Lucienne Day Silk Mosaics at Margaret Howell

Lucienne Day, the iconic British textile designer celebrated for her surface pattern design and her agility as a designer, is the design hero of Design Insider’s Managing Editor, Alys Bryan. In honour of Day’s remarkable legacy, and in support of the Robin & Lucienne Day Foundation, we are delighted to share news of an upcoming exhibition that promises to captivate admirers of her work.

Lucienne Day, Midnight Sun

Margaret Howell is pleased to announce an exhibition of Silk Mosaics by Lucienne Day (1917 – 2010), one of the most innovative textile designers of the 20th century. The exhibition will be held at 34 Wigmore Street W1, showcasing works created from 1979 to the early 1990s. The exhibition will take place between Friday 11th October and Sunday 3rd November, the calendar 2025 will be available to buy in all Margaret Howell shops and online from 11 October 2024.

Circling the Square, Lucienne Day 1991

This is the first exhibition focusing solely on Day’s Silk Mosaics since her death in 2010. It features carefully selected works from private collectors and institutions. Visitors will have a unique chance to see these mosaics up close, including large-scale textile hangings for public spaces and smaller, intricate pieces.

Little Tangram, Lucienne Day

Day made her mark at the Festival of Britain in 1951 with her modern printed fabrics. She was widely acclaimed for her abstract patterns and bold colours, working with firms such as Heal’s and Edinburgh Weavers. Following this, she designed wallpapers, ceramics, table linens, and carpets.

Whirly Gig, Lucienne Day

In her later career, she focused on unique textile hangings, hand-crafted from strips of coloured silk sewn together in geometric patterns. The exhibition shows how Day’s work evolved from industrial design to one-off textile art.

Midnight Sun, Lucienne Day

Though different in style, Day’s Silk Mosaics have roots in her earlier geometric textile designs; her fabrics from the 1950s and 1960s often featured flat planes of colour and linear motifs. By the late 1960s, designs became more minimalist and architectural. Day exhibited her Silk Mosaics in several solo shows. Leading museums including the V&A and the Art Institute of Chicago acquired her works.

Boathouse, Lucienne Day

This exhibition is the first time that a significant group of these important late works have been reassembled since the Days’ 2001 joint retrospective, Robin and Lucienne Day – Pioneers of Contemporary Design, at the Barbican Centre in London.