Fabrics & Furnishings - Winter 2015 Issue by Fabrics & Furnishings International

Fre ec op & S ies a how t He tim imt e exti l

Volume 26, Number 1

Winter 2015-16

The Global Home & Contract Furnishings Newspaper

Prestigious, Kravet, C&M Textiles Forge Ahead with New Showrooms

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Trevor & Matthew Helliwell, owners of Prestigious, Lancaster, UK and the Nantong showroom PAGE

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Peter and Andrew Auger of C&M

Amy Jimenez, Naples Showroom Manager with Frank Cauce, Florida Area Sales Manager, and Becky Ghannam, Sales Associate, Kravet/Naples, Florida

European Mills Consolidate in Strong Families

Rockland Brings U.S. Made, Soft Roc-lon® Blackout to World Market at Heimtextil 2016

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Darren Fradin with his boy Max Celebrating ‘baby’ soft Roc-lon PAGE

34 Charlotte Hellyn, her brother Olivier and their father Frans

The Hellyns and Vandewieles of Belgium

photo by:

Kirsis Fradin

w w w. F a b r i c s A n d F u r n i s h i n g s . c o m

Roc-lon Blackout Drapery ÂŽ

Contact your local selling agent for more details and information regarding our complete program of Roc-lonÂŽ products. We have sales representation in every major world market.

Rockland Mills Division, Rockland Industries, Inc. P.o. Box 17293 BaltImore, mD 21297 PHone: 1-410-522-2505 Fax: 1-410-522-2545

InternatIonal Customers Please Call 1-410-522-0088 e-maIl: maIl@roC-lon.Com www.roC-lon.Com

Fabrics and Linings... The World’s Standard of Excellence The Rockland Mills programs of Blackout drapery linings and fabrics are truly world class. Our customers in over 80 world markets, both commercial and trade, know that they can rely on the quality, variety, delivery and performance built into every yard of fabric. That’s because every yard is manufactured with strict quality control, using the finest textiles and best technology available. There’s over 40 years of manufacturing know-how and expertise in every product produced by Rockland’s South Carolina plant. Whether for residential or commercial use, for total Blackout or Dim-Out, with or without flame resistant finish, there is a Rockland product for the job. Rockland Mills’ Blackouts are available in widths from 54 inches (137 cm) up to 110 inches (280 cm), and in every color of the rainbow, in plain or textured fabrics. Our Blackouts are even available with printed designs from an extensive pattern library, or if you prefer, we can use your custom designs or colors. When only the best will do, discerning customers ask for Roc-lon® brand linings and 100% blackout drapery fabrics.

Performance FABRICS

where style follows function

©R ock la

Ind

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, In c.

201

See Us at Heimtextil 2016, Hall 3.0 E31

FF&FI FI NE L EW T TSE R S

Heimtextil Shanghai Dear Eric, I want to make reference to the 2015/Autumn Trade Fair run and put on by the Heimtextil organisation in Shanghai during last week of August 2015. This is only my opinion but there must have been huge financial gains

The Global Home & Contract Furnishings Newspaper

and benefits to the organisers of this show to convince them to move to this new and untried venue. Exhibitions are meant to be enjoyable to the visitors who attend, unfortunately I found this event for me was not. (Continued on Page 46)

520 West Avenue, Suite 701, Miami Beach, FL 33139 USA Website: www.fabricsandfurnishings.com Telephone 001.917.251.9922 | ISSN: 1523-7303 Publisher & Editor | Eric S. Schneider Art Director | Roxanne Clapp, RoxC LLC Corporate Secretary | Gail Goldman, PhD.

Brett and Sandra Fleetwood

CORPORATE CONSULTANTS Printing/Distribution | Interprint Web Printing Web Design | Synthovation E.U. Legal Counsel | Herman Nayaert

Table of Contents

SIPCO NEWS NETWORK

F&FI Winter 2015-16 | Vol. 26, No. 1

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

Euroart’s Ricky Lu Says China Property Decline Impacts Local Fabric Business . . . . . . . . 12 Nomi Outdoor Fabrics Finds Lucrative Indoor/Outdoor Niche Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Kravet Opens 7,400 Square Foot Naples, Florida Showroom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Frank Cauce Offers South American Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Outdura® Names Gloria Tsocos Contract Sales Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Prestigious Adds Large Nantong Showroom as China Business Expands . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Surprises at Textile Sources Exhibition in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Tenace, Oberndorfer Join Global Textile Marketing Exchange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 RM Coco Founders Leave; Bank Takes Over With Rapidly Falling Sales, Turnover. . . . . . . 33 Margaret Bachleda Passes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 European Mills Consolidate in Stronger Family Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Vandewieles Move Production to Romania, Take Over Ragolle Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Richloom Contract Makes Major Play in Vinyls, IMO Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Hellyn Family Takes Over Devantex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Rockland Brings U.S. Made Soft Roc-lon® Blackout Lining to World Market. . . . . . . . . . 35 Wang Rebrands, Redefines Babei’s Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Coulisse Opens USA Headquarters/Showroom in Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Neva Fabrics Always First Stop for World’s Central American Road Warriors. . . . . . . . . . 36 Valdese Hosts at Chelsea Tower, New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 GM Fabrics Installs Robotic Warehouse, Expands Product Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Major Expansion Greets C&M Textiles’ 65th Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 DCtex & Bollywood Actor Hrithik Roshan Join Hands, Promote New Furnishing Collections. 40 Haufe Still Active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Poland Price Driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Contract/HospitalityNews Covington Turns in Record 2015 Results; Jennifer Adams Contract Line to Debut. . . . . . . . . . Pictographic’s Miller Sees Hospitality Digital Printing Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Latham Named Holly Hunt VP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bousman Retires; Carter Inspires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EDITORIAL & PUBLISHING 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

WEB DEVELOPER Rocco Cerullo, Artisian Designs Tel: 001.954.914.4758 E-Mail: recerullo@artisian.com DISTRIBUTION Mike Panella E-Mail: mikep@apc-pli.com

ADVERTISING SALES

TURKEY GERMAN SPEAKING AREA Sevim Gunes Isa Hofmann Tel: 90.532.236.25.24 Tel: +49 611.890.59640 Fax: 90.216.390.20.27 Fax: +49 611.87086 Email: skeskinci@gmail.com Email: info@ihofmann.com

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

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DESIGN

London Calling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-43

Departments

Photo Gallery - Shanghai Intertextile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-41 Photo Gallery - MoOD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44-45 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Advertiser Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

INDIA Rekha V. Tel: 91.80.26685821 Cell: 91.93.42821379 Fax: 91.80.26684670 Email: s_wishwanath@hotmail.com

Correction: In the autumn issue of Fabrics & Furnishings International on Page 21, it was incorrectly stated that Vladimir Nabokhov was the author of The 12 Chairs. The actual authors of this novel were Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg (Russian: Илья Арнольдович Файнзильберг, 1897–1937) and Evgeny or Yevgeni Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Kataev or Katayev (Russian: Евгений Петрович Катаев, 1903–1942) They were two Soviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s. They did much of their writing together, and are almost always referred to as “Ilf and Petrov”. They were natives of Odessa. —Courtesy of Wikipedia

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Euroart’s Ricky Lu Says China Property Decline Impacts Local Fabric Business

Euroart prospers through relationship building with interior designers Sipco News Network

HANGHAI, PRC — China has property problems due to a real estate meltdown according to Ricky Lu, owner of Beijing Euroart Co. here, a 15-year-old retailer to the interior designer and distributor to 200 other strong wholesalers in major Chinese cities, he says. Euroart is considered to be one of the top wholesalers of upper end lines in China today with many of the top Western editeur brands in Lu’s three showrooms including 500 square meters in Beijing, his headquarters, and 300 square meters in the Wending Road showroom district in Shanghai. “We work on our relationship with interior designers and we participate in the Andrew Martin Interior Design Awards for China.” Lu promotes Chinese Design Masters to meet with designers in London. “We help to build attention for Chinese designers in Europe; helping them helps us!” He is a big believer in introducing the interior designers to his 200 retailers in major Chinese cities. “Chinese people accept the idea of working with interior designers. He estimates there are 10 million interior designers working in China and he has plenty of room to grow his sales to that market, he says. Euroart is in the $5-$10 million sales range, he admits without naming a specific figure. He sees his mission to build links between his retail partners in China and the designers he serves. “We’re building our relationship with these 200 customers,” Lu maintains. “We give presentations and free training in the products we carry. We haven’t increased prices even though prices are up five percent,” he says. “If your business is flat in 2015, consider yourself doing well. We cannot increase prices right now.” Lu also points out that other Asian countries are starting to compete with China. “All Asian countries are offering cheap labor and good quality. Vietnam is producing furniture for the Chinese now with ‘imported’ furniture nameplates and cheap fabrics on the frame. As a result,

better design is more important in China than ever before in order to compete with the Asian onslaught.” Many Chinese fabric manufacturers as well as Euroart have been focusing on selling to the local Chinese market with export getting a little less attention than in the past years. Shrinking demand has hurt export but now the domestic market is also starting to suffer in China. Many companies, which Ricky Lu just produced fabric before, are offering complete home packages with fabric, furniture and accessories. (See companion story about Tuscon Wood Products and Babei Fabrics.) “You can’t buy more than two apartments in China using bank loans to finance them. Beyond two, you need to buy with cash. The apartment boom has slowed down to a trickle he says and this has affected the overall fabric business in China. “The demands of the Chinese market are shrinking as a result, Lu admits. “There is no middle class in China and it will develop very slowly in the future; people are very rich or on the bottom. There is nothing in between and it will take time for it to develop,” he says. “US designs sell very well here. The Chinese designers like the American design,” he says. “Many of the brands we carry compete for the same customer.” (On a side note, Swavelle was one of the few American brands showing at Intertextile this year, its seventh year at this show. Swavelle certainly offers American design but many of the products are made in China.) The Chinese want the American design but it isn’t essential the products are made in the USA, suppliers say. His lines include Kravet, Romo, Andrew Martin, Alhambra Group and Kobe. His lines are geared as follows: Kobe-mass market; Villa Nova-middle market; Romo-slightly higher than Villa Nova and Zinc at the highest

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level. “We have the candy store for the Chinese market when it comes to fabrics,” he laughs while interviewed in his Wending Road showroom in Shanghai. “All of the Kravet brands—at least 20 of them sell very well including Couture at the very top which is very competitive,” he points out. He is an avid shopper at Maison Objet, Deco-Off and Decorex, he says. “Deco-Off is now the key French show for the designer,” he feels. Lu is also Vice Chairman of the Shenzhen Textile Fair held in March where he releases his new lines to the domestic China market. He does not think that Shanghai Intertextile is the place for him to introduce his lines in September and wonders why JAB and Tricia Guild take a stand there. He thinks the timing is better in March to reach the China based interior designer. When you walk into the Euroart, you see 3-meter samples and small memo swatches. “We buy 100 new designs each year for display in our Beijing and Shanghai showrooms,” he says. “My primary business is residential and I don’t bother with contract. Contract/Hospitality is a relationship business and the fabric is secondary. It is a waste of time for us and I am not interested. I like selling original fabrics—not copies.” F&FI

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Nomi Outdoor Fabrics Finds Lucrative Indoor/Outdoor Niche Markets Owner Nomi Franklin says ‘I’m an artist’ who wants to diversify Sipco News Network

Cruz, California — Nomi Inc. is tucked away in one of the surfing capitols of the world here totally focused on designing indoor and outdoor fabrics for the high street interior designer. Now, Nomi Franklin (the owner and artist/designer) wants to anta

diversify into other home product categories including jewelry and even furniture and is banking on her archived collections to generate additional royalty sales for her four-man operation. She often works with freelance designers to supplement what she herself designs. She went to California

College of Arts & Crafts and is “pretty much self taught in the textile world,” she says. Nomi’s products are sold in agent showrooms in LA, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Chicago and Miami. She also does made to order custom fabric designs—the start of her business in the 1980’s--

for interior designers with extra wealthy clients in mind; but 80 percent of her sales today are geared to solution dyed acrylic fabrics for residential use. These are commission woven mostly in the USA and some in Italy. “I understand textiles in a way that works with designers and

collaborate with their ideas to produce unique fabrics that are more sophisticated,” she says. Nomi has recently launched a printed Belgian linen line for the first time. These are recolored designs from her archives in two to six screens in thee to five colorways for a total of 17 sku’s in the collection. Nomi sells to architects and designers and sometimes her fabrics end up in Las Vegas casinos. “Solution dyed acrylics easily slip into the casino market, especially in high traffic areas. Her outdoor collections are priced at $60-$100 a yard to the designer. The printed indoor line is $130-$200 so she is priced at the top of the food chain. Her collections indoor and outdoor focus on neutral colors so they can blend easily and continuously from inside to outside the house. “My lines are typically subdued so I stay away from primary colors, using a softer palette for an elegant home,” she says. F&FI

Nomi Franklin

Nomi Fabrics Outdoor: Amethyst and Seaglass

Nomi fabrics printed linen ‘Bloom’

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Kravet Opens 7,400 Square Foot Naples, Florida Showroom This showplace features vignettes upfront, fabrics in the back Sipco News Network

APLES, Florida — Kravet has opened a 7,400 square foot showroom in the location where the old “Naples Millworks” build-

