No Limits Fabrics are taking a walk on the wild side, among other

products & trends: fabrics
No Limits
Brentano’s Equinox
features triangles
that undulate from
dark to light and
back to dark.
Graffiti by Integra Fabrics
features myriad colors.
By Adam Perkowsky
W
ith the hospitality industry’s emphasis on creating memorable experiences for guests, fabric manufacturers are realizing that they, too, have
their place in that undertaking. Custom products
are increasingly making their way into hotel interiors to give those properties their own distinct—and
memorable—looks.
“We have no limits anymore as far as hospitality
fabrics are concerned, and that’s the real trend,”
said Ashley P. Smith, marketing & communication
coordinator, Integra Fabrics. “Designers are able to
push the scope of their vision as far as they wish
while bringing their projects to life.”
The more “wild” designs and colors once found
only in hotel lobbies are now making their way into
guestrooms, according to Matt DeShantz, VP, contract sales, Fabricut Contract. “We’re seeing textures and colors in more opulent designs. While the
use of impact patterns has been common in hotel
lobbies for years, we are now seeing larger orders
for feature fabrics in guestrooms,” he said.
Jeff Frank, international sales manager, Brentano,
noted that in the past, his company would have shied
away from the audacious products it is producing
today. “Two of our products that have launched this
fall with Jubilee push the limits in color and design,”
he said. “Marquee, a stitch-like, tapestry-textured
fabric, has bold coloring and dramatic, Greek-keyinspired geometry; and Equinox is a tessellation of
triangles that undulate from dark to light and back to
dark in a metaphor for day and night, accented by
two saturated color facets. We would not have been
that bold a couple of years ago.”
Custom designs allow designers to achieve that
Fabrics are taking a walk on the wild
side, among other notable trends
Morbern’s Bloom is a fire
retardant-free vinyl.
Phantom by Enduratex is a
perforated product that has
color bouncing through it.
luxury look while not breaking the bank. DeShantz, Frank and Jeff Post, VP and general manager,
Enduratex all noted that their companies have designed fabric with an upscale air.
“In this booming economy, we see a return to
luxury. This is echoed in everything from the weight
of basic solids to the most intricate designs,” said
DeShantz, whose firm just introduced its second
collaboration with designer Roger Thomas for its S.
Harris brand. Frank agreed: “Consumers desire the
look and hand of luxury at a lower price point. Brentano has been very successful this past year creating custom fabrics that meet the upscale requirements yet fall within the purchaser’s budget.”
Post noted that “everyone is looking to upscale
their appearance. They are doing it very well because the fabrics that are coming out have a much
more upscale appearance. Something that was a
middle-of-the-road-type product is now looking
more like a higher-end product.” He pointed to Enduratex’s new launches Phantom and Abocado.
The issue of fire retardants (FR) is controversial
among fabric manufacturers. Said Post, “There’s
a lot of confusion in terms of governmental regulations and what we are trying to accomplish to meet
the standards set for us. You’ve got several states
that have banned the use of fire retardants, yet there
are some out there pushing the fire-retardant scene
in the business. I think it is very confusing right now
as to what can be used to produce your products,
and it’s all driven in the consumer and design world
by people who are not scientists.”
Two companies that are at opposite ends of the
issue are Fabricut Contract and Morbern. Fabricut
has the FR-One fabric collection, which, DeShantz
said, “meets every fire code standard worldwide,”
FR-One from Fabricut
Contract contains fire
retardants that meet
fire code standards.
while Morbern introduced two flame-retardant-free
vinyls, Bloom and Maverick. “We’ve introduced several new products in the last year, but none more
important to a changing industry than Bloom and
Maverick,” said Doug McClendon, VP, sales & marketing, Morbern. “When we walk into a customer’s
office, we’re likely to be met with, ‘Show me what
you’ve got that’s FR-free.’ The requirements of the
A&D world are rapidly changing to exclude flameretardant additives.”
But, if there’s one thing that these fabric manufacturers agree on, it’s that digital printing will play
a bigger role in the hospitality industry.
“With the use of digital technologies, the fabric
can be your art—it can be the staple upon which
you design the entire schematic,” said Smith. “Being able to produce your focal point on a headboard,
a drapery, a couch… You really can bring a fresh
aesthetic to any setting and product.”
McClendon said that many of the custom fabrics
Morbern is producing “are digitally printed. We’re
working with Grand Rapids, MI-based Burch Fabrics to create the company’s first digitally printed
vinyl.” Frank added, “There is a demand in the industry for a higher quality and broader selection of
digitally printed fabrics for drapery and upholstery.”
However, not everyone is completely on the digital-printing bandwagon. Said Post, “Digital printing
is the one thing that I continue to see in the marketplace that I think has a long way to go before it’s
widely accepted for its performance value because
it has some abrasion issues right now. But, I think
that the look is so intense and perfect that it is hard
to ignore it, and I think we will see a lot of it coming
into play over the next few years as we overcome
the abrasion situation.”
22 • November/December 2015
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