If you think of DELIUS you are probably thinking of the textile furnishing of hotels, senior residences, theaters, cinemas, etc. Are you also using our fabrics when planning sales areas, shops and commercial properties? If not please read on.
With our new store concept we are demonstrating where and how to use DELIUS fabrics in shopfitting; we also show you which fabrics are suitable for the different areas.
This high and low velvet delights; not only because of it extraordinary pattern but also by its modern colour range and enormeous durability. The special look arises from the irregularly blurred shapes. Its matt silky sheen makes the colours shine brightly. Powdery sorbet colours such as Blushed Rosé, Salbei and Pistacio harmonise well with deep shades such as Jade, Royal Blue and Aubergine. Finely graded natural tones complement the colour range. All in all there are 18 colours available. Thanks to the branded yarn Trevira CS Chloe is extremely durable with 200.000 martindale.
For most of its existence, the home textiles business—sheets, comforters, towels, et cetera—has been all about more. That took the form of everything from ever-higher thread counts (defying any known weaving technology) to bed-in-a-bag put-ups that approached the triple digits in their number of pieces, and towels that outweighed some bantam-weight boxers. More was better.
But recently, as evidenced by the wares on display at September’s New York Home Fashions Market, the industry has started to go in the opposite direction. After decades of excess, the business is finally discovering that less is, in fact, often more.
The twice-yearly trade show, held mostly in closed showrooms along Manhattan’s lower Fifth Avenue, is where big-box stores like Walmart, Macy’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and their retail brethren start buying next season’s goods. While shows in traditional market centers in Atlanta, High Point, Dallas and Las Vegas all feature higher-end soft home resources and bedding products, it is in New York where the bulk of the business in this $25 billion market segment is done.
Over the past few seasons, this sector has been in transition—working to bring to market products that appeal to the new generation of shoppers more concerned with attributes like sustainability, transparency and naturally sourced materials. It’s been an ongoing evolution, but the fall show made it apparent that the industry is heavily drinking this new Kool-Aid. In market introductions from suppliers large and small, several themes prevailed, reflecting these new sensibilities in core bed and bath products.
Sustainability and circularity: Bed and bath products have always gotten a bad rap for using too many natural resources in their production—water and land primarily—but the industry is making a concerted effort to move to a more sustainable model that emphasizes both recycled final products and individual components. Circularity, based on renewable resources as well as recycling, was a buzzword heard often in many showrooms, even if not everyone clearly understood what it meant.
Traceability: With the vast majority of home textiles products—at least 90 percent by most estimates—coming from the Asian production powerhouses of China, India and Pakistan, understanding the manufacturing chain for home textiles has often been a challenge. Using DNA marking, RFID tagging and other new technologies, vendors are now able to trace the raw materials in their products back to the growing fields, giving retailers and consumers alike a look into the entire production process.
Certification: Because there are no real regulatory or safety standards governing most soft home products, it’s always been a free-for-all on certifying products. Now, some international third-party organizations like Oeko-Tex and Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) are gaining traction, often at the urging of retailers who want to offer a point of differentiation for their products. None of these labels are as well-known as established ones like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval or consumer electronics certifications, but they are rising in market prominence and placement.
Natural fibers and fabrics: Even though synthetic materials like polyester and memory foam are industry staples (suppliers and retailers have been wildly successful selling “micro-fiber” bedding even though it is essentially a descendent of polyester double-knit fabrics from the disco era), the raw material spectrum has dramatically increased recently, with tree-derived cellulose, linen, bamboo and other natural fibers. Cotton still maintains its overwhelming market share—but there, too, differentiators like Supima, Egyptian and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) offerings are gaining in importance.
CBD: As part of a broader effort to jump on the health-and-wellness bandwagon, several companies introduced bedding products containing CBD extracts, either applied topically to the fabric or infused into the fibers. Without making explicit health claims—still very much illegal under U.S. laws, even as CBD itself is legal throughout the country—companies certainly implied that these products were good for you. The first wave will hit the market possibly as early as this holiday season, giving the industry a better read on consumer acceptance.
All of this attention to technology, innovation and product performance stands in stark contrast to earlier eras. Yes, there was fashion and, yes, there were plenty of designer names, but today the industry clearly is taking a different tack—one that strips products down to their essential elements, prioritizing origin and ethics over thread count or frills.
In fact, the only real exception to the less-is-more dictum came in the form of a novelty fad product, the weighted blanket. Countless companies showed heavy-weight blankets and comforters that supposedly promote better sleep. In that case, more is more. But nearly everywhere else, the less the better.
Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. He was also a guest on the BOH podcast, and his Market Watch columnsoffer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.
When Felice House moved to Texas from Massachusetts, she quickly fell in love with “Western” culture.
Photo by Timothy Douglas, used with permission.
House, a painter and artist, moved to Austin to study for her master’s degree before becoming an assistant professor of painting at Texas A&M University.
