Conférence & Rencontre / Design Christoph hefti : stories & atmospheres

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Christoph Hefti is a storyteller and tireless creator of captivating atmospheres. The visual worlds of the textile designer and artist often move in the realm of the mystical or even the uncanny. Figures, animals, and mythical creatures populate scenes in fantasy landscapes of forests, rivers, and volcanoes. Recurring motifs such as oversized eyes and expressive masks directly address the viewers.

Textile Design

His love for handmade textiles has led Christophe Hefti, among other places, to Nepal, where he regularly produces his own series of hand-knotted carpets. There, he also rediscovered the direct interaction between design and manufacturing workshops and was fascinated by the integration of traditional craftsmanship in a contemporary context. The storytelling in carpets has a long tradition, which he embraces and enriches with his own experiential world. He also works with digital textile printing, designing large-scale curtain fabrics with imaginative motifs and repeats, and sews room-high patchwork compositions by hand.

Born in Lausanne in 1967, Christoph Hefti lives and works between Brussels, Paris, and Zurich. He studied textile design at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), followed by a Master’s with Distinction in Fashion at Central Saint Martins in London. He began designing for Jean-Paul Gaultier in Paris and Dries Van Noten in Antwerp. Early in his career, he designed for Jean-Paul Gaultier in Paris, before working for thirteen years as a print designer and creative assistant to Dries Van Noten in Antwerp. He later collaborated with fashion houses including Lanvin, Balenciaga, and Acne Studios. In recent years, he has increasingly developed his own textile works, ranging from printed curtains and hand-knotted carpets to patchwork wall hangings. His work is part of public collections in Switzerland. In 2009, he received the Grand Prix Design from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture.