Severed Thread: The Decline of the Swiss Embroidery Industry

Episode 4: The Fates of Embroidery

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:09:35 GMT

In the last episode I try to imagine the form in which the craft of embroidery will persevere in Switzerland.

Link:

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair

⁠https://www.sustainablefashionweek.uk/opinion/the-golden-thread⁠

Music in this episode was taken from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

Episode 3: Red Hot Fantasy Labor

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:09:33 GMT

In this episode I address the link between embroidery and the plague of fast fashion.

Links:

Why fast-fashion garment workers' lives are still at risk ⁠https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/why-fast-fashion-garment-workers-lives-are-still-at-risk-transcript-1.7120894⁠

Shirtwaist Factory Fire Episode on Dressed: The History of Fashion Podcast ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sweatshops-and-shirtwaists-remembering-the/id1350850605?i=1000649944856⁠

Music used in this episode was taken from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

Episode 2: African Lace

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:09:29 GMT

After the Second World War, interest in embroidery declined across Europe and the United States. In response, entrepreneurs began seeking new revenue streams. One such "stream" was West Africa.

Links to media mentioned in the episode:

STOFF - Ein Spitzengeschäft Film

⁠https://filminstitut.at/filme/stoff-ein-spitzengeschaeft⁠

Forget Me Not Book by Stephanie Baechler

⁠https://www.stephaniebaechler.com/books/forget-me-not-vergissmeinnicht/⁠

How French Fashion Emerged even More Decadently from the Guillotined ⁠https://www.messynessychic.com/2022/01/20/how-french-fashion-emerged-even-more-⁠

Clothed in the Vapors of Dawn: The Rise and Fall of Dhaka Muslin ⁠https://open.spotify.com/episode/37eo89vyiFAa978ZoDblYt⁠

The ancient fabric that noone knows how to make BBC article

⁠https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210316-the-legendary-fabric-that-no-one-knows-how-to-make⁠

Historical Document with Swiss Wages in 1908

⁠https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/archive_008.pdf⁠

Music: Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound

Episode 1: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:04:50 GMT

In this episode, the host travels to Appenzell to meet Walter Sonderreger — a contract embroiderer who was eventually forced to close his family business.

His company was "the last one standing" in the region. It is impossible to understand the decline of the embroidery industry without diving into the history of embroidery machines.

Link:

How This 140-Year-Old Lace Factory Created Leavers Lace for Dior, Burberry and More | WSJ Coveted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD2nh75Yz8E⁠

Music to this episode was taken from Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.