Behind the scenes: The craftsmanship of Christian Fischbacher textiles

Christian Fischbacher and St. Gallen

St. Gallen is a metropolis in eastern Switzerland, where art and craftsmanship have always played an important role. The historic abbey district boasts the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the centrepiece of the city. Visitors can also marvel at the famous Abbey Library, which houses 170,000 documents, some of which are written by hand. With the oldest professional theatre in Switzerland, the monastery courtyard of the abbey district attracts visitors to the St. Gallen Festival. Operas are performed here under a radiant starry sky.

Textile city of St. Gallen

Yesterday ...

History and culture characterise the face of this Swiss city. But St. Gallen is also a textile city. As early as the end of the 18th century, over 100,000 people were employed in embroidery here. In 1801, the General Societät der englischen Baumwollspinnerei was founded in St. Gallen as the first public limited company in Switzerland. With the invention of the Schiffli embroidery machine by Isaak Gröbli in 1863, St. Gallen embroidery entered its heyday, which lasted until around 1910.

... and today

Even today, modern embroidery machines are still based on this invention, even if they are mostly fully automated. Embroidery products not only characterised the cityscape centuries ago, but are still an important economic factor in St. Gallen today. Major fashion labels such as Pierre Cardin, Chanel, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Emanuel Ungaro, Hubert de Givenchy, Christian Lacroix, Nina Ricci, Lecoanet Hemant and Yves Saint Laurent work with lace from St. Gallen. Anyone who is anyone cannot ignore the textile history of St. Gallen and the centuries-old tradition of lace is still seen on the catwalks today.

At Christian Fischbacher, we see it the same way, albeit from a slightly different angle. As a company with a studio in St. Gallen, we are closely linked to the city and its history.

Innovation and tradition: design creations from Christian Fischbacher

Christian Fischbacher interprets the connection with the history of St. Gallen lace in a contemporary way. We take the liberty of experimenting with old and new and transporting the traditional into the future. The classic St. Gallen lace is an example of our innovative design processes. It can serve as a creative basis for our current designs. We refine it with floral motifs and small but fine lace details and create a contemporary print on cotton from antique lace. This is how the LACE and INTERLACE collections were created in 2019.

We draw inspiration for these ideas from old pattern books in our archive. We photograph, stencil and repeat to create new prints with a connection to the St. Gallen tradition. Unique, innovative prints are created on the finest extra-long staple cotton in Swiss+Cotton quality, also with reference to the tradition and craftsmanship of the textile city of St. Gallen

Christian Fischbacher's design studio in St. Gallen

At Christian Fischbacher's studio in St. Gallen, Alpen-Romantik encourages the creative spirit of our designers. The in-house design studio creates new concepts by hand. Everything that Christian Fischbacher creates is produced here in the studio. The creative minds are inspired by new and antique themes.

The creative process for a new pattern or a new print usually takes several months. Sketches, mood boards and textile swatches come together to form new collections. Watercolours are used for painting, drawing, colouring, cutting and gluing. But modern computer programs are also used until every single element of the design reaches perfection. A creative chaos with a system, in which several people work together and combine their creative powers.

Longevity in design and realisation

The basic idea for a new collection can be inspired by nature, a certain colour scheme or the theme of a fashion trend. The leitmotif is timeless elegance. This is why the designers at Christian Fischbacher like to be inspired by long-lasting macro trends, while short-lived micro trends are easily ignored. Textiles from Christian Fischbacher are always up to date, featuring ingenious designs and high quality materials.

Two collections per year

Two collections are selected each year from the numerous ideas in the Christian Fischbacher studio and go into production. Thanks to our visionary designers and an ever-evolving creative process, our collection is always enriched with fresh and elegant designs, offering you an endless array of exquisite variations to discover.

From the idea to the shop: Craftsmanship from Christian Fischbacher

Christian Fischbacher bed linen is a delight for those who demand the very best in sleep comfort. And during production, modern technologies are combined with expert craftsmanship. The fabrics, which are later printed with exclusive motifs from the St. Gallen design studio, are created in the European weaving mills.

Textile weaving

First, the high-quality yarns are warped. Warp threads are wound onto a large roll, the warp. Starch is then applied to make the threads resistant and suitable for weaving in the first place. Without this process, the fibres would simply break during the weaving process.

The fine fabric is then created in the weaving room. State-of-the-art machines carry out this work, which is coordinated and monitored by qualified weavers. With up to 600 wefts per minute, the lengths of fabric grow to a width of up to 3,4 metres. Extra-large duvet covers can also be made from such lengths.

Here we can rely on robust and reliable machines that are operated by skilled craftsmen. Every single step is guided and supervised by people who have been with us for years. They have an eye for detail and the greatly skilled hands that make all the difference.

Textile printing at its best

The magic of colours comes true in the textile print shop. In the colour kitchen, the perfect colours are mixed from around 200 different colour containers according to a digital recipe. A multicoloured rainbow dream! Individual colours are applied to the screen printing machine by hand. Our cotton fabrics are printed semi-automatically. This means that the motifs are positioned on the fabric by computer for maximum precision.

A screen printing machine is 36 metres long and up to twelve colours are printed on the fabric panels. Stencil after stencil, until the motif finally shines in its perfect beauty. Only at first glance the fabric appears to be finished. Now the colours still have to be fixed with steam and any excess washed out at high temperatures.

After the motifs have been printed, each piece of fabric is checked by hand and scrutinised centimetre by centimetre by the eyes of an expert. A zero-tolerance policy for errors guarantees the highest quality of every single piece of fabric. The smallest printing deviations are marked; nothing escapes the watchful eyes of the inspectors.

The sewing room of Christian Fischbacher

From cutting to the last buttonhole

Now it's time to sew! Over 30 employees give everything they’ve got – every day. They produce around 4,000 items per week. With skilful fingers, they hem, sew button plackets and side seams. Making the buttonholes and sewing on the buttons is precision work on specialised machines.

In small batches, each individual sheet, pillowcase and duvet cover is given its shape. Seamstresses and tailors attach great importance to the details that make the difference during processing. Of course, the rectangular Christian Fischbacher label on the edge is a must. It is stitched in place and testifies to the fact that these are wonderful fabrics of the finest workmanship with an elegant design.

The quality guarantee from Christian Fischbacher

When every seam is in place, the final quality check is carried out. No creases are allowed in the packaging and everything is meticulously ironed again. Then the freshly sewn bed linen is waiting to be loved by you.

The bed linen from Christian Fischbacher is OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certified. This means that all components of the product are free from harmful substances and are harmless to health. This also applies to buttons, threads and zips, right down to the last fibre. With this knowledge, you will be able to sleep particularly well.