Born: April 15, 1907 Bischofswerda, Germany
Died: May 18, 1970, Maplehurst, West Sussex, UK
Matriculated: 1927
Locations: Germany, UK, Kashmir/India
Frida Margarete Leischner, later Margaret Leischner, rose from a student of the Dessau Bauhaus to become an award-winning textile designer while in exile in Britain. The Bauhaus, where she studied in the weaving workshop from 1927 to 1930, not only had a lasting impact on her work, but was also where she learned to respond to industry needs and solve design problems. An understanding of materials, fabric measurement, and weaving theory were the technical fundamentals and specialized knowledge that all Bauhaus weaving workshop students had to master; they were expected to develop their creative designs by understanding the characteristics of the material.
After her journeyman’s examination in 1930, Leischner served as an assistant to Bauhaus master Gunta Stölzl and head of the dye workshop. In 1931, she transferred to the German Workshops (Deutsche Werkstätten) in Hellerau, where she worked as a designer for home textiles. From 1932 to 1936, she also oversaw the weaving department at the Berlin College of Textiles and Fashion. Both her practice and teaching experience were important prerequisites for her fresh start in exile in England. Although Leischner herself was not subject to persecution, she presumably left Nazi Germany for political and professional reasons.
Under National Socialism, many of Leischner’s colleagues and friends were persecuted because of their religion or ethnicity, which likely did not leave Leischner unaffected. Additionally, her artistic socialization took place at the Bauhaus, which the Nazis considered a “culturally bolshevistic” avant-garde art school. Leischner’s decision to go to England was probably due to a job offer. It was in Manchester, the creative center of the British textile industry, that she ultimately found employment opportunities. Even after her detention as an enemy alien, Leischner was able to continue her career: as a consultant and designer, she developed new yarns and fabrics for the cotton spinning mill R. Greg & Co. Limited in Stockport as well as for customers such as Fothergill & Harvey and the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The openness to experimentation, innovation, and technical progress that she had learned at the Bauhaus proved advantageous in this line of work. In collaboration with laboratories, she had new materials made (fibers and yarns), experimented with new processing methods, and intensively explored the market-oriented production of forms and colors. In the process she designed airplane interiors and had synthetic car-seat upholstery made out of the durable woven nylon fabric “Tygan.” Furniture maker Guy Rogers Limited encouraged her to use Harris Tweed—a Scottish, virgin wool fabric, typically used for clothing—for her upholstered furniture. In 1959, Leischner began working for Irish Ropes Limited, a company founded in Newbridge in County Kildare, Ireland, in 1933, which produced sisal carpets under the brand name “Tintawn Carpets.” The challenge of her work for Irish Ropes was that the bulky natural material of sisal—which, because of its wear resistance, was well-suited as a durable floor covering—had to be manufactured in specific dimensions yet still creatively designed. Under Leischner’s initiative, a new collection was launched, for which she was responsible for the color concepts and patterns. She was also mentioned in the company brochure, which described her as a “Tutor in Textile Design at the Royal College of Art, London, who has achieved international repute as a designer, is at her brilliant best in the colourways illustrated below.”
In 1948, Leischner started teaching at the Royal College of Art in London and served as head of the weaving class there until 1963. In this position, the designer gave the course a more professional focus, drawing from her own experience as a Bauhaus student. Shortly after the Second World War, Leischner sought to reconnect with former Bauhaus companions; she corresponded with Walter Gropius and Joost Schmidt, and was in particularly close contact with Bauhäusler including Lucia Moholy and Heinz Loew, who, like her, lived in England.
“Tintawn Carpets” brochure with designs by Margaret Leischner
In her new homeland, Leischner’s work received wide praise: in 1952, she became a member of the prestigious Society of Industrial Artists, and, beginning in 1955, served as a consultant in India, advising the government on the development of the nation’s hand-weaving industry, particularly in Kashmir. In 1969, shortly before her death, Leischner received a special accolade: the title of “Royal Designer for Industry (RDI),” a distinction introduced by the Royal Society of Arts in 1936, which even today remains the highest honor for designers in the United Kingdom.