Boris Kroll (1913 – 1991) was an American textile designer. He was born in the city of Buffalo in the state of New York.
Biography
Hammond Kroll, a furniture designer, and his brother were his mentors. In 1938, he founded Cromwell Designs, which began by weaving Modern furniture fabrics on a handloom with a bathtub for dying yarns. He began employing power looms in 1939. Boris Kroll Fabrics, New York, was founded by him in 1946. Cotton and novelty spun rayon were used. In 1956, the Indian government asked him to advise them on modernising handloom production. The company’s original specialty was expanded to include fabrics woven on a jacquard loom, which generated sophisticated patterns for the mass market. By 1991, the company had 16 showrooms around the United States and a massive manufacturing facility in Paterson, New Jersey.
Exhibitions
At the 1953 ‘Good Design’ exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Merchandise Mark in Chicago, he won 13 honours. Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science awarded him an honorary degree in textiles in 1971. Work displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s ‘Design Since 1945’ exhibition from 1983 to 1984. The show ‘Boris Kroll—Tapestries and Textiles’ at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York in 1981 included his work.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.