Fabrics & Furnishings - Winter 2012 Issue by Fabrics & Furnishings International

Sip Sta co a nd t H 4.1 eim • F tex oye til! r1 2 Volume 23, Number 1

The Global Home & Contract Furnishings Newspaper

Winter 2012/2013

Calico Rebounds, Rebrands, Reboots, Restores, World’s Strongest Home Fabrics Retailer in North American Market

Bert Kerstetter, Ex Princeton football player, philanthropist raises consumer fabric consciousness with protégé Julie Morris By Eric Schneider

ennett Square, PA — After ten years on the sidelines, Bert Kerstetter 66, chairman and cheer leader has once again taken the management reins of Calico (formerly Calico Corners) together with Julie Morris, the

Julie Morris and Bert Kerstetter

newly named vice president of merchandising, to rebuild the 65 year old fabric Goliath’s custom products with a new generation of 30 something buyers in 37 States. It couldn’t come at a better time because U.S. consumers will unleash their pent-up demand

for fabrics and produce double digit gains for Calico in 2013, Kerstetter says. “They’re tired of doing nothing even if they haven’t moved to a new house. They might now be spending $25,000 on decorating and not $75,000 as before” and he believes Calico

will sell more fabrics at $45 a yard in the future instead of $90. With 750 highly trained sales people, Kerstetter (continued on page 10)

Designtex Large Format Digital Printing Adds Multi Million Dollar Surface Business Under Susan Lyons New president outsources internal marketing department to outside agency Sipco News Network

Ferrari LUCA

EW YORK, New York — Designtex is turning up new business markets and new ways to run its marketing under the leadership of Susan Lyons, president since June, 2012.

Manifattura Tessile Di Nole Turns 100

Page 12

One example of the new activity is Designtex Surface Imaging, a newly named division that is developing large format design and then digitally printing the image on a variety of surfaces including fabric, according to (continued on page 22)

Karim Rashid

Arben Textile

Page 13

Australia’s Redelman Fabrics, Wallcoverings Opens 10,000 SF Showroom In Sydney Sipco News Network

Emily Mould

Romo Black Edition

Page 34

YDNEY, Australia — Redelman Fabrics and Wallcoverings has opened a 10,000 square foot showroom in Sydney, Australia situated above its warehouse on 54 Rosebery Avenue.

“We are optimistic for the future as the global economic conditions appear to be stabilizing,” said Nadia Redelman, fourth generation of the Redelman family. “Australia has Geoff Redelman of Redelman wholesalers in the new Sydney, been less affected by the global eco- Australia showroom with his daughter Nadia and his brother nomic crisis than other countries.” David (continued on page 28)

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F&FI L E T T E R S

CORRECTION: The Global Home & Contract Furnishings Newspaper

oscow’s Fifth Avenue Buying Team: Nadezhda Murzina (left) with Olga Fimushkina and Elena Chechina, deputy chief of advanced procurement planning department were improperly captioned in the Autumn 2012 issue.

3 Island Avenue, Suite 6i, Miami Beach, FL 33139 USA Website: www.fabricsandfurnishings.com Telephone 001.917.251.9922 | ISSN: 1523-7303

Publisher & Editor | Eric S. Schneider Associate Editor | Marc Weinreich Art Director | Roxanne Clapp, RoxC LLC Corporate Secretary | Gail Goldman, PhD.

Table of Contents

CORPORATE CONSULTANTS Printing/Distribution | Interprint Web Printing Web Design | Synthovation

F&FI Winter 2012/2013 | Vol. 23, No. 1

E.U. Legal Counsel | Herman Nayaert

5 Machell Apple Joins Victor Contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Saudi Businessman Sheik Al Jaber Saves Backhausen From Bankruptcy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ADF/Westgate Changes Beirut Based Deal, Rayess, Schroeder Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Kvadrat’s Kinnasand Purchase Makes Strong Combination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Gittelson Says: China’s Still Upholstery Fabric Export King; Morgan Fabrics Still Dominates.12 Manifattura Tessile Di Nole Turns 100, Keeps Focus On Production, Customers. . . . . . . . 12 Arben Textile’s Karim Rashid Collection Hits Heimtextil 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Brand Study Shows Diolen®Safe FR Yarns Takes Second After 12 Months On Market . . . 14 Home Furnishing International Bets Its Future on Printed Bedding Fabrics. . . . . . . . . . . 16 Sachin, Babi Ahluwalia Bring Ankasa to Beacon Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Beekalene Opens Dye House, After $5 Million Expansion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 New York’s Bryant Park Hosts Global Wool Promotion, Plus Camira Upholstery . . . . . . . 19 Telas & Telas New Showroom in Mexico adds Kasmir Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Babei Launches Trevira ®CS at Intertextile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Australia Leads The World in Fabric Wholesaling!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Kiwi Fishing Day Raises $10,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Basford Builds Brands Powerhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Australian Market Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Starik Hottabych Increases Curtain Fabric Purchases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Australia’s Gummerson Buys Hoad Assets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Opinion: Roger Berkley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Romo Launches Black Edition A High End Brand Above All Other Romo Brands . . . . . . . 34 Parmentier Signs Tosunoglu Consulting Deal After Leaving Ragolle in Belgium . . . . . . . . .

Contract/HospitalityNews Designtex Large Format Digital Printing (continued from front cover). . . . . . . . . . . . . .

India | S. Vishwanath U.K. | Geoff Fisher Belgium | Jan Hoffman USA | Marc Weinreich

E ditorial & P ublishing

EDITOR & PUBLISHER USA, EUROPE & CHINA Eric Schneider Tel: 001.917.251.9922 E-Mail: eric@sipco.net

Art Director Roxanne Clapp Tel: 001.813.991.1860 E-Mail: rox@sipco.net

A d v ertising S ale S

TURKEY Sevim Keskinci Tel: 90.532.236.25.24 Fax: 90.216.390.20.27 E-Mail: skeskinci@gmail.com

INDIA Rekha V. Tel: 91.80.26685821 Cell: 91.93.42821379 Fax: 91.80.26684670 E-mail: s_wishwanath@hotmail.com

Global Marketplace

28 Boyteks Hits $180 Million Sales, Part of $4 Billion Boydak Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The World at Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Marzotto Saves Radaelli Velluti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Kasmir Exports Collection Through Keeton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Departments Photo Gallery - MoOD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 & 37 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Advertiser Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4

SIPCO NEWS NETWORK

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F FI NE W S

Parmentier Signs Tosunoglu Consulting Deal After Leaving Ragolle in Belgium Sipco News Network

EPER, BE — Guy Parmentier, former export manager of Ragolle of Belgium, has closed a deal as export consultant with the company TOSUNOGLU Tekstil – based in Denizli – Turkey. The family owned and run company TOSUNOGLU is a vertical weaving mill with a dyeing

and finishing plant. It is owned by the second generation Tosunoglu family members, brothers Murat and Mehmet. Parmentier has known this family for almost 12 years. Guy Parmentier left Ragolle as export manager on or about October 1 in the wake of a restructuring and cost saving effort by the new management of

this Belgian mill. Roseline Ragolle, president of Ragolle left the company prior to MoOD. She worked closely with Parmentier who said he hopes to remain in the decorative fabric industry. The family owned company Ragolle is now being managed by three people in the family: (continued on page 6)

Guy Parmentier and Roseline Ragolle

Machell Apple Joins Victor Contract Sipco News Network

aint-Georges, Quebec, Canada — Machell Apple will join the Victor Group as the ‘director of new development initiatives.’ This newly created position within Victor’s contract fabric business has the responsibility of identifying and initiating new business and product opportunities within the contract market segment according to Alain Duval, president and CEO, Victor Group. Apple has a combined 24 years of experience in the textile industry, most recently as senior creative director for Valdese Weavers, Inc. where she worked for the past 14 years. Working from her home office in Newton, North Carolina, Apple will report to Martin Bourque, director of business and product development for Victor’s Contract Business Unit based in St. Georges, Quebec. F&FI

Machell Apple

Winter 2012/2013

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F FI NE W S

Saudi Businessman Sheik Al Jaber Saves Backhausen From Bankruptcy ADF/Westgate Changes Beirut Based Deal, Rayess, H Schroeder Out with the goal of finding a strategic investor. “We were looking for a strategic partner with Al Jaber,” OHENEICH, Austria — Backhausen said. We have found Backhausen has reportedly a partner with whom we can realsold 50 percent or more of its ize synergies. Business operations shares to Sheik Mohamed Al Jaber, should be directed on a joint a Saudi businessman and owner partner basis, says Backhausen. of JJA Beteiligungsverwaltung, an We want to expand the business Austrian company. internationally.” The original story was released How much Al Jaber is investin Courier, an Austrian newspaing at Backhausen, is not known. per on August 28 and the deal “We will jointly run the busiwas completed by September 15. ness,“ Backhausen said. Backhausen has been operated as a family business since 1849. Reinhard Backhausen continues at the helm as CEO. A change in management is not planned. Backhausen said it exports 70 percent of its production to 40 countries, he said. Backhausen serves the upscale stores and sells equipment for hotels and concert halls. Al Jaber, reportedly has very good contacts in the Arab world and also owns hotels. This should Brothers Herbert and Reinhard Backhausen with Mohamed Al Jaber provide for additional (center) orders. F&FI Sipco News Network

Backhausen has also sent out its own press release confirming the sale. The deal effectively saves Backhausen from bankruptcy since its most recent financial figures were in the red as a result of tough Asian competition. Behind the scenes it was heard that the bank was pressing Backhausen to find a partner due to a net loss of 650,000 euros in 2010. A restructuring plan was drawn up along

(Continued from page 5)

Parmentier Signs Tosunoglu Consulting Deal After Leaving Ragolle Mrs. Myriam Verhelst–Ragolle, Roseline’s older sister; her brother Jean Marie Ragolle and Mrs. Veerle Ragolle–Vervaecke. Roseline Ragolle presided over the acquisition and integration of ITM last September.

That was Ragolle’s first entry into the contract sector which was branded ‘Ragolle Contract.’ Ragolle was adjusting to the new realities of the market and although a major player, Ragolle was becoming more adept on

filling smaller orders of a highly diverse product line. Ragolle is also a major producer of oriental and contemporary rugs produced in the same factory as the decorative fabrics. F&FI

Sipco News Network

EW YORK — ADF/ Westgate has ended its agreement with Houssam ‘Sam’ Rayess to represent it in the Middle East as director of sales after almost two years to the day. Rayess and Li’s arrangement will most likely be settled by the courts, it was learned. According to Harvey Poe, ADF’s legal consul, this change is mostly due to financial irregularities. He further states that these irregularities will be resolved in courts. Rayess did not want to be quoted other than saying his deal with Li has come undone due to actions taken by Li. At the same time, Steven Schroeder, ADF/Westgate vice president of international sales has been terminated by the company. Stephen Schroeder was working closely with Rayess and was Rayess’ colleague 12 years ago at Quaker Fabrics Corp. Schroeder could not be reached for comment. “We are very committed to servicing our Middle East clients out of our Lebanon warehouse and offices. We are in the final stage of reorganizing our new management team. These senior executives have extensive knowledge of our industry and are well respected by the local communities”.

“Our clients will be pleased with the changes. Quite frankly I don’t know any company would have done differently if they were in our position”, Li said. ADF’s new Middle East team will be showing the new 2013 line at booth 8F331 of the Index show in Dubai which is between Sept. 24-27. ADF/Westgate expected to firmly establish itself in the Middle East with its first warehouse operation in the Beirut, Lebanon Free Trade Zone under the direction of Houssam. At the time of the arrangement in 2010, Rayess said: “The customer doesn’t want to hold stock today and now he won’t have to deal with ADF,” said Rayess. “We expect to dominate the market with our lines.” ADF produces faux leather, silk, 100% spun polyester indoor/outdoor fabric featuring embroideries, chenilles, and jacquards; a total of 500 sku’s was handpicked by Houssam for this unique market including sample books. ADF produces 1,500 sku’s twice a year with 500 sku’s targeted for export, said principal David Li. ADF was established in 1995 by Li, whose family also started Orient West in 1991, the brand name for ADF in China. Prior to starting ADF, Li was with The Robert Allen Group for six years. F&FI

Kvadrat’s Kinnasand Purchase Makes Strong Combination by Eric Schneider

BELTOFT, DK — Kvadrat, a leading European design-textile company, says it is substantially strengthening its position in the retail market with the acquisition of Kinnasand July 16. Kinnasand, based in Germany, specializes in designing high-quality curtain textiles, rugs and upholstery fabrics for the residential market. Anders Byriel, CEO of Kvadrat says: “This deal represents our biggest acquisition to date. We are already first choice for architects and designers and making Kinnasand part of the Kvadrat family gives us the opportunity to develop

new business in our retail channel. Kinnasand shares our design approach and values so it’s a great match for us, especially as they do have this strength in residential markets. They have fantastic collections and a great design team as well. Now there is the potential to create a long-term, international platform for the brand.” Kvadrat is a Danish textile design company specializing in the contract fabric market. With Kinnasand, this is Kvadrat’s first entry into the residential sector. It was founded in 1968, supplying contract fabrics to architects, designers and furniture manufacturers throughout the world, for use in upholstery and cur-

tains. Kvadrat is distributed through Maharam in the United States. Kinnasand was founded more than 200 years in Sweden. Although the company is based on a management buyout under German management, she has maintained her very Scandinavian profile and one of the few surviving textile brands in Scandinavia for the private sector. The company has distinguished itself in the past two years of strong growth. Through the acquisition of the plant in the northern German Kinnasand Westerstede, which currently employs 55 people, it will benefit directly from Kvadrat Kinnasand customer service. With Kvadrat’s expertise in furniture

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fabrics combined with Kinnasand’s leading position in curtain fabrics is felt the combined company now has a comprehensive product and service portfolio. “I see the collaboration with Kvadrat as very positively but I’m also a little sad,” says Werner Hofmann, CEO and former owner of Kinnasand.” I am convinced that this decision is right for the future of Kinnasand. Together with Kvadrat, we will be much stronger. A big plus is the fact that Kinnasand is unchanged, but will be further developed by the new owner to be a global player. “ Kinnasand will continue to operate as an independent brand, but

will take advantage of Kvadrat’s international sales and showroom network. F&FI

Kvadrat and Kinnasand unite

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Winter 2012/2013

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F FI NE W S (Continued from front cover)

Calico Rebounds, Rebrands, Reboots, Restores, World’s Strongest Home Fabrics Retailer in North American Market wants to make it easier than ever for the consumer to buy fabrics and custom products from Calico. “Less than one percent of what is bought is ever returned,” he says, as a tribute to its high quality control. Calico was started up in 1948 in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. by two men, Funstan and Woodruff. Kerstetter is rebuilding this business with a new team of managers formed around Morris, now with the company for 16 years and Lori Briggs, the fabric buyer, with Calico for 12 years, following the departure of Roy Simpson Jr., former CEO and some other top executives. Calico has 82 stores currently, with the strongest business in California but is roaring back from the 2008 downturn which saw the U.S. retail fabric business drop 40 percent overall. Calico saw the downturn as an opportunity to close marginal stores and produce a better bottom line. “We’re as healthy a business as we have ever been,” he says. Kerstetter expects that 2013 will be ahead of 2007 sales with three or more stores planned every year for the next decade, although smaller in size by a third than previous outlets. Average store size going forward will be 3,600 square feet. The last franchised store was created in 1978. “We don’t need the energy of the new franchisee or capital going forward. All stores will be company owned in the future,” he states. An important part of the Calico rebound will be the showcasing of Nate Berkus’ first fabric collection on an exclusive basis that is starting in January, 2013. The exciting young author and interior designer will be doing in store promotions in major markets for Calico. “Calico has a legacy of delivering designer

Bert Kerstetter, Class of 1966, played half-back, Princeton University. Photo: Courtesy of Princeton University Library

product, positive home decorating experiences and quality to our customers,” Kerstetter says. “What is special about this partnership is that Nate’s brand philosophy is in perfect harmony with our own overarching brand concept – we empower people to make their homes unique to them with all of their own passions embedded in the details,” he emphasizes. “With Nate’s vision and the quality that Swavelle/Mill Creek (the Nate Berkus licensor) delivers, we have a winning team to inspire our Calico customers in 2013.” This affinity for Berkus’ work is also married to the fact Calico is also ramping up its marketing efforts and makes this launch significant in relation to other designer partnerships of the past. “The truth is that Calico is putting a bit more emphasis on the Berkus launch since his brand ethos does align so perfectly with Calico’s own,” said Margaux Caniato, Principal VP+C, Calico’s recently hired public relations agency. VP+C has a stable of clients from Benjamin Moore to InterfaceFLOR and JCP Home. “We also do strategy work for folks like Target – we helped craft “the shops strategy” that is now in stores and my own background has a lot of history building up heritage brands and managing design partnerships,” she says. The official launch date of Nate’s collection is January 15 when Calico will present a special editor preview in New York City. Nate’s collection is to be sold exclusively at Calico for an undisclosed period of time. Interior designers will only be able to get this line at Calico alongside consumers and DIY designers. “The price points will start at $14.00 which is a very big part of the story – for a designer fabric line of this quality to start at such a valuable price point is major news,” Caniato adds. Over a 64 year period Calico has produced $3.3 billion in fabric sales,” Kerstetter says. “Our repeat business is staggering. We carry a wide range that is affordable. Calico’s catalog is revamped twice a year featuring the products of up to 300 vendors and each catalog is shipped to nearly one million consumers. There are plenty of goods to choose from and we are relatively well known but we want to encourage all vendors including their agents to visit Calico and show their lines. We do a lot of business with weaving mills worldwide through third parties in the USA. We do no

El Convento Mesa by Nate Berkus for Calico

Nate Berkus Exclusive to Calico. He says “Clean your house, people. It costs nothing!” October 14 Cover shot courtesy of Parade Magazine

direct import from China and we don’t want that nightmare,” he says. ”The prints we buy through American converters have always been important to us. When price points plummeted for wovens, it affected the sale of prints but we never experienced the decline in prints felt by others. Prints have a solid and attractive future at retail at $14.99 but ten years ago, the price point was $9.99 for prints.” Calico views fabrics as a component to the finished custom product which is the core of its business since 2001, Morris explains. “We personalize the process that a customer goes through in decorating her home. We’re here to give her what she wants,” the former manager of the Natick, Massachusetts store explains. “We start with the fabric and give the customer a beautiful room.” Morris has attended Proposte and Maison Objet but she does not have a regular schedule of foreign shopping trips. She grew up in the small Cape Cod town of Falmouth, Massachusetts while Kerstetter hails from Beaver Falls, PA., another small town. Designer lines have played an important role at Calico for the past 30 years, Kerstetter points out but over the years, brands like Ralph Lauren introduced in 1989 plus Waverly, Martha Stewart and Laura Ashley have become traditional lines for older customers. As the customer matured, so did those brands, he says. “The perpetual 35 year old customer is now interested in something else,” Kerstetter says. Iman Home (by P. Kaufmann,) Thomas Paul, Thom Felicia,

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Kopacki Quarry by Nate Berkus for Calico

Dwell Studio for Robert Allen and Charlotte Moss have added excitement and especially Nate Berkus is geared to the 35 year old plus customer we want to attract,” he explains. “The customer is tired of gray and beige,” Morris says. In addition, fabric inventory, including the Nate Berkus collection will be focused in the 120,000 square foot Kennett Square warehouse in favor of not having any inventory in individual stores. The new model emphasizes two yard samples instead of 50 yard bolts in store--which the customer can order for quick delivery. “Nearly 94 percent of the orders are delivered within 48 hours,” Kerstetter says. “We have the fastest shipping and the highest order fill rate of anyone in this business,” he maintains. The finished product from a certified workroom is then sent to an outside installer after in-store inspection. Closeouts, always a hallmark of Calico will now be restricted to upmarket brands at value prices. If you sell fabric, you should not miss seeing Calico buyer Briggs. This retailer sells a wide range of product with strength in prints as well as wovens. “Our average customer comes back to the store six times before making a decision. Our average sale is $2,500.00,” he says. “Fabric price points at retail start at $14.00 a yard but run the gamut to the high end at $159.00, “each an outstanding value,” he says. “Our business is all about our relationship with the customer,” Kerstetter explains. “The customer looks forward to her visits to Calico with and without her decorator. We want to give her exactly what

she wants in fabric and produce a beautiful room. Our strength is producing the finished item from fabric; fabric is a component to the finished item,” Kerstetter explains. “The customer spends a lot of energy looking at fabrics so we will do a better editing job than ever in what we show them. The esthetic drives the customer to our stores in terms of pattern and color.” Kerstetter does not feel that web sales of fabrics will ever amount to anything because the customer wants to touch the fabric in her hands. “You can’t do this on the web,” he maintains. “There are 7,000 sku’s in the Calico line up with more attention than ever paid to diversity with a substantial portion in stock from cotton prints to Mohair velvet.” Nevertheless, Kerstetter sees the value of social media to the customers’ use of the web as a research tool and plans to mightily embrace all the web has to offer starting in 2013. When asked about jobber efforts to produce more mass market brands at lower price points, Kerstetter says “they just make us look that much better because we are the leaders in value for dollar when it comes to fabrics,” Stating the obvious, Calico is a retailer—not a jobber so it doesn’t see any competition from the jobber channel when it comes to offering value to the consumer. Although interior designers are not Calico’s target, they too have heard about the Calico value proposition and often shop the stores with and without their clients, he says. “We buy it better than anyone else and still have the designer look in what we offer.” F&FI

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Gittelson Says: China’s Still Upholstery Fabric Export King; Morgan Fabrics Still Dominates China Imports Sipco News Network

OS ANGELES, California — For those who think that the upholstery fabric business is swinging back to the USA, CEO and president of Morgan Fabrics Inc. Michael Gittelson says that “nothing has changed.” “We don’t believe that business is shifting back to the States. The cost differential between China and the USA is based on raw material cost with labor being a small part of this business,” said the “The Chinese government sees to it that raw material prices are

held in check through subsidies. Business in China is just as good as it always was other than the dip in 2008. We bring in items in the $4-$6 range for the motion furniture business in plush pile primarily. We’ve also gotten into $8-$12 jacquards for pillows.” Morgan is still considered the plush pile King of Chinese fabric exporters in the States but it is getting increased competition from the likes of Marcovaldo, Dorell, Elite, Worldwide and Kaslen. “Winning is walking away with 80 percent of the business,” Mike says. He feels he is getting that

feels that the domestic China market is still a ways off from becoming important to Morgan but “it’s definitely out there. There are just too many mills in China and many of them are going out of business. It reminds me of the silk shirt business which went from $100 a shirt to $9 before it imploded.” Besides, Gittelson said he has enough on his place just servicing the USA market from China. Gittelson recently went to the Ashley Furniture store which opened in what was previously a Best Buy location in Shanghai

much out of the market today with the volumes he is moving through the furniture trade. Morgan also has a Shanghai based company, Morgan Fabrics Shanghai Ltd. Morgan is a regular exhibitor at Shanghai Intertextile in August and at both Showtimes in High Point. Passion Suede and Bella Velvet upholstery fabric is still knocking the doors down for Morgan Fabrics Inc. according to Gittelson. “Morgan Fabrics is listed by the Chinese Export Bureau as the largest piece goods exporter in China,” he said. He

Gittelson and determined “they did their homework.” As far as sourcing anywhere else, like Turkey for example, Gittelson says he (continued on page 14)

Manifattura Tessile Di Nole Turns 100, Keeps Focus On Production, Customers Sipco News Network

OLE, Torino, Italy — Manifattura Tessile Di Nole at 100 years of age is testimony to standing your ground in a difficult weaving environment and selling only to wholesalers and world class editeurs, according to Luca Ferrari, owner of the original velvet mill purchased by his father in the 1970’s from a failing Italian textile conglomerate. DiNole’s business, primarily upholstery and decoration fabrics, is doing well with customers in France, Germany and England and sales are up in 2012 according to Ferrari. “In times of recession, fashion goes to the classic and that’s what we provide. We try to keep it simple, step by step but improving our techniques every year,” Ferrari says. His father was manager of the DiNole mill while Ferrari’s grandfather worked in the mill as the weaving director. Ferrari is a consummate businessman, whose skills were honed through higher commerce and business school degree plus a six year stint as the manager of global

accountant Ernest & Young in Torino prior to joining DiNole in 1991. He loves business while his father and grandfather loved fabrics. With two sons, Amodeo (20) who just started to work at DiNole part time and Alberto (18) still in school, he hopes that at least one of them will like the business and join him but “that’s up to them,” he says. Ferrari is on the road six months of the year and appreciates his home life when he is there. His father and grandfather were textile men. “We focus on two things only—production and our customer. Because we produce everything in house, we keep our customers’ designs a secret. The only way to remain in business is to have nice customers who appreciate what we can do for them. Maybe there are still a few who don’t know DiNole but we probably have the top 200 high end and nicest customers in the world today.” Ferrari quotes Jonathan Mould, owner of Romo who’s grandmother once said: “If you sell nice fabric you will meet nice people.” T h e original business was started Ferrari’s attention to customer detail translates into 1960 vintage ‘Les Grenouille’ cufflinks purchased in New York City at Webb Jewelers. Do not eat them please! No mangia!

in 1913 by two men, Magnone and Tedescho in Nole on the Swiss border in the Torino region which is more famous for its northern Italian Piedmontasse wines than for textiles. Most of the Italian textile industry is in the regions of Brianza and Tuscany. Nole may be the only textile mill in the Torino region but it has survived and prospered at the hands of the same weaving families that brought it life 100 years ago. Ferrari figures that 4,400 workers labored at DiNole over the years from the same 30 families which still work at the mill, about 80 workers currently. “These people stick with us. It’s our strength. They know the customers and

“We warp, weave and piece dye jacquard wovens and velvets in the same 30,000 square meters factory. We only spin yarn— cotton, linen, wool, cashmere and silk and then dye it outside the plant with other suppliers.” Ferrari says it is always easy to find good yarn dyers but everything else is handled internally which has made (continued on page 19)

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the specific designs of those customers.” There is no open line and everything is woven to order for the individual wholesaler and editeur. DiNole weaves 7,700 colors of plain cotton velvet which form the backbone of the business. Di Nole is vertical and this has been a great strength all of these years, says Ferrari.

ATLANTA OFFICE:

Miami Office:

170-G Penney Road, Forest Park, GA 30297 TEL 1(404) 765-9891 • FAX 1(404) 765-9825

9990 NW 14th St., Suite 111, Miami, FL 33172 TEL 1(305) 592-3344 • FAX 1(305) 592-9988

CHARLOTTE Office:

NEW YORK Office:

1901 Associates Lane, Suite J, Charlotte, NC 28217 TEL 1(704) 359-8900 • FAX 1(704) 359-8600

147-20 184TH St., Jamaica, NY 11413 TEL 1(718) 995-2900 • FAX 1(718) 656-0859

CHICAGO Office:

Seattle Office:

1350 Michael Drive, Suite D, Wood Dale, IL 60191 TEL 1(630) 521-8525 • FAX 1(630) 521-9490

Houston Office:

2700 Greens Rd, Bldg. J, Suite 102, Houston, TX 77032 TEL 1(281) 590-4500 • FAX 1(281) 590-4501

LAS VEGAS Office: 6375 S. Pecos Rd., Suite 106, Las Vegas, NV 89120 TEL 1(702) 307-3809 • FAX 1(702) 638-9000

21086 24th Ave South Suite 127, Seatac, WA 98198 TEL 1(206) 241-5500 • FAX 1(206) 824-1140

washington DC office: 23723 Air Freight Lane Suite 220, Dulles, VA 20166 TEL 1(703) 996-8885 • FAX 1(703) 996-0415

LOS ANGELES Office:

hong kong office:

5733 Arbor Vitae St., Suite 204, Los Angeles, CA 90045 TEL 1(310) 642-8001 • FAX 1(310) 642-8012

Rm B, 11/F, Nathan Commercial Building, 430-436 Nathan Road K owloon, Hong Kong 852-27700218 • 852-27700215

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com

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Arben Textile’s Karim Rashid Collection Hits Heimtextil 2013 Karim Rashid and Arben’s Archie Tchernov Met in the Air! Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — Karim Rashid, the designer of home furnishings for the mass market has unveiled his Globalove fabric collection licensed by Arben Textile, Moscow, the large Russian fabric wholesaler showing at Heimtextil stand 4.1 E91. Rashid has done other fabric collections in the past 30 years including one for C&C Milano, a high end editeur. With Globalove, Rashid says he is pushing the boundary for the unusual and for the very original designs in his collection. Rashid met Archie Tchernov, one of the owners of Arben, on a plane trip back from Milan after Proposte and by the time the plane had landed in New York, the deal was all but signed, as Rashid tells it. “I wanted to sleep. But Archie was so incredibly passionate about changing the Russian landscape that all I could do was listen to him,” Rashid recalls. That trip covered his first assignment for Tchernov which was the design of MOD, a design center in Moscow that has since opened successfully with many high end home furnishings tenants. Next, the Globalove Collection

was created. “The older Russian population was traditional but my collection is for the new Russian generation and is highly contemporary,” Rashid explains. “There are a lot of Italian showrooms now in Moscow. Everything there is going contemporary in design,” he adds. The new collection consists of 120 designs in five to six colorways. It includes new printing techniques, both transfer, wet and digital as well as a woven jacquard in nylon and viscose. Everything is priced for the mass market in the middle price range. “Globalove is designed for people who like progressive design but can’t afford it,” Rashid says. He continues to push companies to design for the mass market and do more products which people can afford; good design should not become a tool for the elite. Design should be for the betterment of society, Rashid feels. “I want to get things in the hands of the majority.” Today, Rashid is working on 117 projects. His studio employs 15 people in New York and five in Amsterdam. He travels nonstop worldwide almost continuously but it looks as though he will be slowing down some because he is expecting his first baby! F&FI

Karim Rashid Karim Rashid is one of the most prolific designers of his generation. Over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and working in over 35 countries attest to Karim’s legend of design. Karim’s diversity affords him the ability to cross-pollinate ideas, materials, behaviors, aesthetics from one typology to the next, crossing boundaries and broadening consumer horizons. His award winning designs include democratic objects such as the ubiquitous Garbo waste can and Oh Chair for Umbra, interiors such as the Morimoto restaurant, Philadelphia and Semiramis hotel, Athens and exhibitions for Deutsche Bank and Audi. Karim has collaborated with clients to create democratic design for Method and Dirt Devil, furniture for Artemide and Magis, brand identity for Citibank and Hyundai, high tech products for

LaCie and Samsung, and luxury goods for Veuve Clicquot and Swarovski, to name a few. Karim’s work is featured in 20 permanent collections and he exhibits art in galleries world wide. Karim is a perennial winner of the Red Dot award, Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review, IDSA Industrial Design Excellence award. He holds honorary doctorates from the Ontario college of Art & Design and Corcoran College of Art & Design. 2011 highlighted Karim’s largest retrospective to date at the Triennale, in Milan, Italy. Karim is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences globally disseminating the importance of design in everyday life. Karim has been featured in magazines including Time, Financial Times, NY Times, Esquire, GQ and countless

more. Karim’s latest monograph, Sketch (Frame Publishing, 2011), features 300 hand and digital drawings selected from the last 25 years. Other books include KarimSpace, featuring 36 of Karim’s interior architecture designs (Rizzoli, 2009); Design Your Self, Karim’s guide to living (Harper Collins, 2006); Digipop, a digital exploration of computer graphics (Taschen, 2005); Compact Design Portfolio (Chronicle Books 2004); as well as two monographs, titled Evolution (Universe, 2004) and I Want to Change the World (Rizzoli, 2001). In his spare time Karim’s pluralism flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape. F&FI

MOD window display by Karim Rashid

Archie Tchernov

A few samples from the Karim Rashid Collection

Winter 2012/2013

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Brand Study Shows Diolen®Safe FR Yarns Takes Second After 12 Months On Market Sipco News Network

EGGENDORF, FDR— DIOLEN ®SAFE FR fiber has risen to the number two spot in brand recognition behind Trevira® CS after one year on the market, according to Gerhard Havranek, managing director of FR Safety Yarns GmbH & Co. KG. TWD Fibres GmbH and

Lauffenmühle GmbH, partners and producers of DIOLEN® SAFE yarns started operations in August, 2011 and Havranek said the partnership is on target for achieving its three to four year plans. The brand recognition survey was conducted among 600 companies, he said. “It takes time to build new collections but the outcome is good after

approaching more than 80 customers with our products.” Mills can order as little as seven kilos of dyed yarns or one to two kilos of undyed yarns for lab tests. “In 12 months, we have been approached by American and Mexican companies who are interested in our wide range of yarns with over 10 Taslan qualities.

Havranek points to DIOLEN® SAFE’S stability and light fastness properties as well as its “excellent” thermal aging and UV properties due to its different chemical structure from other Polyester FR fibres used for home textiles in the market. F&FI Gerhard Havranek

(Continued from page 12)

Gittelson Says:

wouldn’t go to Turkey for goods. “The Turks are running around China buying goods.” The company was founded in 1956 by his father Arnie, who at 90, is still coming into the office twice a week. “We’re like two bulls in a China shop,” Michael laughs. “Neither one of us wants to back off from each other as far as father and son is concerned. I spend most of my time living in Shanghai but I still get a lot of excitement seeing the pleasure my father still takes in this business. Dad just wanted to sell full rolls but once we established Michael Jon Designs, we started to sell cut order as well,” Mike explains. At 14, Mike discovered a group of Taiwanese businessmen in Beijing. He now lives almost fulltime—nine months a year-- in Shanghai to keep an eye on the business. He started living there in 2004 and began to practice Buddhism which he still believes in. Before China, he spent time in Japan. He started the China business by importing glass furniture components in 1980. In 1999, Morgan began to import rayon chenille. “We wanted the Italian tapestry look for the USA. I met a Chinese guy—he was actually Taiwanese and very innovative-- who said he could make anything. We gave him a color development blanket. In six to eight weeks, we got samples. The Chinese figured nobody would pay more than $3 a yard for anything they made but I wanted the equivalent of a $20 construction in high end rayon jacquard chenille with cotton warps. We couldn’t do that in the States. Everyone told us we were crazy.” In 2002, Morgan started to import microdenier suede fabrics from China. That was a big hit for Morgan and the industry and still sells tonnage until today. F&FI

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com

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Home Furnishing International Bets Its Future on Printed Bedding Fabrics, Serving 30 Major Manufacturers Expands Rugao, China Factory, Expects 200 Million Meter Production By Vishwanath. S and Eric Schneider

HANGHAI, PRC—Home Furnishing International (HFI) is increasing its investment in large volume and low margin rotary screen printing to better serve the bedding industry in its primary facility in Rugao, China, according to David Li, principal, CEO and president of the privately held firm, with annual sales estimated over $200 million.

David Li HFI is investing more than $20 million in the Rugao facility, Li said and over the past year, doubled the size of the Rugao plant to one million square feet under the direction of Shen Jian, president of Shanghai Orient West Decorative Fabrics, the Chinese division of Home Furnishing International. “The Rugao plant currently has a 12-color printing and piece-dyeing capacity of one million meters of wide width fabrics per week and is running at full capacity with 12 dyeing and two high-speed printing ranges,” Li said. “These printing ranges run at 80 meters per minute. Four additional printing ranges will be installed by the end of 2013, bringing the total annual capacity to 200 million meters of wide width fabrics.”

Within five years, Li expects to be doing two thirds of his overall business in printed bedding fabrics producing four million meters a month of either PFP or piece dyed base cloth in wide widths of 250-280 cm. He expects to serve up to 30 large bedding customers with facilities located primarily in China who are capable of buying the 20,000 meter print runs produced by HFI. HFI is also printing its own finished bedding range under the name ‘Palmetto Printworks’ and ‘HFI.’ Li points to his successful print business with Walmart as an example of the type of customer he is attracting. He said he has placed a 120 sku printed pillow program with Walmart. “Print was out of fashion for a long time but it’s coming back into the bedding industry in a big way, Li emphasized. Li firmly believes that the woven piecegoods business is declining in China and the USA although he sees some improvement in the US with increasing housing starts and QE3. “We are lucky as the total picture in China in respect to furnishing fabric is not that bright but seems we are at the right time at the right place with a correct product,” he observed. “Current trends are interesting and we are geared up well: I sensed the beginning of warp knits 3 years ago and is now in full swing replacing chenille”, he stated. “Warp knit is a major substitute for sofa fabrics in furniture segment,” he said. It has advantages such as durability and can be made to 30,000-100,000 Martindale, making its surface more abrasive resistant though it is not yarn dyed. “The market has received it positively as trendy, soft, and fashionable and is perceived as a contemporary choice,” he said. Very importantly, warp knit production is ten times faster and the price tag is $3-$5 US against $4-$10 a meter of chenille

and is making positive headway.” Although a weaver at heart, Li points to the difficulty of attracting labor to his woven business with the retirement age of 45 for women and 50 for men, he said. “We are firmly committed to being a vertical manufacturer and continue to expand and invest in our mills, our machinery, our product line and our people,” Li said. “At a time when many of our competitors are cutting back on research and development, we are adding new technologies and capacity to continue our evolution as a leader in the global market.” In addition to the new printing facilities, HFI said it has invested in modern machinery for yarn-dyeing, weaving, piece-dyeing, specialty printing and a full range of finishing operations, including scouring, Sanforizing, bleaching, sanding, brushing, calendaring, washing, tumbling, steaming, and specialty treatments and finishes. He said the facility also acquired customized equipment to produce and process faux leather. Li said he prints on piece dyed fabrics to give a richer look at very competitive prices. He anticipates producing several lines of upholstery solids a year from this effort in the future. “Our large capacity and diversified manufacturing capabilities can ensure that we will satisfy our clients’ needs for innovation, quality control, speedy delivery and better costs,” Li points out. “As a large vertical mill, we can perform better than those competitors who have to outsource with unreliable vendors. For example, right now nearly all of the top 10 bedding manufacturers in China are printing at the Rugao plant, and our initial production runs that were introduced at our first market in China have completely sold out. “Based on the overwhelming

Home Fabrics places increased emphasis on vertical bedding fabric production positive reaction to our initial printed fabrics, we are launching a collection of our first printed bedroom ensembles for the United States market,” Li adds. “We are using our new facilities and equipment to offer a range of truly unique and innovative printed beds.” The increases in manufacturing capacity and product line are designed to support HFI’s ambitious plans for growth in the international market. “In spite of the current challenging economic climate, we believe there are many untapped markets for our products,” Li asserts. Li points out that the company’s international expansion has resulted in more than $50 million in nonU.S. and non-China business this year. Sales to Brazil, for instance, have been increasing at a rate of 20 percent or more for the past four consecutive years, under the direction of president Rodrigo Prieto. Business in Argentina has doubled in one year, under the direction of general manager Osvaldo Schenquerman, Li said. The first container of merchandise has just

been shipped to Chile, under the direction of general manager Alberto Piffardi, Li stated. “Our Mexican division has been operating for more than seven years, and resumed growth this year,” Li remarks. “We hope to launch our first line in Colombia next year, which will round out our South American strategy.” Elsewhere, the company formed a strategic partnership with Goodrich Global in Singapore to service Southeast Asia, and five programs consisting of more than 250 SKUs are being shipped this year. Li said HFI and its associated companies expect to ship 10 million meters of fabric to Turkey this year. The company also is servicing clients in the Middle East with a warehouse in Lebanon, and earlier this year formed a strategic partnership in South Africa. “We feel we are well-positioned for growth in major markets throughout the world,” Li adds. “For example, our 275,000 square foot distribution center in Gaffney, S.C. is now a duty-free zone, allowing us to better service our customers. F&FI

Sachin, Babi Ahluwalia Bring Ankasa to Beacon Hill Sipco News Network

ew York, New York— Robert Allen’s Beacon Hill brand has partnered with the fashion brand Ankasa to create the ‘Iconic Collection,’ of embroideries and jacquards. Ankasa Iconic is the work of Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia. In concert with Alexis Audette, operating vice president of design for Beacon Hill. The embroideries were realized in India; the jacquards from France and Italy; the linens are sourced in Belgium.

“True to the Ankasa design philosophy, we believe in the beauty of contrast, and frequently used elegant and understated linen fabrics to showcase extraordinary techniques,” the Ahluwalia’s said. Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia reportedly have been a sought after design team in the fashion industry for more than a decade. They are responsible for much of the couture hand embroideries and unique textiles utilized by some of the industry’s most esteemed fashion houses. Visionaries in the field of textiles, the

couple introduced their successful Ankasa home brand with the mantra that luxurious fashion forward textiles could translate to any design aesthetic. Sachin and Babi have successfully translated their vision of modern luxury into the Ankasa lifestyle brand. Their two stores, located in Manhattan on Madison Avenue and in Soho, N.Y. host an array of exclusive products including pillows, bedding, furniture, lighting, wall art and accessories. F&FI

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com

Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia

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Beekalene Opens Dye House, After $5 Million Expansion; Sehgal’s Say Changes will Improve Mill’s Production Status By Eric Schneider

UMBAI, India — Beekalene Pvt. Ltd. has doubled capacity in the past two years, producing close to ten million meters of upholstery and drapery fabrics annually according to Karan Sehgal. He runs the business with his father and his brother Kabir. “Our expansion, which started last year, without the real estate would amount to about $5 million,” Karan said. “With real estate this would probably be $7.5 million. We want our customers to know how serious we are and how eager we are to prove that we can deliver on time and deliver quality goods. We have the innovations, we have the aptitude, we have the client base but prior to this, we were lacking in this infrastructure which will be in place by Heimtex 2013. These infrastructure improvements have changed our underdog status.” Prices average between $5-$6 and a new domestic India line branded Aura Homes® expects to make its debut in 2013 with $4-$15 price points. This cut length program hopefully will roll out internationally in 2013 with 1,500 sku’s, Karan said. The huge expansion, as much as 30 percent anticipated in the near future, hinges on the successful completion of Beekalene’s first in house piece dye and yarn dyeing facility by yearend 2012 which requires the hiring of 60 additional employees on top of the 500 already working at Beekalene, he said. With dyeing now in house, delivery times will shrink from 8/10 weeks to six weeks, Karan expects. With the dyeing capability come bleaching, calendaring and the production of shiny finishes and air finished chenille’s. “The Middle East has hung on to chenille’s more than anyone else,” he said. He said the finishing is

still done on the outside however. Beekalene is developing several product areas in its growth plan. Digital printing is growing using an in house Mimaki machine as well as digitally printed plain and greatly expanded Tajima embroidered product in one piece minimums. Beekalene sells

digital print patterns to up and coming jobbers like Maxwell Fabrics in North America and to a few wholesalers in the UK. “We bother with digital printing because there is a huge potential market for it. Digital printing can be achieved in smaller runs as compared to screen prints with better color matching as

well and digital is more dynamic then screen printing. We digitally print 16 million tones of colors,” Karan said. We own a mimaki. “Minimum orders are 100 meters per run spread across two sku’s,” Kabir chimes in. “Prices depend on the base composition. It varies from $9 to $15 USD per meter depending on the basecloth.

We do plain weaves with slubs, satins and use cottons, linens and rayon or viscose-linen blends. We can print on anything natural in content.” Beekalene also does embroidery before and after digital printing. “We don’t do screen, flat bed and rotary printing. We (continued on page 24)

ts i v a J . c ob K

surtex.com Karan Sehgal with fused fabric

Winter 2012/2013

Co-located with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair,® The National Stationery Show,® Creative & Lifestyle Arts and SPACE™ NY.

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com 17

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New York’s Bryant Park Hosts Global Wool Promotion, Plus Camira Upholstery Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — The Campaign for Wool was launched into the US interiors sector with an all day event and night time party at Bryant Park here. The park fountain became a wool sculpture; trees were wrapped in wool felt; carpets, upholstery and bedding brought a colorful accent to the green park and the stars of the show were the real-life sheep which of course is where the wool story all begins. While the sheep were raised in upstate New York, The Wool Campaign champions wool wherever the sheep are grown—UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA. The Campaign for Wool launch seeks to build an understanding of the natural sustainability of wool

as a fiber type for interior textile applications. Wool is a breathable fiber while being inherently flame retardant and is utilized in high end contract applications. UK based Camira a c o r p o r a t e Fountain of wool sponsor for upholstery at the launch. Camira’s Director of Business Development Paul Bennotti attended the event with his New York sales reps. Camira is marketing its upholstery directly to the A/D community. Camira is privately held UK

Camira sales reps Beth O’Connell (Northern NJ and select accounts in Manhattan) and Rebecca Shapiro ( New York City) with boss Paul Bennotti sales and marketing director, Camira USA.

textile company with two manufacturing facilities in England (in Huddersfield and Nottingham) and a mainland European manufacturing plant in Lithuania. The company’s North America operation is centered in Indianapolis, IN, where it holds stocked inventory and operates a cut yardage program for rapid distribution throughout North America. F&FI

Sheep grazing in Bryant Park, NY

(Continued from page 12)

Di Nole Turns 100 With 200 Nice Customers DiNole very independent of the textile meltdown other mills have experienced. Some closed because they could not replace their vendors while others may have been mismanaged. DiNole never had to rely on any outside vendor for its existence so it prospered even during tough times like the industry is facing today, Ferrari says. Di Nole weaves 140 and 290 centimeter widths, primarily for upholstery but some of its heavy double faced velvets are used for theatrical curtains in the world’s greatest concert and opera halls like LaScala in Milan and Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With 70 looms to its credit, DiNole’s original business of face to face velvets in cotton and silk was complimented by flatwoven jacquard looms in the 1980’s with a 50/50 mix of looms devoted to each construction. Finishing is also achieved in the same plant. The line offers solid color cotton velvets from ten Euro per meter to 250 Euro for silk velvet. “Faster production is not better,” he explains. “Slower speeds are better for producing the best silk and cashmere velvets in the world.” Items can stay in the customers’ line for as long as 60 years even though DiNole might have changed an outside supplier or two during that same time period. Five to ten years is the normal lifespan of a fabric for DiNole but then the customer may rebook the colors. DiNole’s four man design studio produces designs for its customers as well as accepts customers’ own designs. Once the design is made for a customer, only that customer can have it, Ferrari says. F&FI

Winter 2012/2013

Prince Albert, Duke of York came to visit the Tessile di Nole plant in Nole, Italy on March 30,1927.

Luca Ferrari outside factory with a painting of the Nole plant

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com 19

Contract/HospitalityNews (continued from front cover)

C/HNEWS I Designtex Large Format Digital Printing Adds Multi Million Dollar Surface Business Under Susan Lyons

Lyons, Designtex is also designing and installing in-store displays for many retailers, mostly in the apparel world so far but this is expected to change. Designtex now has 500 customers in the digital printing area. “This development was one of the things which attracted me back to Designtex,” Lyons said. The latest Designtex Surface Imaging installation was shown at Boutique Design New York at the Javits Convention Center in November. Lyons rejoined Designtex after a ten year hiatus when she left to start her own company, Susan Lyons Studio and consulted for Herman Miller as creative director of materials for six of those years. Her previous post at Designtex was vice president, design and marketing when she left in 2002. Designtex Surface Imaging was previously named Portland Color and was acquired by Designtex just over six months ago. The 35 man company, most employees with artistic backgrounds, is giving Designtex new business hori-

Divider wall at Bank United

zons that is expected to result in multi millions of new sales with Hospitality, Corporate and Retail markets. “We are installing and printing display modules in stores,” Lyons explained. Designtex is also working directly with the A/D community on new design projects using the large format printing. Current customers include L.L. Bean, Athleta and Eileeen Fisher. About 50 percent of the new digital business is geared to hospitality; 25 percent to apparel and 25 percent to corporate, she said. “This is a great way to brand hospitality projects,” she added. The printing covers wall coverings, acrylic resin panels, rigid surfaces and fabric. Lyons has also revamped her marketing department. In fact, she disbanded it after realizing that a four man department cannot possibly keep up with all the demands of a 215 person organization with all that is required in print, digital, web, social media and event planning. Instead, she hired Michael McGinn, a colleague she

Susan Lyons worked with for 20 years and who runs an outside marketing agency named ‘Standard Issue’. “My job is to efficiently use all of our resources and to build a company that continues to build meaningful product,” she explained. One of her other moves had to do with Carol Derby who was vice president and director of environmental strategy and now is vice president of research and design, a new post at Designtex. The old post is being embedded into the organization without having someone specifically assigned Derby’s former role. “We have to design products to solve customers’ problems—not

Tory Burch just put out more products for their own sake,” she said. “Product can be spectacularly beautiful— aesthetics is a must; technical intelligence and sustainable intelligence is equally important for us.” For the first 90 days of her reign, she is listening to different internal groups including sales and design as well as the customers outside the company. “The market has changed on the one hand and on the other hand it’s the same. The vertical markets are more

distinct; hospitality, corporate and healthcare. There is some product overlap but the way you approach it has changed. People have less time to spend picking product so there is less custom business except for hospitality. The customer is looking for ready-to-go product.” Lyons has also noticed the movement towards more upholstery and less panel fabric in corporate installations. F&FI

Travel Alberta design

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com

Winter 2012/2013

DIOLEN®SAFE Built-in Protection for a Safer Living for contract and outdoor. DIOLEN®SAFE is committed to ecological efficiency principles and strives towards product and process optimization that has minimal environmental impact. DIOLEN®SAFE yarns are produced according to the Cradle-toCradle® principles and set the highest standards with regard to the application of environmentally safe and reusable materials. DIOLEN®SAFE yarns are extremely skin friendly, free from heavy metals and halogen free. Consistently high quality levels are guaranteed by strict brand controlling. Only licensed companies may display the DIOLEN®SAFE trademark.

photo© www.forst.it DIOLEN®SAFE as a brand for inherently flame retardant polyester FR yarns is only on the market for a year, but since its relaunch steadily gained recognition due to excellent product features and an outstanding services portfolio. FR Safety Yarns GmbH & Co. KG is the exclusive marketing and sales company for the broad variety of DIOLEN®SAFE polyester FR qualities. The company FR Safety Yarns is a joint initiative of the two well-known and established European companies TWD Fibres GmbH and Lauffenmühle GmbH & Co. KG, both member of the Daun & Cie Group. DIOLEN®SAFE is a true option when it comes to competence within the privileged world of safety. Textiles made from DIOLEN®SAFE polyester yarns meet internationally established flame retardant protection standards and allow for versatile applications in contract business, hospitality and transport. They have excellent product properties trumping and even exceeding certain features that customers are expecting. This is due to well-founded intensive research and development in the production process of FR polyester filament and staple fiber yarns. Due to the rapid delivery of yarns in various counts and qualities and in-house yarn dyeing facilities FR Safety is able to provide a strong support, optimize the flexibility of its customers and thus enhance their global competitiveness. Gerhard Havranek, Managing Director FR Safety Yarns GmbH & Co. KG: “We are proud of the trust and confidence customers place in our capabilities and the quality of our fibers and yarns portfolio. We constantly strive to optimize our services and to fulfill individual customer wishes. A long term partnership built on customer satisfaction by offering a true added value is our prime priority.” DIOLEN®SAFE yarns can be dyed under standard conditions up to 130° without impairing the FR properties and allow for a much broader colour variety. This message is most likely to pleasantly surprise architects and designers in the contract business always searching for the new and unusual that meets current and future needs and has a cutting edge on the competition. In addition DIOLEN®SAFE presents excellent hydrolytic degradation and thermal ageing parameters. Through the integration of a UV stabilizer the residual strength of DIOLEN®SAFE yarns improved by 30 per cent compared to nonUV protected PES. The number of customers adopting DIOLEN®SAFE for their fabric collections has steadily grown and still expands: Backhausen interior textiles (A), Hulleman Textiel (NL), Prevent Gaenslen & Völter (D), Sander International/Saba weavers (B), Spandauer Velours (D), Teksko Tekstil (TR) and Wittek-DesignWeberei (A) to mention just a few partners supply DIOLEN®SAFE fabric collections

Winter 2012/2013

Partners behind the FR Safety Yarns GmbH & Co. KG and the trademark DIOLEN®SAFE: 1) TWD Fibres GmbH: The fully integrated textile company with a fine tradition and corporate heritage with production headquarters in Deggendorf since 1959, is part of the Daun & Cie Group. The company has approximately 800 employees and generates a turnover of around 110 million €. Filament yarns in PES, PA 6.6 and PBT quality with a production volume of 28,000 t/ year are geared to the following industries: automotive, home textiles, medical, apparel as well as semi-technical product manufacturing. With more than 5.000 tons dyeing bobbins capacity per year TWD Fibres GmbH is one of the biggest and most powerful yarn dyeing mills of its kind in Europe. 2) Lauffenmühle GmbH & Co. KG: As a mediumsized company with 300 employees Lauffenmühle GmbH is one of a few remaining fully integrated textile

companies with a fine tradition and corporate heritage (175 years) with headquarters for production in Germany. With spinning, weaving and finishing facilities a turnover of 48 million € is generated, the export percentage is 40%. The company produces ring-spun and core-spun, air-spun and twisted yarns in various qualities and is bluesign®standard certified. Daun & Cie AG: Daun & Cie AG with headquarters in Lower Saxony is one of the biggest textile groups in Germany with a share of sales in technical textiles of more than 50 per cent. Member of the Daun & Cie Group are TWD Fibres GmbH and Lauffenmühle GmbH & Co. KG as well as numerous further enterprises from textile production and finishing, industrial subcontracting as well as supply of services and textile retailing. In total the Daun Group accounts for around 12,000 employees, the turnover amounts to 1.25 billion €.

built-in protection DIOLEN ® SAFE – A SAFER DECISION DIOLEN® SAFE is your reliable partner for built-in protection. Fabrics with the DIOLEN® SAFE trademark are inherent flame retardant. They not only look good and feel good, they offer long-term safety without any compromise. Environmental responsibility and sustainability go hand-in-hand with technology leadership and excellent product features. DIOLEN® SAFE complies with all international standards for the hospitality and transport sector.

Opt for the peak of safety performance!

www.diolen-safe.com

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Telas & Telas New Mexico City Showroom Now Features Kasmir Fabrics by Johnny Keeton

EXICO CITY, Mexico — Telas & Telas, a 30 year old leader in the sale and distribution of textiles throughout Mexico, has recently opened a stunning new showroom in the heart of the Mexican home furnishings fashion district in Lomas de Chapultepec in Mexico City. This new showroom is in addition to showroom representation in the other key parts of Mexico City, as well as Guadalajara, Monterrey and Cancun. In addition to a traditional showing and display area,

the new showroom has a unique projects for hotels, offices, resoutdoor showroom space that taurants, hospitals and private overlooks the charming bou- clubs. Recently, the company tiques and designer shops lin- has helped design and produce ing the iconic street of Prado quilts, bedspreads, curtains, cushions for the contract marNorth. Featured are the exclu- ket. The company also offers sive brands that Telas & Telas advice on interior design, furhas been distributing for niture design, remodeling and years Romo, Zinc, and Mark restoration of interior spaces Alexander. The latest addition in residential and commercial to the showroom is their first projects. Next time in Mexico City... USA brand, Kasmir Fabrics, stop by and enjoy a special new based in Dallas Texas. F&FI Telas y Telas services the showroom space! residential market, Johnny Keeton, JKS Sales, USA; Morco Llorente, director Telas & Telas; Veronica Uribe, design director; Lourdes but has increased Peralta, showroom manager (not shown in picture). Photo by: Johnny Keeton, Johnny Keeton Studios their activities in

Babei Launches Trevira ®CS at Shanghai Intertextile Wang Cautiously Approaches Next Three Quarters Wang Concerned about European turbulence; but steady American markets show signs of stability. By Vishwanath.S

HANGHAI, PRC — Babei Textiles, China launched its Trevira®CS collections during Intertextile in Shanghai this August and added a new line catering to marine, contract, hotel and yacht applications. “Our focus is now greatest in China, Singapore, Taiwan and other Asian markets”, said Yak Wang, President, Zhejiang Babei Textile Co., Ltd.

Babei is now aiming at the hospitality and cruise line markets and has started with its first collection of 26 patterns and that it expects to shortly enrich with a new range of colors soon. “I do think there is a potential big market for these amazing performance fabrics in Asia,” Yang said. The new lines are priced between $10-20 for yarn dyed jacquards, he said.

(continued from page 17)

Beekalene Opens Dye House purchase designs from Italian studios and these can be very good sellers provided one buys the right design. We are thinking of adding more digital machines in the future as the demand is increasing.” In addition, Beekalene said it has a transfer-print machine and may add a digital transfer paper manufacturing machine as some markets consume mainly polyester based drapes as compared to naturals. This mill also has a line of back coated fabrics fused to a poly/cotton face. “Fusion gives less expensive fabric their stability. For example, we can backcoat curtain weight goods and it then becomes suitable for

heavier weight upholstery applications.” Beekalene has a corduroy fabric made this way inspired by its apparel division for $5 a meter in ten textures and 30 colorways. “This gives us extra mileage on our apparel fabrics,” Karan explained. Pure linens are available— woven in India but the yarn comes from Belgium. The digital prints, chenille’s, linens and fused fabrics will all be shown at Heimtextil 2013. Beekalene is selling to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, US and Canada. The UK and Benelux is also “decent” businesswise for Beekalene, Karan said. F&FI

Babei expects to remain equally focused in its core competencies and will be cautiously treading the growth path for the next three quarters, he added. Silk will continue as Babei’s main stay. Babei is one of the largest global suppliers of silk including to its domestic market. About 70% of Babei’s staple product is in its apparel division which produces high end silk ties, which are exported to the developed countries such as the US, Europe and Japan. In respect to decorative fabrics, Babei has built a strong design team for furnishings in China and is backed by its own upholstery design studio in Como, Italy. Babei said it is the leading supplier of double width silk jacquard fabrics for bedding and is reportedly the strategic supplier for the top five bedding brands in China. The company also supplies readymade sets to Italian high end customers with dedicated 38 jumbo jacquards with Dornier Rapier looms, which will enable it to satisfy diversified customer needs. “The market conditions have changed in the last nine months and I am concerned about European turbulence but Wang said he is encouraged by steady American markets that are showing signs of stability. Within China, real estate and purchase of new homes are dull. As a result, fabric inventories have to be controlled to make sure that Babei continues to remain healthy in all respects. In general, home buying sentiment has slowed down and is likely to remain sluggish

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for awhile. The average cost of new homes fell to the lowest in Shanghai in September while purchasing activities also dropped notably, according to latest market happenings. Unfortunately demand in general for both domestic and external markets is dull. “Sales of newly built homes (high end soft decoration market) are crucial but are subdued while the good news is that our important fabric segment for ladies handbags is on the upswing. We had a 20% increase in this segment in the last eight months and the market is healthy for the near future”, Wang observed. He further added that bedding fabrics constitutes 50% in up-market collections for the domestic market. Asked about the way to manage the tight market situation as both domestic and global markets are strained, Yak replied that next few months are critical and the main strategy will be to focus on high quality and innovation. About controlling costs in China textile factories, Wang commented that the labor has become expensive (due to inflation) between 10-30 percent and there is not much scope to contain the input costs; but the best efforts are made to keenly contain inventories, he said.

Yak Wang Very importantly, Wang is keen to make his best efforts to keep the capacity utilization healthy, which currently varies between 70 to 90 percent. He noted that many small textile companies in China are under stress and are busy in liquidating the finished goods inventories and their continued existence is challenging. Babei is a vertical integrated company equipped with dyeing, weaving and finishing facilities that produce a pure silk range and silk blends for interior decoration applications. Babei was founded in 1993 and after a decade of rapid growth, it is now the largest necktie manufacturer in China. Babei has many leading buyers as its regular customers in the world catering to high-end needs of furnishing and bedding fabrics catering to names such as JAB, Zimmer+Rohde and several other top-end customers. Babei said it owns intellectual copyrights for all of its collections. F&FI

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Australia Leads The World in Fabric Wholesaling! These are some of the key personalities you should know! Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — “Australia sells more to China than China sells to Australia,” said Johnny Keeton, veteran international fabric seller on his return to New York. Keeton recently concluded a three week tour to Australia where he opened up Basford Brands to the Kasmir line out of Dallas, Texas. (See companion story) Australia’s population of 22.6 million is enjoying a robust economy where fabric sales are up in 2012 over 2011. In some cases, fabric sales are up 15-20 percent over last year and more to follow in 2013. “Australia is a cherry picker that buys the best from all over the world,” said Johnny Keeton, an international fabric sales consultant. “Shipping and duty to Australia is so expensive that they tend to buy the high end lines. They’re the most astute buyers in the world,” Keeton said.

Peter Fitzgibbon - The Textile Company

Cameron Warwick, Warwick Fabrics chief

Gary Price and Belinda Price, Materialized principals Greg Hobbs, Laine Furnishings mill liaison manager

Jason Fry, Basford Brands, Sekers brand general manager Jessica Fitzgibbon with The Textile Company and Alexis-Jon Keeton, Keeton Sales Agent

Michelle West and Wayne Leslie, Basford Brands

Barry Amarant, Director, Windsor Fabrics

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Kiwi Fishing Day Raises $10,000 Sipco News Network

UCKLAND, New Zealand — Sandra and Brett Fleetwood from Scorpio Agencies Ltd. raised $10,000 for the Sweet Louise Cancer Foundation with its annual Textile ‘Meet and Greet Day’ last March on the Tranquil Island of Motihue in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. The fourth annual fishing event is being held on February

22, 2013 in Auckland. The industry is invited to attend, suppliers and wholesalers. Team Warwick Fabrics took out the overall Team prize this year and husband and wife Allan and Kerry Winter took out the two main individual prizes of the day. Kerry was fishing for ‘Team Charles Parsons’, and Allan was fishing for ‘Team Warwick.’ This is a main selling season

for Textile Exporters to the New Zealand marketplace so if you are in Auckland during this time contact any of the local kiwi wholesalers and get onto their boats and view the Auckland Harbour / Hauraki Gulf which is one of the greatest areas of the world or look at www.nztextilefishingcompetition.co.nz for details. F&FI

Team Warwick’s Allan Winter and his wife Kerry, fishing for Charles Parsons. That’s Warwick’s general manager Mr. Martin Irvine on the right. (bottom left photo)

Basford Builds Brands Powerhouse Sipco News Network

EELONG, Australia — Basford Brands has evolved over time into a powerhouse of well known home fashion labels. As one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading window furnishing distributors, the company continues to cement itself as a modern, aggressive investor who strives for distribution and customer service best practices.

Michelle West, General Manager Decorative Products. Basford’s roots were the amalgamation of Filigree from Australia and Maurice Kain and Sekers from New Zealand. The company has acquired an impressive brand portfolio under its umbrella over time.

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Showcasing well known labels like Sekers, Maurice Kain, Filigree, Filigree Blinds, Claremont and now Zaab Homewares, Basford Brands product offering is superior, comprehensive and diverse. The Geelong based company has in fact set its sights on becoming the number one home furnishing supplier in Australia. With over 50 years experience, Basford Brands is a dynamic and innovative designer and marketer of homewares. The combined knowledge of the group offers quality solutions for a range of home textile products. The company is well established throughout Australia and New Zealand with showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane. Auckland, Wellington, Geelong and soon to open in Christchurch. The business has an 80,000 square foot warehouse in Australia and a 20,000 square foot warehouse in New Zealand, as well as a number of small manufacturing sites. The business has changed enormously in the last four to five years. Managing double digit growth in each of these years, the company believes this growth will only continue. “Our Sekers brand is absolutely delighted to be appointed the sole distributor of Kasmir Fabrics. We are strategically adding to our showroom collections and the Kasmir range is fantastic and a complimentary addition to

Jason Fry, Sekers brand manager the Sekers’ offer,” said Basford Brands Managing Director, Wayne Leslie. “We are always looking for new product, but we don’t want to be ‘stamp collectors’. We’re looking for inspirational, well designed, new ranges that we can sell. Anybody can place a sample but if it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t work for us and it doesn’t work for our principals. Some of the more established brands’ products don’t really cut it; they have the name and the reputation but not the product. We want the product and we will build their brand,” continued Leslie. F&FI

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Kasmir Exports Collection Through Keeton to Lithuania, Australia, Asia, Spain, Mexico Sipco News Network

finished product for its customers. The expansion will focus on cut ALLAS, TX — Kasmir length of the Kasmir line. Basford Brands, a major Fabrics is catching up with the competition among wholesaler in Australia also U.S. wholesalers for global sells Sekers, Maurice Kain and expansion with the opening of 17 Filligree branded blinds from the showrooms in 2012, most recently UK. As part of its recent with all seven of Basford Brands international expansion, Kasmir showrooms in Australia. Kasmir is a major U.S. fabric has also placed its line with jobber with a very well developed two Telas y Telas showrooms workroom business which makes in Mexico City and two more locations in Guadalajara a n d Monterrey; also with Kawashi International in Singapore and La Albaida Decoracion in Malaga a n d Marbella, S p a i n . Recently, it Jessica Fitzgibbon and Alexis-Jon Keeton made a deal

to distribute its line in Vilnius, Lithuania through U A B Sortimenti. T h e K a s m i r program with these Michelle West and foreign showrooms is strictly cut order in the middle to high end price points. Johnny Keeton Studios based in New York, is the company behind these deals as the international selling agent for Kasmir. Keeton originally hails from Dallas, home base for Kasmir. He worked out the details of the international showroom effort with Linda Kasmir, president. Recently, Johnny’s daughter Alexis-Jon Keeton has returned to Johnny Keeton Studios to help with the Kasmir expansion in Australia. She is based in

Sipco News Network

Wayne Leslie- Basford Brands Melbourne, Australia where she represents all JKS key lines including Spectro Coating- USA; Jacquard Tecidos- Brazil; SY Liangs- Taiwan; Sushitex- India; Kasmir-USA, Linotex- Mexico and Carina-Turkey. Alexis-Jon says she is “comfortable in working in the fabrics industry after many years dealing with the New York based and Canada, and also with the US jobbers and retailers. When she’s not selling fabrics for JKS, AlexisJon can be found teaching swing dancing. F&FI

(Continued from front cover)

Redelman Fabrics and Wallcoverings Open 10,000 SF Showroom in Sydney excellent display and natural light, she said. “This is a great aid in the design process and Redelman has received many compliments on the beautiful fabrics. Designers, decorators and architects regularly visit the showroom to view the luxury fabrics and designs.” Redelman Fabrics is a family owned and run business now with Geoff Redelman’s daughter Nadia, the youngest, (pictured) with her father and uncle David. Nadia said she is bringing new innovations, style and technology into the company. Redelman Fabrics specializes in “variety” and “design” in their showroom, Nadia said. “We offer a great range of choice in patterns, style and genres. R e d e l m a n s explores View of new showroom with fabrics on rolls the global

Fabrics & Furnishings International is taking a look at Australia in this issue. See other stories beginning on page 26. “The new showroom already has been a successful drawcard for Redelman clientele who are now able to view fabrics on the roll to show the full beauty of the designs,” said Nadia Redelman. The showroom focuses on

Australian Market Report

market and sources their fabrics and wallcovering from the best of the world. They are providing a leading selection of up market fabrics to their clients and do not compromise on style and quality. N a d i a Nadia Redelman, design director, shows cotsaid her ton print responsibility as a ‘business development design direction. Having three manager’ is to enhance sales different yet complimenting through innovation. This design strategies has been of includes creating systems to great benefit enabling us to improve efficiency and customer bridge all areas of the high experience, enhancing our quality market and provide for a online presence and assist in variety of tastes. We see colour, all areas of the business. My design and high quality as the uncle David oversees the sales way for the future Redelman fabrics is and Geoff is responsible for the financial operations. We optimistic about changes in the all participate in guiding the design industry as people move company direction in order to away from minimalism and provide a modern balanced more toward embellishment. F&FI view both in marketing and

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The following is a brief report on the Australian Market and Wortleys by principal Ben Wortley. The Australian furniture industry continues to have a tough time, with continued weak consumer sentiment reducing consumer spending on nonessential items. The well documented Australian “two speed economy” created by our sustained mining and resources boom, has not greatly benefited the general retail community for a number of reasons. Primarily, those that are benefiting from the high incomes tend to be working on a “fly in fly out” basis and hence are not spending money on their homes, as are there for only a short period of time…..put simply they are spending their high disposable income on larger ticket items like cars and travel…not furnishings! Wortley Group has continued its focus into segments where there is either growth or greater protection from the current market challenges. Our aim is to provide the highest level of service through our highly trained Account Managers, and distribution systems. Whilst the retail furniture market is tough with continued price pressure with the dominance of cheap imports, there are signs of recovery in the commercial segment with more activity in the hospitality, resort, apartment markets. Coated products have increased in popularity in this segment where clients are looking for low maintenance and high performance solutions. Wortley has been in the forefront in this category, and have just launched an amazing array of coated products boasting resistance to bleach , alcohol and even acetone! Textile trends in Australia continues on a more conservative trend of plain linen looks, in a neutral pallette, however clients are now accenting with bold multi coloured patterns. Wortleys are catering well for this category, offering beautiful textured plain looks, that also possess remarkable durability, all locally stocked in our Melbourne distribution facility. The drapery market is showing some signs of growth with a potential move away from blinds and shutters to a more feminine and homely dressing of the window. This has been reflected with our growth with Ashley Wilde products, a brand which is gaining a strong foothold in this segment. Our leather business which has been an integral part of the company’s 60 years history, continues to expand and grow, as clients seek consistency and quality from their leather supplier. Wortley’s now offer over 500 leathers to the (continued on page 29)

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Starik Hottabych Increases Russian Consumer Curtain Fabric Purchases Sipco News Network

OSCOW, Russia — Starik Hottabych, a 36 store home furnishings chain, is seeing growth in its window covering business of five percent each year and is increasing its purchases with mills and wholesalers on a 50/50 basis according to Natalia Vysotskaya, category manager, interiors division. She is buying fabric from Italy, Belgium, Germany Spain and Turkey in medium to high levels unlike the competition in the mass market. “The Chinese are not so strong in window decoration in Russia today but this may change in a few more years,” she felt. “The Turkish suppliers are forward thinking. Sometimes they are selling us Chinese goods and

embroidery brought from India. “The typical customer is young, in the 25-45 year old age group,” said Vysotskaya. She is buying fabric in the eight Euro to 35 Euro price range for the stores and the business is growing at least five percent a year, she said. “We keep 1,000 items in stock at all times. We also offer the consumer hand drawn plans of their custom curtains free and simple sewing is also free on special window days in June,” she explained. “This is a very competitive business but customers look at their windows as status symbols whole upholstery is looked at in a very different way. Upholstery is utilitarian and not much time is spent purchasing it,” she said. Starik stands for a folk character

Natalya Vysotskaya in the Russian culture and Russians are very familiar with this character, she said. F&FI

Australia’s Gummerson Buys Hoad Assets, An 85 Year Old ‘Institution’

Sipco News Network

ICTORIA, Australia — Gummerson Fabrics Pty Ltd, Brighton East, VIC, led by John Maiden and Andrew Gummerson, director, have bought the assets, name and all property of Hoad Textiles, an 85 year old upholstery and window fabrics wholesaler, one of the oldest home textile wholesalers in Australia. Gummerson was established in 1934 as a curtain and drapery fabric and readymade wholesaler and has 30 employees based in Arndell Park, New South Wales. The Hoad brand and remaining stock was purchased by Gummerson Fabrics in July from an Administrator July 24, 2012. The Hoad website says “any claims to unpaid moneys should be directed to the Administrator” which means that Gummerson did not assume any of Hoad’s debts, only intellectual assets and inventory.

One industry veteran observed: “there were pallets of racks of fabrics being unloaded with Hoad stickers with the Gummerson building in the background.” However, despite this observation, Maiden said “there was not much stock that has come across to us.” Maiden guessed that “most had been sold prior.” Gummerson is primarily a wholesaler of window fabrics which distributes to the trade all over Australia. Hoad products were distributed in Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. Hoad started its business in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne as a manufacturer of lampshades and furnishing products. It was founded in 1927 by Alfred Hoad whose son Lester Hoad took over in the 1950’s. Lester pioneered brand naming in the soft furnishing industry in Australia with the registration of the ‘Matchmaker’ and Hoad names which are still used today.

(continued from page 28)

Australian Report Australian and overseas markets. Our expansion in the interior design segment has been intentional, and now a substantial part of the business, marketing internationally renowned brands including Duralee, Highland Court, Ashley Wilde, Linwood, plus Tasman and Gosh leathers.

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In the early 1960’s Hoad started to design their own fabrics (said to be a first in the Australian industry) which they also manufactured into finished products such as bedspreads and packaged curtains. In the early ‘80’s, Rod Hoad (Lester’s son) introduced fully coordinated soft furnishings, allowing products such as bedspreads, curtains, cushions and upholstery fabrics to be sourced from the one wholesaler, ensuring an acceptable match. “Hoad did not produce bedspreads and ready-made at the time we purchased them – they have not for some length of time,” according to Maiden. The purchase price of the assets acquired by Gummerson was not disclosed. It is not known how Gummerson plans to merge the assets of the two companies at this time. It is also not known what caused the demise of Hoad other than mismanagement in a difficult economic climate. F&FI

The growth the company has enjoyed over the past three years has been driven by an unwavering focus on marketing quality products and brands, and working closely with our clients who look to us for consistency in supply and service. Certainly, the outlook is cautiously positive, and if the world circumstances stabilise, Australian consumer confidence will return and the industry will begin to expand again! —Ben Wortley

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Opinion: Now Consultant, Roger Berkley, Former Jacquard Mill Owner Says U.S. Textiles Specialization Is Key to Survival Berkley Talks About Taxes, Employees, Copyright during Second Annual Conference on the Renaissance of American Manufacturing By Roger Berkley

spent four plus decades on factory floors, in my own plant, in other plants. I do know that the only things that actually matter in a business are customers and employees. That’s all that matters. Everything else is real estate, intellectual property - it’s all fungible - but customers and workers, they’re the only things that matter.” I have boots on the ground manufacturing experience. I’ve dealt with cost increases and tax increases and economic cycles of boom and bust. I’d like to answer one question that’s been raised today about taxes. My company and my competitors never made a decision based on taxes. They made decisions incorporating what the tax structure is because we can’t change it. If you want to do something about taxes, if taxes are an issue, remember that Japan may cut its corporate tax rate, but it has a value added tax, which we don’t have in the USA. American disadvantage in export is related to VAT. When the American product gets sold to France, I have all that American tax on it and then my French customer has to apply the French value added tax which is about eighteen percent in France today. That’s a real tough nut. So if you’re going to cut corporate taxes that’s not really going to help me that much in my exporting efforts. You must do something about that value added tax. On another subject, I sat with a group of employees and told them they were being downsized, face to face; because my job, as the owner of a company, is to talk to my greatest asset face to face. Don’t run and hide behind some third party who is going to say to them, I’ve got to let you go. I’m letting them go and they should hear it from me. That’s my responsibility. I fought against the incredible stupidity and finality of banks which took billions of taxpayer dollars in bailouts and then kept it, rather than lending it to the people who needed it. I lost that fight. I really did. I saw my business killed by the stupidity of a bank. They just didn’t like what they saw. That bank hadn’t lost a penny on us. They just didn’t like what it looked like. What did they know? They knew nothing. Over the years

I’ve learned that bankers… are generally lying bankers (and) really stupid. They’re asked to look at all different kinds of fields and areas and understand them. That means they look at all kinds of things and they understand none of them. Then they make decisions based on their lack of knowledge. I’ve spoken to the remaining weavers. I understand their strategies and concerns. Most of the textile manufacturers are private companies. The companies that were public went away because there is no commodity business in the United States anymore. That business is long gone. The textile industry was the poster-boy for giving away manufacturing. Long before, when Dick Nixon stepped off that plane in China, we could feel the noose being tightened around our necks. From that point forward, even before that, (the tough competitor) was Japan. The textile business went to Korea in the mid-seventies. My father fought that. He testified in front of various committees about that problem. (As an industry) we have been essentially raped as the first to go. Right now, every country has some sort of textile industry. They have to. So what’s the easiest thing to give them when they want something? Hey, give them the damn textile industry. Nobody will miss it. Except we have the Berry Amendment, which says that anything used by the military, and now the TSA - you know those nice blue shirts - those are made in the United States because the Berry Amendment says that all has to be made here in the United States. And every time the Berry Amendment comes up for renewal there’s a group in Congress that says, you know, we could get it for less if we bought it in China. Yeah, but, what are your soldiers going to wear when the Chinese get pissed off at you? You’re going to have a whole bunch of naked soldiers running around the field. I mean, that’s what it’s all about. So what happens is, we have to buy, the country has to buy, textile and apparel products made in the United States of America. But then, by killing the textile industry, all the support industries that supply the textile industry - the entire supply chain

- is demolished. So now those companies have to keep alive companies to make the yarns necessary because the only thing those companies can do is sell to companies making military and government textiles. There’s no other customer in the United States. There are just a handful of us and we don’t use enough. When Burlington Industries was in the upholstery business, they were in my part of the business which is jacquard, where the pattern is actually woven into the fabric. That part of the business made up one percent of the overall textile industry in the United States. Of that one percent, Burlington had seventy-two percent of the looms. Burlington got out of the business in the mid-seventies. Bye-bye yarn guys; so long yarn dyers; so long independent fabric finishers. We’re here to talk about solutions so let me give you the good news. My former competitors are really terrific people; they work hard. I learned to respect them and know them through trade associations. I have always had more in common with my competitors than with any other single group of companies. We had the same equipment problems and similar sourcing issues. There were a whole bunch of things we couldn’t talk about in a trade association and that’s ok. But we got to know each other and we didn’t sue each other over intellectual property; Not like the Chinese where there’s nobody to sue. The Chinese take your patterns and sell it globally but not in the USA. They don’t sell it to the United States because they know the importer will be sued for copyright infringement. They sell it everywhere else in the world, making the product in the United States worthless. That’s what intellectual property is. It’s a thousand little wounds. You hear about the one huge wound, but not the thousand little wounds inflicted on small and mid-sized manufacturers every single day. The good news is we’ve learned some things that make us good. R&D - we are very good at that. The U.S. has always led the world’s textile industries in R&D. Our design and our use of raw materials are excellent. The key there is you always keep the footsteps behind you. They’re always there, but you must keep them behind you. That’s one of the things the U.S.

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textile industry has learned that serves us well. Specialize. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Specialize. Find a niche and go in it. If it’s a small niche, believe me, the guy in China whose first words to you are, ‘how many containers a week can we ship you’-- is not interested in the 400 yards of fabric you sell to the store in the San Francisco Opera House. They just don’t care. That’s not for them. Avoid hubris. Don’t think you’re better than you are. See where you are; be realistic in your expectations. Don’t live on past successes. I don’t care what you did before. I don’t care if thirty percent of all the furniture made in the United States is covered in your fabric today. That’s the past. That will never come back. You cannot re-shore textile manufacturing. You can in-source it, but you can’t re-shore. Forget commodity products. But some of our manufacturers were in that commodity business and they need to have some of that volume. So what they’ve done is they’ve created hybrids. The hybrid is the product that we cannot make competitively here, we will design, we will copyright, and we will outsource that. It’s never going to get made here again. Nobody will ever make it. So do that. So those are really the key things that happen on the factory floor. What do we need from the folks in Washington? You have to know what you’re doing. You have to have a trade association, or somebody who knows what’s going on in Washington, because all the people sitting in this room you guys, and ladies, are all really knowledgeable. You really know what’s going on. But let me assure you, the guy making kitchen cabinets back in your state where you came from originally, has not a clue. They don’t know where that ax is going to fall. They don’t know what’s coming at them, but they do need to know. We need Washington to do something about real intellectual property protection because it doesn’t exist today. We need regulation that works and is commercially viable. The Consumer Product Safety Commission back in the seventies, which is how I got involved in the trade association, was looking to do something about furniture flammability. And they wanted to

Roger Berkley make fabrics that would protect homes in case of furniture fires. So I sat with a number of different chairs of CPSC and said to them, so, Consumer Product Safety Commission, let me see if I can get this straight, there’s a fire and at the end of the fire the house is gone, there’s nothing there but this immaculate sofa which has not a single burn on it. That’s what you’re looking for, really? How is that even viable? We have fought this battle through the Reagan Administration, the Bush I Administration, the Clinton Administration, and the Bush II Administration when they finally sort of backed off. It’s now beginning to rear its little head again but we’re not that big of a group; we can’t give a lot of lobbying money. The polyurethane foam industry is pretty powerful. So the fact that the polyurethane foam, in the furniture, is essentially nothing more than solid gasoline, right, they will not regulate that. They only want to regulate what wraps around it. The above speech was made by consultant and former mill owner and Chairman of The National Textile Association, Roger Berkley at the Second Annual Conference on the Renaissance of American Manufacturing: Jobs, Trade and the Presidential Election, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. on March 27, 2012.

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Boyteks Hits $180 Million Sales, Part of $4 Billion Boydak Group Sipco News Network

URSA, TURKEY — Boyteks, the upholstery and mattress ticking division of Boydak Group has become a major force in jacquard and ticking production in less than ten years with sales in the $180 million range, according to Dr. Mevlüt Baydar, marketing director. This places Boyteks in the top ten mills of the world in sales, F&FI estimates. Boydak Group, the 55 year old parent of Boyteks, has $4 billion in sales. Boydak is involved in ten different business

sectors with 29 companies including furniture production. Boyteks is a supplier to all of the furniture factories within Boydak Group, inside and outside of Turkey, Dr. Baydar said. These divisions include Istikbal, Bellona and Mondi brands in the local Turkish market. Besides, Forte in Ukraine and Russia, Mosaic Furniture in Iraq are Boydak’s manufacturing facilities abroad, which produce foam, mattresses, sofas and furniture. Boyteks produces jacuard upholstery in Bursa and knit ticking, carpet, and warp knits in

Kayseri. Production began at the Kayseri plant with just 24 looms and has now reached 310 looms. Additionally, the Bursa plant for upholstery manufacturing has reached 133 looms as a result of continuous investment in production, according to Dr. Baydar. Dr. Baydar also said Boyteks Kayseri is the largest mattress ticking fabric producer in the world under one roof. “With new investments in 2012, Boyteks has started to make carpet and warp knit fabric to supply worldwide markets,” he added. F&FI

The World at Play Haufe Rides Again!

enner and Haide Haufe just settled for the new Mercedes Benz GLK 350 CDI, perfect for Henner’s age of 76. Henner sold his ML 450 CDI but says he loves the new wheels; so does Haide. Creative Furnishings Fabrics, Henner’s company used to travel Europe in the big caravan (right). In those days, Henner had a traveling road show but today, he prefers to stay at home. Henner is the European sales wing of Rockland Mills, the blackout lining kings in 1988: those were the great days of the US textile industry! Baltimore, MD.

Professor Blackout Dives for the Fun! Mark the shark Kresel, vice president of sales for Rockland Mills revisits skydiving in Spa, Belgium after a 40 plus year gap. He was and always will be a United States Marine. When he’s not flying or diving, he’s Professor Blackout. Check out his video on fandfi.com. He also makes highly decorative wooden birdhouses for the Stars!

Publisher’s New ‘Girl’ Publisher Eric Schneider is already beginning to celebrate his 65th year, May 10, 2013 with the purchase of a 1987 Mercedes Benz 560 SL. He thanks fabric jobber/car collector Curt Pindler for his sage advice, “Drive the Hell out of it!” I am Curt, I am!

Eric’s new ‘girl’’ seen at La Sandwicherie in South Beach, Miami, Florida.

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Marzotto Saves Radaelli Velluti Sipco News Network

ILAN, Italy — Marzotto Group, a 175 year old manufacturer of yarns and blankets, has acquired Redaelli Velluti, an historical silk mill founded in 1893 that closed months ago in bankruptcy. Radaelli Velluti has been a manufacturer of jacquard, velvet and plain woven, dyed and finished fabrics for apparel, transportation, furnishing and industrial applications that will receive new life under Marzotto. Further details are not known at this time. This is Marzotto’s second fabric mill acquisition after the purchase of Ratti, another Italian mill specializing in silk fabrics. The Marzotto Group manufactures directly for wool and cotton yarns for clothing sector as well as home textiles. Through equity investment, it also produces silk, wool and linen yarns for knitwear. Marzotto and its other brands include Guabello, Marlane and Tessuti di Sondrio, Estethia - GB Conte and Fratelli Tallia Dolphin Group; Ratti SpA in silk and Lanerossi in the sphere of wool yarns for knitwear and Linificio Canapificio in regard to linen yarns round out the company. Marzotto produces finished products for the home like blankets, duvets, throws, bed runners, cushions, bed linen and terry products; from the raw materials to the finished product, and Marzotto Home Lanerossi brands are vertically integrated with internal production, which Marzotto said allows for complete control of its supply chain. F&FI

ZHEJIANG BABEI TEXTILE CO., LTD Babei is a weaver, jointly invested by Babei Group Ltd. and Art Touch Investment(H.K.) Co. Ltd .,with a total investment of USD20,000,000.00. We are handling four main categories: a) high end silk jacquard fabrics double widths for bedding; b) high end silk jacquard fabrics for drapery and upholstery; c) fire retardant jacquard fabrics for contract ;d) jacquard fabrics for high end ladies’ bags. Babei is a vertical company well equipped with most advanced dyeing ,weaving and finishing facilities and is one of the few companies in China approved by Testex Zurich and awarded certificate for all our woven fabrics to meet Oeko-Tex standard 100. Babei is also approved and awarded certificate of ISO9001-2000 for quality management, ISO14001-2004 for working environment and OHSAS18001-1999 for occupational and safety management Babei’s vision is to create the most value to our customers and has adhered to this vision from the very beginning. Babei is transforming herself to be an interior fabric resolution supplier. To meet this goal, we have installed 82 most sophisticated Dornier and Sulzer looms with different hooks Staubli jacquard machines which enable us to produce a variety of jacquard fabrics with different design repeats and constructions (86 ends/inch, 173 ends/inch, 203 ends/ inch, 244 ends/inch and 300 ends./inch). we have also installed Dobby looms for weaving plain fabric or fabric with small repeats. We are able to produce different widths, including 140cm ,150cm, 280cm and 300cm,which are suitable for different customers. Besides silk fabrics, Babei has also developed a rich collection of multi-functional fabric for contract purpose. Babei has attached great importance to the creation and development of our products. We have our fully owned office in Como who serves as sourcing and designing and we also work closely with other designing studios in Como and Japan. We have our own intellectual copyrights for all our products. Babei has invested heavily on designing software German EAT and has adopted the ERP computerized management system specially designed for Babei .The system carries out the task of scientific management which coordinates and supervises all flows in production and operation ,and this will not only improve our working efficiency and reduce the chances of mistakemaking , but also provide good conditions for operating the whole company at high efficiency. Babei will debut our new collections at Intertextile Shanghai every year. Please send your enquiry to e-mail: yak@babei.com.

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Romo Launches Black Edition A High End Brand Above All Other Romo Brands Sipco News Network

René Gruau’s new ‘Runway Collection’ by Zinc Textile features digital prints. Major new book ‘Gruau Portraits of Men’ By Réjane Bargiel and Sylvie Nissen was published by Assouline in October; exhibition of René Gruau’s work at the PAMPALONI Gallery in Miami started the 3rd of December until February 15.

OTTINGHAM, UK — Romo will launch ‘Black Edition’ at Maison Objet, a new up-market brand, according to Jonathan Mould, Romo principal. The ‘Black’ line includes a substantial wallpaper collection, all non woven with about 60 sku’s; one wide width 100 % linens collection including tie dyed, spray dyed and

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Emily Mould digital prints with 35 sku’s; a collec-

Jordan Mould tion of textured weaves and small designs in 100 sku’s and one collection of decorative weaves and digital prints in 120 sku’s. Mould said all collections will be backed up with a “substantial stock investment.” “This is a major investment for Romo and is aimed right at the upper end of the market where design originality and quality without compromise are essential and appreciated,” he added. ‘Black’ is priced above Romo and is on a par with Zinc and Mark Alexander, Mould confirmed. Romo continues to be very aggressive about introducing new brands and products to the designer market. The new brand Black Edition will be the company’s sixth brand. The other five are: Romo, Villa Nova, Kirkby Design, Zinc and Mark Alexander brands. Romo will also be back at Maison et Objet in Paris in January, 2013 with the new brand but at the same time, will also launch major collections for Mark Alexander and Zinc, Mould confirmed. Justin Marr, Zinc’s lead designer will show two collections at Maison Objet; Runway, a collection inspired by catwalks from a bygone age featuring Rene Grau licensed designs and Shadow Mountain, Zinc’s take on winter and ski chalets, “Zinc of course continues to push the boundaries of design,” he said. To give one an idea of the success of Romo with a new brand, Zinc has reportedly achieved over $10 million in sales in less than two years and has opened its own freestanding showroom in London. “It may sound like a cliché but this new up-market addition to the Romo brand really is stunning and has already got a ‘wow’ reaction to all those that have previewed it.” Mould said he is “proud to have been involved in the development process and “especially proud” of his daughter Emily “for having produced such an amazing collection at such a young age.” Not to be outdone, Mould’s son, Jordan, picked up ‘best collection honors’ from House & Garden Magazine for his Kirkby Design ‘Spectrum,’ a collection of contemporary woolen checks. F&FI

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Blue Drop Award Winners at MoOD

MoOD 2013

The Dutch company Eijffinger won the ‘Blue Drop for Wall Covering’, thanks to the trendy look of its collections. The ‘Blue Drop for Contract’ went to Konrad Hornschuch from Germany, whose multifunctional ‘skai Sorisma EN’ collection in simili leather is, according to Niek De Prest, “an excellent example of elegance and performance for the contract business.” Bruvatex from Belgium won the ‘Blue Drop for Outdoor’, while another Belgian company, B&T Textiles, received the ‘Blue Drop for Window Covering.” The ‘Blue Drop for Upholstery’ was won by Nachik, a young and dynamic company based in Israel. The ‘Blue Drop for Innovation’ was awarded to Delius. This German company produced a fabric for window coverings with an extremely thin woven reflective tissue in Lurex and PU on one side. Thanks to this layer, the fabric is heat-insulating without a coating being used. Italian Lucchesi Giuseppe won the ‘Blue Drop for Yarns’. The jury praised the elegance of the design, which was created for the contract business. Finally, the Trevira CS Award, which is awarded to an outstanding new Trevira CS creation, went to another Italian company, Fidivi, for ‘The Fidivi Vintage Collection’.

Blue Drop Award winners: Bruno Hornshuch, owner, Konrad Hornshuch, Weisbach, Germany; Thierry Van Damme from B&T Textilia, Waarchoot, Belgium; Nachik Weberman, owner, Nachik, Tel Aviv, Israel; Ruud Averson managing director, Eijffinger BV, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands; unidentified designer with Delius, Bielefeld, Germany.

Tony Dunlop, director of Raffles Linen, Mittagong, Australian distributor with Luca Ferrari, principal of Manifattura Tessile di Nole, Italy

A.G.Reilly’s Art Reilly, North Carolina based agent, is scouring the world for top end lines to market in the USA as an agent. So far, Art has put together four lines geared for the decorative and furniture trade to replace the more midrange lines he used to carry. His success is based on the fact that customers today want better goods to differentiate their manufactured lines in what has become a sea of nondescript products. Art can be found at Showtime in High Point, NC this December 2/5

Rafael Pascal, principal of Antecuir of Spain with Andrei Axenov, commercial director of Colmi-SKD, Moscow based wholesaler of fabric, trimming and accessories.

Piero Agnetta, Milan based consultant with Ambrosetti Group; Anna Mitina responsible for Togas Interior Couture Collection, Moscow retailer with Yiannis N. Krallis, director of design studio, Togas with 31 retail stores.

Francisco Jover and daughter Lucia with customers Ana Machado, Maria Fernandez, Amando Machado from Multi Tecidos, Lisbon, Portugal.

Abdul Salaam Hajeer of Prestige wholesalers in Amman, Jordan with Rafael Ramirez, export manager, Textiles Joyper of Spain and Ali Saad, also Prestige of Amman

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Blue Drop Award Winners at MoOD 2012: Johannes Delius

Marina Shchegoleva, commercial director of Interplus upholstery, Moscow with Michela Gori, sales director of Texao, Italy

Textiles Joyper of Alicante, Spain developed some designs featuring Peruvian ancient floor tiles.

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MoOD 2013 Zvi Weberman, principal of Elite Textiles, Tel Aviv, Israel with Lance Garcy, president of P/Kaufmann, Inc., New York converter

Philip Bruggeman, principal of Bruvatex, Deerlijk, Belgium and Barny Gloyn, director, The Linwood Fabric Co., Ltd., Hampshire, UK

Daria and Levent Dogan open Doleda Mills in Istanbul, Turkey. This was their first exhibition

Jeff Thomases, owner Swavelle/Mill Creek, New York converter with Michael Day (end), head of TFA, a division of Swavelle and Gurvinder Singh, principal of GM Fabrics, Mumbai, India

Michael Joseph, principal of Fairfield Mills, Manchester, UK with Solange Bord, principal of Via Bella, Paris and Nico Depoorter, UK & USA sales manager for Tisatt Deslee Interior Fabrics, Beselare, Belgium

INDIGO was very busy! Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Henk Veldhuis, managing director of Texco Home Textiles, Almelo, The Netherlands with bed linen expert Henriette Scheffer Gmur and Erdem Terzi, managing director of La Terzi, Dutch design and licensing firm.

Thierry Outtier, sales manager, Flocart, Wevelgem, Belgium blackout maker with Deborah Newberger, director of RM Cocoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new contract division, Cape Girardeau, MO.

Winter 2012/2013

Daniel Ward, Group CEO for Eurokangas, 31 store retail chain in Pennala, Finland with Kaya Cinoglu, principal of Marteks, Bursa, Turkey

Hayley McAfee, design manager and David Canovan, director, Villa Nova in Nottingham, UK with Emanuele Pozzi, principal of Pozzi of Italy

Bea Siebolds and Marie-Christine Schroter, (right) of Les Tissus Colbert with Ursula Greenwood, (center) managing director, Edinburgh Weavers, Lancashire, UK

Stan Fradin, president of Rockland Mills Inc., Baltimore, MD with customers, Elio Bemaor, Bemaor Textiles, Montivideo, Uruguay and his beautiful daughter Lucia

Tom Bruno, vice president, sales & marketing, Covington Industries Inc., New York with Fannie Stratman, Les Tissus Colbert; Chari Voehl, design director, Covington; also Les Tissus Colbert: Christel Segfried, Aribel Segfried and Anna Mutzler, Munich.

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F FI c a l e n d a r December

January

DEC 2 – 5 ITMA MARKET SHOWTIME

JAN 15 – 16 PRINTSOURCE

ITMA Showtime is one of the leading fabric industry trade events in America. The show serves as an ideal business platform for eminent corporate professionals to interact with each other and exchange the latest news, views and perspectives from the industry. The event is billed as the largest decorative items-related trade show in the Western Hemisphere and it lives up to this hype by drawing in more than 800 trade visitors with direct purchasing power. Participants are offered the chance to participate in the several informative seminars, forums and discussion sessions that are organized during the show and home furniture items, fabric products, handbags and decorative fashion accessories are some of the chief items of exhibit here. The show is extremely popular among visiting participants and an average of 110 business appointments are scheduled during the event every day. Exhibitors at the show are also listed in the official ITMA Member Directory.

Printsource New York, The Premier Market for Surface and Textile Design in the USA, holds three shows a year in New York City. As the hub for the world’s top creative talent, Printsource showcases hundreds of collections by international surface and textile design studios and agents. England, France, Italy, Spain, Australia and the U.S.A. are just some of the countries featured each season at the Show, which is the main resource for surface and textile design for America’s major manufacturers, retailers and catalogs. The Show covers such industries as men’s, children’s and women’s apparel, bed and bath, kitchen and tabletop, paper goods and stationery, wallcoverings, window fashions as well as other surface and textile design applications.

300 South Main Street High Point North Carolina United States Of America showtime-market.com Phone: (336) 885-6842 email: info@itmashowtime.com ___________________________

JAN 9 – 13 Heimtextil Frankfurt

PENN PLAZA PAVILLION 401 SEVENT STREET NY, NY http://printsourcenewyork.com/ ___________________________

Heimtextil Frankfurt is the most prestigious show for the textile industry as the professionals will get to exhibit new and trendy designs and creative work that will impress them and fulfill their needs to a great extant. The

expo is the perfect place where new range of products is launched and the attendees will also get to know about the recent developments made in this sector. The exhibitors get to meet potential buyers and get into business contracts. The popularity of the show has brought in the participation of the leading companies from domestic as well as from the international market. The textiles or fabrics displayed in this show are designed to fit perfectly to the requirements of the home decoration sector as well as apparel segments. Attractive designs, perfect blend of colors and texture are sure to attract a huge number of buyers from all round the world. Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1 Frankfurt Hessen Germany Hall 3 to Hall 11 http://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/ ___________________________

JAN 14 – 16 TEXWORLD USA Texworld USA is the leading textile and fabric show that exhibits the best and reliable range of textile raw materials and apparel fabrics which are manufactured from the leading production houses. This show is a must attend one as it will bring together the leading companies who find this platform to the best meeting where they can publicize their range and widen the respective brand names. This

Advertiser Index For more information about one of our advertisers, see the page number listed: Arben by Karim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Aydin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Babei. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 & 33 Boutique Design New York. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Boyteks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Classical Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Covington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Dicitex Furnishings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 D’Decor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 & 21 Diolen Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Dolan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Evteks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Express Air Freight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 GM Fabrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 & 9 High Five Textiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Kravet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Marcovaldo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 MoOD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Oz Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Rockland Mills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3 Surtex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tessitura Di Nole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 38

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show is known to be the perfect place where new products will be launched which in return will bring the instant feedback from the attendees present in this show. The attendees come across the branded products which are available at affordable range so that all the type of business enterprises can benefit from this show. The show will be running for three consecutive days and will be taking place at Javits Convention Center, New York. 11th Avenue & 655 West 34th & 38th Street New York New York United States Of America http://www.texworldusa.com/ 770.984.8016 ext.401 ___________________________

JAN 15 – 16 DIRECTION BY INDIGO PARIS The most important and influential show for the North American textile design market, Direction has, as of September 2008, joined Première Vision. Now called Indigo, the show helps strengthen the events targeting the fashion and home universes alongside Indigo, already the world leader in this market. Three times per year the show brings together some 120 exhibitors, including top international design studios, as well as bookshops and trend bureaus. The comprehensive creative offer, including designs for prints, embroideries, knits, appliqués, jacquards and transfer papers, addresses all segments of the fashion and home markets. Some 2,500 visitors come each session to prepare their collection and locate the motifs that will make the success of their designs. indigo-salon.com ___________________________

JAN 18 – 22 MAISON & OBJET MAISON&OBJET show will take place at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre in Jan 2013. The trade show will be targeting professionals from the field of Home fashion and design. The trade show will be attracting trade visitors from across the world. MAISON&OBJET show is not open to general public. It will serve as a unique opportunity for buyers and suppliers to establish foundations for new business contacts.

The Targeted Visitors For Maison & Objet are: importers & exporters of Decoration, Home & Office Design, Furniture, Lightning, Fabrics - Clothing Textiles, Handicraft Products, Gifts & Souvenirs, Home Exhibitions, Kitchen & Bathroom accessories & General Public. Parc d expositions et Centre de Conventions, Roissy Charles de Gaulle Paris Ile-De-France France http://www.maison-objet.com/ ___________________________

JAN 25 – 31 NEW YORK HOME TEXTILES MARKET WEEK New York Home Textiles Market is one of the leading tradeshows in United States. It is a high profile marketplace that brings all the elements of home style together under one roof. New York Home Textiles Market Week delivers a high energy atmosphere as more than 600 exhibitors are participating from across the globe to showcase their latest products/services. Javits Center 655 West 34th Street NY, NY United States Of America customerrelations@glmshows.com 800-272-SHOW http://www.nyigf.com/

MARCH MAR 4 – 6 China Shanghai International Textiles, Fabrics & Accessories Exhibition China Shanghai International Textiles, Fabrics & Accessories Exhibition (CTFE) shows the way to strengthen Garment and Textile industrial associations and clusters to compete in global market, and Free Trade Agreement. CTFE is the best choice for both domestic and international trade. As for the six years developing, CTFE has become the legend of the world textile industry, it shows more business chances. 2345 Longyang Road, Pudong New Area Shanghai Shanghai China shssny.com/en/

Classified Cruise Sales Representatives Wanted in Europe and USA Lantal Textiles is looking internationally for sales representatives who would personally acquaint shipping companies, naval architects/interior designers, yards and contractors with our company as well as its products and services. Please contact: Guido Gander email resume to: guido.gander@lantal.ch

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