By combining modern technology with traditional techniques, Stanska has brought the magnificence of gold hand embroidery to interior design and architecture
Alicja Stanska’s dream was to “swim” in embroidery. She wanted to be completely surrounded by impeccable golden threads, enveloped by the opulence and guile of her craft. But for this to be possible, she had to find a way to embroider objects that had never been embroidered before. This is what she has achieved with her company, Stanska, which fuses the craft of embroidery with pioneering technology to take embroidery into extraordinary places, from floors to yachts, planes and cars, inside and out. She can even embroider panels for a swimming pool, making her dream of swimming surrounded by embroidery a reality for her clients.
“We create the embroidery by hand and then encase it in a protective material,” explains Alicia. “It is completely malleable so can be made in any shape, and it is waterproof, scratchproof and UV-proof. This allows us to do anything. We can embroider the inside of a car, but we could also do the exterior.”
Alicja first learned to embroider when she was six and perfected her craft at the prestigious École Lesage in Paris, the world’s finest school of embroidery, where she was trained in Lunéville embroidery, a technique introduced in France in the 1800s and used for the couture clothes of French royalty. But her ambition was not to simply preserve traditional craftsmanship; instead, she wanted to take this skill into new places, so embroidery could be used with flair and imagination in interior design and architecture.
That became possible when Alicja discovered how to combine her meticulously created embroidery with a material that is traditionally used to craft artificial bones. Suddenly, embroidery could be used on door, window and picture frames or on furniture, walls, floors and ceilings. She now embraces bespoke projects, embroidering marble tables, dressers and even, for one cigar-loving customer, a personalised humidor. “I believe you can do anything with embroidery,” she says. “It is a beautiful technique – it can be realistic, artistic, even three dimensional.”
Her waterproof works are used to dramatic effect in saunas, steam rooms and pools. Combined with water, the effects on the embroidered panels and tiles are mesmerising. “It is spectacular,” says Alicja. “When the water is moving, it feels as if the embroidery is moving, too. If you add light, the gold thread we use starts to shine, bringing this amazing golden light to the water. It is completely unique, and we created this ourselves – nobody else has ever thought of doing it.
Alicja’s ambitions are far from fulfilled. Collaborating with skilled artisans who work with wood, metal and other decorative arts, she is in the process of creating the second of seven biennial embroidered artworks – this one in the form of samurai armour. She also hopes to start incorporating embroidery more directly into architecture, using it to decorate entire buildings.
“Our goal is to envelop a skyscraper in embroidery,” says Alicja. “I know that sounds crazy, but I really want to do it and believe we can do it. It would look amazing. I work with all these clients, designers and architects who cannot believe what we have created. These are people who truly appreciate the value of artisanship and they find it fascinating, which is why they love to work with us. We are the first people in the history of embroidery to make this material, and we can offer our clients something they have never seen before.”
www.stanska.co