PFAU first began unofficially in the 1980s when my aunt Carola began collecting textiles while living and working in Japan. She was especially drawn to folk textiles and sought out the mended worker’s coats, boro patchwork futon covers and hemp mosquito nets that were largely overlooked at the time. For many years, collecting was Carola’s passion but not her occupation. It wasn’t until the early aughts that she’d had enough of practicing law and set up her first table at an antique show in Round Top, Texas. Textile Treasures was born.

Years later, in 2013, I joined Carola in Austin, TX. I learned about her collection, gradually developed my own eye and got acquainted with show life. Working with her certainly taught me much of what I know about textiles today.

In 2016 I started my own vintage textile business but chose Mexico and Guatemala as my areas of focus. My mother is Colombian and I wanted to learn more about Latin American textile traditions. While in Mexico I became drawn to the rebozo, the iconic Mexican shawl. In 2018 I began a project working with reboceros, the weavers of the rebozo. Our project was paused in March 2020, and everything changed a few months later when my aunt Carola passed.

I started PFAU in 2021 as a way to share an evolving mix of textile focused products, a combination of Carola’s textile collection and my own textile journey.

Follow along to see rare pieces from Carola’s collection, new pieces created from our trove of antique and vintage textile remnants, artisan collaborations and more.  

Natalie Pfau