New York’s True Textile Mecca Flies Totally Under the Radar

One of New York’s best-kept secrets for textile designers can be found not in Manhattan’s Garment District, but two hours north, in sleepy Wappinger Falls. Here, at a former mill, the Design Library has quietly amassed more than seven million prints, fabrics, and materials—a catalog of style from 1750 onward. Studios as diverse as West Elm and Calvin Klein have made pilgrimages to see Peter Koepke, the collection’s current owner, and license rare patterns that they then spin into new ideas. The archive is closed to the public, but a new book by Koepke offers a look inside. Patterns (Phaidon), out October 3, riffles through dozens of generations of design, highlighting swatches like this hand-painted piece from the 20th century by France’s Atelier Claude Vergély.