Larsen was born in 1927 in Seattle, WA to Norsk-Canadian parents. I caught up with him out at his place in Long Island. At the Long House reserve. An extremely charming man with a great sensitivity to beauty and style. I ended up staying over night and shooting in the early morning. The whole evening was like being held in a great appreciation of nature and the finer things of life.
Since the 1950s he has designed thousands of fabric patterns and textiles, many associated with the modernist architecture and furnishings popular with post-1945 American consumers. He told me that his inspiration comes from nature and the natural patterns and textures he finds in the landscape.
In 1952, Larsen founded his firm, Jack Lenor Larsen, Incorporated. In 1951 the interior designer Florence Knoll turned down his textile designs as too “individualistic”, but by 1953, she was commissioning olive-green and orange colored Larsen textiles for furnishings. From the beginning, Jack Lenor Larsen’s distinctive hand-woven furnishing fabrics with random repeats in variegated, natural yarns were popular with clients such as Marilyn Monroe.
In 1958, he designed his first aeroplane upholstery, for Pan American Airlines.[1] His passion for international weaving and textile crafts made him familiar with techniques such as ikat and batik, which he introduced to the American public, and by 1974, Larsen’s company was manufacturing fabrics in 30 countries.[4] Since the 1950s the company has commissioned textile designs by artists and designers including Anthony Ballatore, Sari Dienes, Yoshiko Kogo and Timo Sarpaneva.
In 1968, Larsen designed the interiors and fabrics of Braniff International Airways innovative Terminal of the Future at the Dallas, Texas, carrier’s Dallas Love Field hub. He also designed the textiles for use in the interior of Braniff’s new Boeing 747 in 1970.
Jack Larson and partner Peter Olsen
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