The Textile Eye

Former student, Saana Baker, is known for her beautiful and meticulous work in textile. Her attention to technical detail, nuanced colors, subtle detail and evocative patterning are central to her aesthetic.

Saana studied textile design with an emphasis on weaving at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. Eight great years in New York followed, working at domestic upholstery mills and as the Director of Woven Design for the fabric house, Schumacher.

She has worked with Barbara Barry where she spent more than a decade actualizing the vision of this iconic and brilliant designer. There she broadened her skills to include rugs, bedding, wallpaper, dinnerware, as well as showroom and photo styling. Now, back home in San Francisco, Baker is focusing on new clients including McGuire Furniture, OHIO Design & Gump’s, along with other thoughtful, creative firms and discerning private clients. Baker’s work has been used in the White House State Dining Room as drapery, and featured in publications such as Architectural Digest, Home Textiles Today & House Beautiful.

One of her more recent projects is the, The Textile Eye, a quarterly trend report which was launched in 2019 for the design enthusiast. Saana brings a seasoned, discerning, and playful eye to the luxury home goods industry, featuring the newest curiosities from shows and selected exhibitions around the world. The report is stunning and on trend. Saana travels extensively visiting the top shows to research and gather information. She has mastered the technique of combining a contemporary palette with intricate color, pattern and texture and the result it just gorgeous.

The basic tenets of her design and color aesthetic are beautifully portrayed in these images from The Textile Eye:

Another project Saana has been very busy with is color development for San Francisco-based interior designer, Jiun Ho’s first textile collection. Called “Salar”, it was inspired by his travels in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Photos taken by Jiun during the trip were the basis for color and pattern development. Jiun is fearless with color, and loves rich shades.

After much experimentation, this is the working palette that she used for color development. She likes to create a comprehensive palette as the colors are used for individual threads and accent colors in prints, so much variation is needed.

Here are the final collection images, with inspiration at left and named color swatches in the center. The entire process took her about a year to complete. Jiun is quite pleased with the collection. Along with textile design Saana assists Jiun with sourcing, coloration, and marketing including photo styling.