Exhibition of designer Bernat Klein who put Scotland on the fashion map

The horrors of Auschwitz had robbed the young man of his mother and several relatives, and the long, dark shadows of Nazism had altered the course of his life.

In the grim months following the end of the Second World War, Bernat Klein, still in his early 20s, stepped off the troop ship SS Franconia and on to British soil.

They may have been dark, bleak times of bombsites, rationing and austerity, but before long, the young Serbian Jew would introduce a much-need splash of brilliant colour into post-war Britain - and put Scotland on the fashion map.

Eventually the bustling Borders workshops and mills where he perfected his yarn dyeing technique and designed textiles of vibrant colours, textures and patterns would supply the world’s most prestigious couture houses, while Klein’s vibrant style would find its way into everyday lives, homes and, perhaps surprisingly, government offices.

Next month the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh will mark the centenary of his birth with a major new exhibition devoted to the life and career of the Serbian-born textile designer.

The exhibition will examine Klein’s creative process and varied career; from watching his parents Zorina and Leopold run their wholesale textile business and revelling in the colours and textures of the cloths, to supplying his own innovative couture fabrics to Europe’s top fashion houses, and his strong influence on architecture and interior design in the UK and Scandinavia.

Regarded as one of the 20th century’s leading forces in Modernist design, Klein’s genius eye for design transformed British textiles over four decades: clients from Chanel and Christian Dior to Marks and Spencer craved his colourful tweeds, and the fabrics and yarns he designed were worn by superstar models such as Jean Shrimpton and Princess Margaret.

At the peak of his popularity, his Borders mill employed 600 people, and his fingerprints were on everything from skeins of yarn sold in high street wool shops – to be knitted at home according to patterns designed by his designer wife, Margaret – to sewing patterns, upholstery fabrics and colourful rugs, to ready-to-wear fashion.

Yet while his work blazes with vibrant colour, his earlier years were overshadowed by the dark, grim rise of Nazism and the horrors of the holocaust.

The far right was on the rise in Europe when his parents decided to send him to the Bezalel School of Art & Craft in Jerusalem. There his fluency in Serbo-Croat, Hungarian, German, Hebrew and French led to him being employed by the Ministry of Information to work for the war effort as a translator.

At the same time, he was exposed to Bauhaus ideas and the modernist architecture of Israel – strong influences on his later work.

In Britain, Klein studied textile technology in Leeds University and worked in Edinburgh before being drawn to the textile hub of Galashiels to establish his design and manufacturing business, Colourcraft in 1952, initially using four looms in a shed to create rugs, ties, scarves and head-squares.

His eye for colour and texture would be credited with reinvigorating the fading Borders weaving industry and positioning it as the ‘go to’ destination for the world’s leading fashion houses, while he became a household name.

“There was this creative and manufacturing expertise in Galashiels, but what Bernat Klein did was very different,” says Lisa Mason, Assistant Curator of Modern & Contemporary Design at National Museums Scotland.

“His work was visually very distinctive and a breath of fresh air.”

Inspired by post-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat and the colours of the Scottish Borders, he transformed the muted shades of traditional tweeds into vibrant cloth peppered with jewel-like bursts of colour.

“Seurat had a style of pointillism whereby dots of pure colour are arranged in patterns to create an image,” she adds. “Bernat became obsessed with transplanting this effect onto woven cloth.

“He worked with a lot of local dye specialists, and pioneered a dying technique called ‘space dyeing’ which created a specific colour effect.”

The process involved dipping small sections of brushed mohair yarns into different colours of dye, creating a stunning multi-coloured effect.

Klein also introduced unexpected combinations of lightweight materials such as velvet ribbon with brushed mohair.

His vibrant textiles caught the eye of Coco Chanel, who selected one of his mohair tweed fabrics for her spring-summer 1963 collection.

“Fashion journalists at the time wrote about how this textile came down the catwalk and people sat up and took notice,” adds Lisa.

The Scottish Borders landscape inspired his oil paintings and textiles, while his modernist home, High Sutherland, became the venue for dazzling fashion shows and glamorous photo shoots.

As Klein’s interest in interiors developed, he produced carpets and upholstery, and strived to introduce colour into the lives of his customers with ‘Colour Guides’ to help them navigate his brightly coloured and patterned clothes.

Despite using such bold colours, in 1969, the Department of the Environment commissioned a co-ordinated collection of carpets, woven textiles and polyester fabrics to be used in everything from formal administration offices to army accommodation.

Klein explored the emotional responses that certain colours could evoke, and transformed the stark formality of government offices with vibrant orange and soothing pink splashes – shades which, in the 1970s, would find their way into many British homes.

The exhibition, from November 5 to April 23, also highlights the role his wife, Margaret, had in devising knitting and sewing patterns, which meant fashion lovers of all incomes could buy into his style.

“Bernat Klein was a key figure in Modernist design, and one of the 20th century’s most celebrated textile designers,” Lisa adds.

“His archive is remarkably broad and rich, and this stylish exhibition will display some of its highlights, examining his exceptional contribution to the design world and his ongoing legacy and influence.

“The Scottish Borders were his home and inspiration for six decades, and the exhibition will also explore the story of the relationship between his work, the landscape and the local textile industry.”

Bernat Klein: Design in Colour is at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, from November 5 to April 23.