By Aysha Ibtasam

April Tosch, owner of Ann Meredith, a Saudi fashion-art house – specializes in developing unique textiles for various clients from the Royal Saudis to the corporate.

Tosch has led her creative hobby to a whole new level and started a company in Jeddah, one of the two biggest cities of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She designs customized upholstery and dress fabrics. Her unique and one of a kind textile is utilized to create sofas, chaise, chairs, wall hangings, pillows, dresses, shawls, scarves, abayas (black cloak covering for body), gift bags, plush slippers and many other related items.

Tosch has created a digital library of over 80,000 images to get inspiration and create enormous wall hangings and mural-like images. The astonishing colors and breath-taking views of valley’s, gardens, scenic views, portraits and animal images are art pieces – and a duplicate is never created.

The vivid colors and details of images are surreal and powerful. Certain images speak of romance, while another takes you in a secret garden while some evoke feelings of tranquility and peace. Images are a hodgepodge of various elements and objects blending flawlessly to stir a certain mood or feeling within.

The images consist of modern art, contemporary art, antique and washed down art, and Arabic calligraphy art to name a few.

Tosch ensures each piece comes out impeccable and satisfying to her customers. She is committed to ensuring the output is 100% what her customer is seeking since the monetary value of each piece is costly. She takes it up a notch and enhances the images by hand embroidery and bead-work to finish off the pieces.

Tosch uses fabrics imported from the United States, which are treated chemically to absorb ink. Any image or artwork can be printed on various weights of silk, linen and cotton. There is a demand among designers and interior decorators for the unique textile Tosch creates in her studio.

Ann Meredith – her company, expanded to cater to designers, wedding planners and establishment dealings with VIP corporate gifts and promotions. Tosch recently began offering photoshop classes for Saudi ladies and expats in Saudia, which will enable them to print personal patterns on silk for abaya sleeves.

The process is somewhat painstaking and requires several re-dos but Tosch loves what she does and claims the minute her passion turns into a job – she will quit!

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