b. 1937, San Francisco
Brief biography
Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco, USA, in 1937. He attended the Museum of Fine Arts School, Boston, USA, for 3 months before leaving his course to paint in London. He eventually settled in London in 1964 where he became a close friend of the fashion designer Bill Gibb. Fassett was influenced by the work of Gibb and began to collaborate with him on complex knitwear design projects. By the 1980’s Fassett had produced his own highly successful range of knitwear designs and tapestries. His work has been exhibited worldwide and has included ‘Fassett! Patchwork Quilts by Kaffe Fassett’ at the Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto (2005) and the first solo show of a living artist at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London - ‘Kaffe Fassett at the V&A’ (1988), where his work is also included within their textile collection. Fassett continues to receive significant commissions for organisations such as Northern Ballet Theatre. Kaffe Fassett is currently based in London.