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With Schlossberg
Sweet dreams
Luxury, tradition, expertise and a dash of innovation: Schlossberg and Zermatt hold the same values. The Swiss family business, located near Zurich, is specialised in high-quality bed linen and towels, printed with patterns specially created by in-house textile designers.
A flurry of spring flowers drift across a snow-soft bathrobe. A flutter of exotic birds’ feathers flit over a satin quilt. Buttercups and dewdrops flourish in lush greenery; pretty snapdragons, bougainvillea, roses and daisies abound over Schlossberg’s designs. Elsewhere in the collection, various shades of subtly-hued creeper weaves its way across the fabric, along with autumnal ginkgo leaves, geometric shapes, mosaics, tweed checks, and billowing wisps.
Whether elegant, poetic or artful, the designs created by Schlossberg’s five full-time artists and designers all bear the same hallmark of careful precision and remarkable finishes. The company occasionally commissions other artists, including some well-known names. That was the case in the early 1990s, with Jean Tinguely, and, more recently, writer Peter Stamm, the author of a bedtime story printed on to a quilt…
It started with a rose
“We spend almost a third of our life in bed” points out Thomas Boller, the CEO. So we might as well do it in style! Esteemed linen-maker Schlossberg was founded in 1833, at the site it still occupies today in Turbenthal (ZH). More than half a century ago, it specialised in printed bed linen and towels, and has since forged itself a prestigious reputation. It all began with a discreet little rose featured on soft, lightweight cotton sheets which rapidly replaced the stiff, heavy bedding of our grandmothers’ time. Terms such as satin noblesse, jersey, terrycloth as soft as cashmere used to make towels, extra fine and/or organic cotton, and Micro Modal (a fibre made from beech wood) steadily worked their way into the Schlossberg lexicon. Aided by new techniques, the range constantly evolves to include new textures, hues and shades.
The designs, which are produced using watercolours, reflect the variety of the palette. But how can the original colours and their infinite nuances be transferred to fabrics? That’s where the Schlossberg technicians step in - they have become masters in the art of silkscreen printing - a process reputed for the intensity of colours that it can achieve. However, it often takes them weeks at a time to compose the exact mix of inks they need. Imagine: a motif can contain up to 14 colours, positioned by hand during this stage, one after the other, on huge work benches! When the fabric finally comes out of the press, it is checked by the designer, then every square meter is closely examined to make sure it is flawless.
Schlossberg in Zermatt
Each season brings a new collection, new motifs, new dreams. The playful theme for Autumn-winter 2016-2017 is Alice’s Wonderland. It is available in Schlossberg’s Bahnhofstrasse shop (no. 7a) where you will also find a rather special innovation: the first ever illuminated bed linen set, made from satin with LEDs subtly sewn into St Gallen embroidery!
