Suzanne Huguenin

With almost no training, Suzanne Huguenin first joined Knoll as an assistant to Eszter Haraszty. She proved herself a very quick learner however, and when Haraszty left to work at Knoll International in 1955, Huguenin was named to replace her as head of Knoll textiles. For the next nine years she directed the division, supervising the textiles showrooms, sourcing new talent around the world, and introducing new designs.

While visiting a textile mill in Philadelphia, Huguenin discovered what would be her greatest contribution to Knoll. Introduced as Nylon Homespun, the highly durable fabric, which resembled hand-spun, hand-woven wool, revolutionized the appearance of Knoll furniture and changed the entire textile industry. One of the best selling textiles in the history of Knoll, Huguenin recalled: “It exploded, that was the most exciting fabric that had come on the market in years…”