Mary Jaeger:
To see an array of Mary Jaeger’s fashion and home designs is to be immersed in a world of unorthodox color, pattern, and texture sensitivity…of spare elegance and rich tradition. Drawing on her visual knowledge from years of study and work in Asia, she creates timeless, well-constructed textile designs that cross easily from fashion to home accessories. The uncluttered, selectively detailed designs reflect her personal aesthetic---a melding of ancient Eastern and contemporary Western design.

Jaeger became entranced by Japanese art and culture at a very early age. She spent time working and designing in Japan and other parts of Asia, where she learned many intricate, occasionally arcane, techniques of dyeing and manipulating fabric, including Japanese textile painting, Korean screen-printing technology, Malaysian and Indonesian batik, and Chinese embroidery. There, Jaeger embraced what has become her own work ethic: meticulous attention to detail and an uncompromising insistence on quality. While in Asia, she collected traditional articles to reinterpret and incorporate into her singular, very contemporary line.

Jaeger studied at the University of Notre Dame and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Fashion Institute of Technology, and Nihon Senshoku Gakuen, Kyoto, Japan. As a designer and entrepreneur, Jaeger gained an early start designing for Mary McFadden and Jack Mulqueen. In Japan, she also studied and worked on couture collections with artisans in the kimono industry at Shiho International (Kyoto and Paris) and Koei Kogei Kinsai Yuzen Dyeing. She created collections of western-style clothing for the Japanese fashion market as a designer at Renown Industries and Deco Japan. She garnered the Association of Total Fashion Upcoming Designer Award (Osaka, Japan, 1988) and UW-Madison Distinguished Alumni Award (1993).

Jaeger’s twelve commissioned banquette textile panels debuted at the recently opened restaurant Tokyo Pop, New York City. Jaeger is designing and producing a collection of specialty bags for the Japanese market under license. Jaeger’s work is featured in The FiberArts Book of Wearable Art by Katherine Duncan Aimone. The MOMA Stores commissioned Jaeger to design twelve textile panels for their windows in October-November 2003. Jaeger’s work has been exhibited internationally and has been seen in numerous magazines including Oprah, Brides, FiberArts, Surface Design, Interior Design, Elle Décor, New York Magazine, Weekend and McCalls.

Circular Windows: A Glimpse of Spring into Summer	Celebrating Fall's Passion: Autumn Leaves
	Techniques used to create the wall panels include: shibori dyeing, mosaic appliqué, hand-stitching, and screen printing.
Streams of Plum Blossoms: A Gathering for Tea