming a circle.."
Salem van der Swaagh is dedicated to creating sensory experiences using fabrics and colours, with particular attention to their ability to infuse spaces with a tactile and rich character.
Her works celebrate wool in all its varieties, exploring its versatility in a responsible and refined manner. Strongly committed to sustainability, she approaches design ecologically, harmonising aesthetics, functionality, and respect for the environment with solutions that go beyond form to enrich the sensory perception of spaces.