At first, the culture shock was fun. House says she quickly became infatuated with the Western genre: the outfits, the cowboy boots, the music.
“But when I actually got around to watching Western movies,” she adds, “I was horrified by the roles for … anybody except white men basically.”
The stoic renegades played by John Wayne, James Dean, and Clint Eastwood stood in stark contrast to the helpless damsels they shared the screen with. The empowered and the powerless.
House had spent much of her career painting women in ways that clashed with media representations, so she decided to tackle the male-dominated Western genre.
She put out a call for models and was quickly overwhelmed with women who wanted to participate.
All images by Felice House, used with permission.
House says many of the models already knew which iconic cowboy they wanted to portray.
Virginia Schmidt became “Virginia Eastwood.”
Then there was “Liakesha Dean.”
And “Rebekah Wayne.”
House first photographed the models in Western getups, then painted from the images she captured.
She also says practicing the facial expressions and body language was the hardest part for the models.
“Women are kind of trained to make coy, approachable facial expressions,” she says.
Turning these women into iconic and powerful heroes meant stripping away any remnants of the “sexy cowgirl” trope.
The paintings themselves are larger than life. Roughly 1.25 times larger, to be specific.
“When you see them in person, people are surprised by the scale.” People aren’t used to women towering over them, House says.
And that’s exactly the point. House wanted to start a conversation about who is assigned power and how we view it.
In that sense, the timing couldn’t have been better. “Issues with gender and power in the U.S. are kind of in the forefront of people’s minds, ” she says.
In the very beginning of the project, House says she simply digitally clipped one of the models heads and put it on John Wayne’s body.
“It looked ridiculous,” she says with a laugh. “But then I thought, what if I could find a way to give this same sense of power [that iconic male heroes have] to women?”
With a brush and a few massive canvases, she managed to do just that, and she hopes it’ll make a few people think differently about how we define who can be a hero.
In the meantime, and despite her criticisms of the films of yesteryear, House says pop culture is getting better at representing women. Projects like this one definitely help.
After all, it was John Wayne himself who once said, “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.”
The interplay of a brilliant, fine warp and a voluminous bouclé yarn lends the upholstery fabric Harper an appealing, interesting appearance. Thanks to its soft handle Harper radiates pure homeliness. It is also extremely hard-wearing and can be universally used due to its wide range of colours (21 colours). Powdery relaxed tones are complemented by strongly contrasting colours: Black Plum, Bright Gold, Burnt Olive, Cranberry and Scarlet Red. Nutural colours such as a warm Shadow White and Biscuit contrast with a deep Black and are accentuated by metal tones.
Cara DELIGARD is the classic and elegant equivalent to our DELIGARD quality Deste. Both are particularly pretty in combination with our faux leather Ena und Romy. They are suitable for the furnishing of upmarket retirement homes and classical noble hotels. The diamond design offers an elegant sheen thanks to its noble satin construction; it is being accentuated by a pearly weft effect. Natural colours with strong undertones dominate the appearance of the upholstery fabric such as Light Petrol together with Mauve or Ochre-Red combined with a warm Silver-Grey. Cara has an elegant brightness due to the natural colour range with tones such as Shadow-White and Silver-Grey. The colour range is being complemented by a deep Night-Blue.
For the new 20/21 trend season, Heimtextil doesn’t expect attendees and interior lovers to solely align with a singular trend. Instead, it encourages them to respond to the statement “WHERE I BELONG” and define what it means to them. As the overarching theme for Heimtextil 2020, “WHERE I BELONG” addresses layered identities via five diverse trends determined by Heimtextil and the Trend Council participants.
Ville Fantôme by Bodys Isek Kingelez, Photo: Maurice Aeschimann
Identity was a recurring topic around the annual Heimtextil trend table when creating the vision for Heimtextil 20/21. Questions surrounding tolerance and curiosity raised bigger conversations on gender and cultural diversity. The notion of identity is shifting. How individuals self-identify today is forged by experiences that take place simultaneously, on different levels. Locally, nationally, globally, both online and offline.
Identity, therefore, can consist of many different layers. In fact, we all have multi-layered identities. Identity today is curated, and individuals are reinventing their environments to reflect this. In 2020, multi-layered identities are being embraced.
Engaging the multi-faceted self doesn’t necessarily mean aligning with one singular trend. Instead, it’s about taking the parts which you see yourself reflected in, meaning each trend has the potential to connect with audiences simultaneously, despite the unique differences of each. “Maximum Glam” turns the glamorous life tech-savvy, while “Pure Spiritual finds balance in nature and mysticism. “Active Urban” values utilitarian, adaptable solutions, where “Heritage Lux” celebrates rich, historical legacies. Meanwhile, “Multi-Local” embraces global cultural influences for good.
Heimtextil aims to create a world in which everyone can see themselves reflected in. In January 2020, it’s up to all Heimtextil visitors to define where they and their target customers belong. By Edda Simon
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