Annette Douglas is dedicated to textiles, design, and innovation, combining creative vision with technical expertise. Since 1999, she has led Annette Douglas Textiles AG, established as a corporation in 2011.

A fourth-generation professional in the textile industry, Douglas combines British and Swiss roots: her great-grandfather, John Thomas Douglas, worked for Dobson & Barlow Textile Machinery in Bolton, UK. Her grandfather, Robert Douglas, was CEO of Dobson & Barlow Textile Machinery. Her father, Keith Douglas, worked as a textile engineer at Zellweger Uster in Switzerland and, alongside his work, translated important technical textile articles and books from English into German, including the textile dictionary «ITS».

Annette Douglas is familiar with all textile techniques, she develops products at the intersection of design, manufacturing technology, innovation, and cost optimization. Her work features in collections of international brands such as Maharam, Vescom, Ulf Moritz, Sahco Hesslein, Designtex, Jab Anstoetz, Dedar, and Zimmer & Rohde. Since 2010, she has been a designer of the Atelier Pfister collection curated by Alfredo Häberli.

Douglas’s passion for architecture is evident in numerous projects featuring custom textiles, from façades to interiors. Since 2004, she has focused on textile solutions for acoustic improvement. In 2009, she initiated a research project with EMPA, leading to the launch of the first transparent acoustic fabric collection, Annette Douglas Textiles ACOUSTICS®, in 2011.

The collection has won multiple awards, including the Swiss Design Award 2011, Red Dot Best of the Best 2012, Dwell on Design Award 2012, EESC Award 2013, and the Blue Drop Award 2014 “Best Contract”. Douglas herself was nominated for the Swiss Design Award in 1997 and 2005.

Annette Douglas has a great affinity for architecture. There is no doubt that had Annette Douglas not become a designer, she would have been an architect. Her competence is evidenced by concepts and projects in this area. During her studies, she already developed and designed textile façades and other textile applications for architecture. Today, she can point out several buildings with textiles that were tailor-made for architecture.

Milestones of Annette Douglas’ Education and Professional Training:

Education:                                                           

• 1993-1997 School of Design, Textiles, Basel
• 1992-1993 Swiss Textile School, Textile Design, Wattwil
• 1990-1991 School F+F, Vorkurs, Zürich

Further Education:                                                         

• 2011 Project Management Research & Development, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences (HSLU)
• 2008 Masterclass, Hella Jongerius Textile Lab, the Netherlands
• 2003-2004 ETH Zürich, Institute of Textiles

Research Project Innosuisse:                            

• 2009-2011 University Partner EMPA Dübendorf, Business Partner Weisbrod Hausen, Annette Douglas Initiator and Project Manager

Jury Activities:                                                      

• 2019-2023 Nominator, Design Preis Schweiz
• 2008-2010 Canton of Graubünden, WPK (Werkpreis Kunst)

Guest Lecturer:

• HSLU Lucerne, Textile (BA)
• HSLU Lucerne, Design (MA)
• FHNW, Industrial Design (BA)