The Architect of Softness Margarete Steiff was not a painter or a sculptor, but a seamstress who transformed a physical limitation into a commercial empire. Born in Giengen an der Brenz, Germany, her life was shaped by the onset of poliomyelitis at just one year old. This disease dictated her mobility but did not halt her industry. By age 17, she had enrolled in sewing school, acquiring the technical precision that would later define h…