Kravet Naples Showroom

ing stood since the 1940’s, which preceded the modern day Home Depots. It is the only corporate showroom of its kind with a heavy emphasis on fully accessorized room vignettes in the front of the space, the traditional fabric wall racks in the back as well as wallcovering and carpeting sections. The space was formally presented to the trade on October 7th at an open house. “This is the only Kravet showroom with this kind of layout and it represents a new showroom format for Kravet,” says Frank Cauce, 24-year veteran Florida Regional Sales Manager responsible for Kravet’s residen-

tial sales in Florida, South, Central America and the Caribbean. Cauce was involved in the search for a new showroom after Kravet made the decision to move out of the Miramar Design Center location 30 minutes away. Miramar has a tenant mix of wholesale and retail showrooms, but Kravet wanted a “to the trade” interior design location and it seems to have achieved that now in what has become the heart of the design district of Naples. This is a fast growing, well- heeled community where interior designers fly in with their clients to the Fort Myers Airport in order to decorate $ million homes here. The location is just off of the well-known Tamiami Trail, which goes north to Tampa and south to Miami on First Avenue in Naples. It is removed enough from the retail district, and Kravet caters only to the interior designer trade in the new showroom, Cauce emphasized. “We cater to the local interior designer as well as those from other regions working

on projects in Southwest Florida”. Cauce says. In addition to managing the four Kravet showrooms in Jupiter, Naples and two in Dania, he manages the sales representatives dedicated solely to Kravet in the field, including his wife Joan who covers the Miami Metro Area. Her husband is spending more time at home in Coral Gables these days than he used to because of his change in responsibilities and the growth in the Florida market. Kravet Mexico is the company’s distribution vehicle to the Mexican market. Arnie Masarsky, VP of International Sales mans this market and Amy Jimenez, Naples Showroom Cauce has been involved Manager with Frank Cauce Florida in this venture in the past. Area Sales Manager and Becky Cauce explains, “In the Ghannam, Sales Associate, Kravet/ past, I have spent 30 perNaples, Florida cent of my time traveling in South America, but now I am spending more of my time while in the rest of the state we tend covering Florida”. “We do well to do well with more transitional to in Florida with all of our brands traditional products.” “We have a – Kravet, Lee Jofa, GP&J Baker, very complete portfolio of textiles, furniture, carpets and accessories Brunschwig & Fils, etc. Miami is an ultra-contemporary ranging from modern to traditional F&FI market with a more European flair across all price points.”

Photo credit ‘Amber Frederiksen Photography/AmberFrederiksen.com’

Original building purchased by Kravet

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Frank Cauce Offers South American Overview Sipco News Network

“The big misconception many have about South America is that it is one big, homogeneous market like the USA, but it is not that way at all”, Cauce says. “South America is a compilation of many smaller, unique markets. You can travel from one side of Europe to the other in about 3.5 hours; in South America, it would take 9.5

hours to make that type of trip. It is a vast area with a few market highlights where you can do business. It is also very expensive to travel between countries requiring a substantial financial investment to be successful.” “The key to doing business in South America is to be in the market for the long term and represented in as many markets as possible. You must be ready

to ride the economic and political highs and the lows.” Here’s what Cauce had to say about the various countries in South America: “Brazil, the country with the largest population has boomed for the past ten years, but now it is in transition due to politics and economic factors. Brazil has a tax rate as high as 80% on imported textiles in order to protect its local textile

industry.” “$100 product ends up costing $180 plus cost of freight in Brazil”. “Other large countries like Colombia, Argentina and Chile has had ups and downs over the years. Having good distributers and a long term strategy has proven a successful combination. Venezuela in particular has suffered heavily in recent years”. Cauce explains that Kravet (continued on Page 26)

Frank Cauce

Outdura® Names Tsocos

Sipco News Network

UDSON North Carolina — September 3, 2015: Gloria Tsocos has been named Contract Sales & Product Development Manager for North America by Sattler Gloria AG, the makers of Tsocos Outdura solution dyed acrylic outdoor fabric. In this new position for Sattler, Gloria is working with Gary Roussell, Director of Sattler Corp Hospitality / Commercial division. She will focus on new business development and the expansion of this market segment. “We are pleased to have Gloria join our team and look forward to the contribution she will make to the organization today and in the future” said Jonathan Murphy Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Americas. Tsocos brings 15 years of experience in the textiles industry including academia; teaching textile technology at F.I.T., textile design, for several converters in the NY market as well as sales and product development roles for several mills. Her previous position was with Kravet Fabrics and prior to that called on the editeur/ jobber market in the USA. Tsocos will be working from her home office in Secaucus, NJ. Sattler AG, headquartered in Graz Austria, is a fifth generation, family owned company with 140-year history in the solution dyed acrylic fabric market. They specialize in manufacturing and marketing SDA fabrics for awning, marine, transportation and industrial applications throughout the world. In 2011 the Sattler Group acquired the Outdura brand from Shuford Mills, LLC Sattler AG combined Sattler North America and Outdura Corp. into Sattler Corp headquartered in Hudson, N.C. Manufacturing, sales and marketing, corporate services and distribution and logistics for the Americas are all based in Hudson, the company says. F&FI

