Edward Maeder has been involved in the world of textiles since he began to embroidery at the age of three. Fascinated by all forms of textile creation - from weaving to knitting, lace making, tailoring and historic pattern making, printing and dying, beadwork to porcupine-quill work - as well as textile conservation. As a textile conservator he studied with Karen Finch, OBE at Hampton Court, and at the Abegg Stiftung, in Switzerland. A Wisconsin native, his undergraduate degree was from the U of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, in theatre, art, art history and textiles. A graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art, History of Dress program, University of London, he has held curatorial posts at FIT [Fashion Institute of Technology] NY, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Founding Director of the Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Ontario, CA, and Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts. Edward is the President of the Board of Directors of the National Museum of the American Coverlet in Bedford, PA, on the board of the Honorable Cordwainers’ Company, Williamsburg, VA, a Fellow of the Costume Society of America and a frequent lecturer and consultant across the country and abroad. He acts as an expert witness for court cases involving shoes and fashion. He is a Research Associate in the Theatre Department at Smith College, Northampton, MA.
Edward had known and worked with his dear friend -company founder Karen Augusta - for more than two decades. Upon her passing, Edward was hired to continue identification and description of the historic garments and textiles found in our catalogs.