Switzerland’s, and in particular Zürich’s, textile designers, silk traders, and weaving mills supply their products to fashion houses and other makers of ties around the world. This new book draws on the vast archives of the Swiss National Museum, which keeps the legacy of a number of vanished companies that have built the fame of Switzerland’s silk industry. Coinciding with a major exhibition at Landesmuseum Zürich (September 2014 to January 2015), The Tie: A Global History features a wealth of images documenting the history of the neck tie, but also of designers’ and manufacturers’ sample collections, art works. Essays are contributed by international authors including scholars, fashion critics, and journalists. A photo essay by Swiss photographer Walter Pfeiffer rounds out this beautiful volume.

What a lovely book!
With chapters like Introduction, The Art of Ties, Through the Centuries in Ten Knots, Artistic Knots, Needles and Pins, Pin-Ups and Politicians, The tie in Woman’s Fashion, Taking a Walk Through Zurich’s Tie History, A Life in Ties, The Fabric that Dreams are Made of, Silk Road Over the Alps, The Contemporary Tie, Tom Ford –Super-Gentleman and the Maker, Rock’n Roll’n Ties, I Was Born with a Tie and From Zurich with Love, the readers dive into a feast of arty lay-out, letter types and colors! Rocking and Rolling through art, graphic material, photography, material and patterns, the global history of the tie unfolds and one will read this wonderful book at one sitting.
A book to study and understand the joy the makers of this well-printed and -bound book had in this humble fashion accessory and statement.
Angela van der Burght

See Also the Agenda> Swiss National Museum, Zurich, the exposition 19/9/2014-18/1/2015