Designer Spotlight: Hiroko Takeda

Looking at the work of textile artist Hiroko Takeda, one might admire what appears to be an ancient craft: exquisite natural and synthetic fibers woven into 3-D honeycomb patterns or ethereal veils. But to Takeda—who studied textiles at the Royal College of Art after training in the Mingei arts and crafts tradition in her native Japan—her designs are a radical departure. Takeda’s work often includes metallic accents or colorful flourishes, contemporary elements of which her early teachers disapproved. "I didn’t like the traditional technique," she says. "I thought it was ‘old lady.’"