Astrid Sampe (27 May 1909–1 January 2002) was a Swedish

textile design Textile design, also known as textile geometry, is the creative and technical process by which thread or yarn fibers are interlaced to form a piece of Textile, cloth or Textile, fabric, which is subsequently printed upon or otherwise adorned. Texti ...

er who for a large part of her professional life was affiliated with the textile department at

Nordiska Kompaniet Nordiska Kompaniet (colloquially NK, and literally ''The Nordic Company'') is the name of two luxury department stores located in Stockholm and Gothenburg, in Sweden. The store in Stockholm receives some twelve million visitors annually, with ...

but also worked for several other textile producers. Sampe studied at Konstfack in Stockholm and later at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in London. In 1935, she started working as a designer for Nordiska Kompaniet. In 1937 she became head of Nordiska Kompaniet's textile design department (''Textilkammaren'') and remained so until 1971. She produced a number of influential designs and also connected many successful designers, architects and artists to Nordiska Kompaniet's textile department. Among these people are Danish designer

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects, Hon. FAIA (; 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to functionalism (architec ...

and Swedish designers Viola Gråsten and Stig Lindberg. When the textile department closed in 1971, Astrid Sampe retired from Nordiska Kompaniet and established her own studio in Stockholm. She was very successful at the World Fairs in Paris 1937 and in New York 1939. For the exhibition in New York she worked on the design of the Swedish Pavilion together with the architect Sven Markelius. Astrid Sampe was an innovative designer who designed modern textiles for industrial production while still preserving and extending the traditions of Nordic textile design. She was the first designer in Sweden to experiment with fibreglass cloth and to use data-based or computer-generated patterns. In 1955 she produced several designs for domestic linens with geometric patterns and folk-inspired motifs that became a huge success. Astrid Sampe designed products for a number of Swedish textile companies such as Kasthall and Almedahls, and her designs include ''Liljerand'', ''Liljeruta'', and ''Versailles''. She also designed for Knoll International in New York and Donald Brothers in Dundee. Some of her textiles are still in production. In 1948, Astrid Sampe co-wrote the book ''Textiles Illustrated'' (in Swedish: ''Textil bilderbok'') with Vera Diurson. In 1949, she was elected an honorary member of the

Royal Designers for Industry Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained ...

in London. She was awarded a gold medal at the 1954 Milan Triennale, and a silver medal at the 1960 Triennale. In 1956, she received the Gregor Paulsson Trophy.

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Work in the V&A collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampe, Astrid 1909 births 2002 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Art Swedish designers Textile designers People from Stockholm

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