Maira Kalman's cheeky illustrations have enlivened her children's books, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Kate Spade even had her develop a pattern for a handbag collection. Kalman now makes her mark on contract textiles with The Story of My Life, which she designed for Maharam. The rayon-polyester fabrics are embellished with some 200 different doodles, ranging from a nesting bird to a ladder and a rhinoceros, all inspired by everyday-life observations. "Walking everywhere, seeing anything, weaving a story ¦that's my full-time occupation and delight," she says. The fabrics' fine denier warp preserves the simple quality of Kalman's original caricatures.
