Kohn Designs is a recent addition to American hand weaving. Carol Kohn launched her line of individually handwoven garments in early 2005. She creates her unique fabric on an eight shaft jack loom in her Pennsylvania studio. Every aspect of Carol’s work is completely crafted by her. ‘Kohn Designs is not a large company. It’s me a loom and a sewing machine.”

The Kohn Designs philosophy is ‘Woven to be worn, not worshipped.’ “So many times, I’ve collected lovely garments and saved them for some great, future moment. By then, either my taste had changed, or the piece didn’t fit, or somehow the garment deteriorated just by sitting in the drawer. I don’t want collectors of my work to feel a piece too precious to wear. Use it now. Enjoy it now. Everyday is precious.”

Every garment begins with the handwoven cloth Carol creates from strands of colorful cotton or wool. “I always start with color, rather than the end product. I look in my yarn cabinet and choose color combinations that inspire me at that moment. The cloth tells me what it wants to be.”  Carol searches vintage shops and estate sales for wonderful adornments and fabrics for her linings. Although she does use new items as well, Carol has one stipulation “it must be beautiful.” Kohn Designs garments are soft and meant to be comforting to the eye and the touch.  

Primarily a self-taught artist, Carol has been making art her entire life, even teaching herself how to knit at age five. Educated in Philadelphia, she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Temple University. “I spent most of my career, in the communications end of technology at various companies throughout the region. When my father fell ill in 2004 (he passed away in 2006) I left my job as a technical writer to spend more time with my family. I will always be a writer and still maintain a successful freelance career, but I needed and wanted the flexibility in my life that corporate America didn’t provide. It is important for me to look forward to getting out of bed in the morning and embrace the day rather than just getting through it. With the launch of Kohn Designs, I decided it was time to take the plunge and create something that was wholly my own. “Woven to be worn, not worshipped,” is more than a tag line for my company, it’s the way I live my life.