April 23 2014

Tributes have been paid to the late fashion designer Bernat Klein, who is credited with reviving the Borders weaving industry, after he died aged 91 at his Selkirk home following a short illness.

A Serbian Jew Klein settled in the UK after World War 2, studying textile technology in Leeds before setting up his own weaving studio in Galashiels in 1952, from where he went on to develop close links with global fashion houses such as Chanel, Dior, Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent.

This patronage of the design world extended to architecture with Klein commissioning two significant post war buildings through his architect Peter Womersley; High Sundeland and a separate studio space which together earned him the title of honorary fellow at the RIAS.

RIAS secretary Neil Baxter, stated: “Bernat Klein's textiles were used as furnishing and curtain fabrics, contributing splashes of brilliant colour and pattern to, often otherwise austere, commercial and domestic interiors designed by some of Scotland and Europe's leading modernist architects. His own house, High Sundeland, near Selkirk and later his studio nearby, an almost sculptural composition of concrete, steel and glass set on a black brick plinth, were particularly successful client/architect collaborations.

“Klein revelled in the opportunity to work on these masterpieces in three dimensions alongside his architect and close friend the hugely talented modernist architect Peter Womersley (1923-1993).”

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