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Frank Cauce Offers South American Overview successfully sells many of its North America licensed designer collections in South America like – Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Diane Von Furstenberg,

Ralph Lauren in some markets and Lilly Pulitzer. Lee Jofa’s, Kelly Wearstler collections are a hot commodity at the moment in these markets”.

“We are in just about every market in South America and I have seen our business steadily grow over the past 24-year period”. F&FI

One of Frank Cauce’s Favorite Caribbean Restaurants: Matisse in Nassau, Bahamas

ASSAU, Bahamas — Cafe Matisse on Bank Lane in Nassau Bahamas is one of Frank Cauce’s favorite Caribbean restaurants and it is certainly worth eating there. Over the years of his ownership, owner/maitre ‘d Greg Curry has papered the walls with framed

Matisse prints upstairs and down in this 200 year old restaurant.. The space is beautiful and so is the food. Curry got the inspiration for the Matisse name from a chef named ‘Matisse’ in Switzerland. Curry’s wife Gabriella is Italian and both of them enjoy European cuisine

Greg Curry, owner of Cafe Matisse Restaurant, Nassau, Bahamas with Eric Schneider, Publisher Cafe Matisse features blackened Grouper and root vegetables. Yum, yum!

Cheeseless pizza to die for at Matisse

which has been creatively adapted in Cafe Matisse. Gabriella is also a well known interior designer with an office in Nassau and Ft. Lauderdale. F&FI

Prestigious Adds Large Nantong Showroom As China Business Expands Sipco News Network

RADFORD, UK — In order to accommodate a growing business in China that is now at $3 million, Prestigious Ltd. in the UK is following up its original, small Shanghai based showroom with a much larger one in Nantong. “We feel there is a potential market in China for us in the $10-$20 million range,” says Trevor Helliwell, Principal. “Nantong is the location of our distribution warehouse which also contains a large showroom, of approximately 10,000 square feet. This is currently under construction but you can see the entrance on the photographs.” “I think that as far as the future of the Chinese market is concerned, as the wealth of the middle classes grows, the possibilities are unlimited with a population of 1.3 billion people. However, in a real world and with the amount of Chinese mills also producing fabric, I would be pleased if in five years we reached $10 million and in the long term, to maybe double that figure. Obviously this doesn’t compare with the sales in our domestic market here in the UK or our European sales, but in actuality, China can only grow for us over the

next five to ten years.” “In China it is all about the perception of buying European style and quality and I think to some extent, the uniqueness and exclusivity. It’s the same people that would buy a Rolex watch or a Mercedes car. Generally in the Chinese market, they like the most luxurious/lavish product at the top end of our collections, such as printed velvets and high-priced embroideries. These are more traditional based than the European contemporary style, and classical goods are still a big item in China. The Chinese like to show their status. However, they are slowly moving to buy the contemporary linen fabrics and not so much of the glitz with tastes maturing to the more sophisticated European style. They still like the stronger colors and are much more into jacquards and woven product than our printed products. “All our goods are sent directly from the UK, by air and it is very much a cut length business. We do have two books where we hold stock in our warehouse in China but the general business and wallpaper, is distributed daily from the UK as is the rest of the world. F&FI

The entranceway to the new Nantong, China showroom for Prestigious Ltd.

Surprises at Textile Sources Exhibition in New York NEW YORK—Javits Center, New York was the scene once again for the Textile Sources Show during NY Market Week in July.

Here is Michael Hodges, Sales Manager and Steve Blumenfeld, sales representative with Premier Fabrics, the print people from Sherman near Tupelo, Mississippi with new customer Marybeth Roberts, Managing Partner of ‘Simply Cinched’, a tablecloth producer in Keyport, New Jersey.

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Contract/HospitalityNews C/HNEWS I Covington Turns in Record 2015 Results, CEO Tarver Expects 2016 As Another Record Year

Solids Dominate; Jennifer Adams Contract Line to Debut Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — Covington Fabrics & Design LLC has turned in an annual sales growth of 20 percent in each of the last three years and is coming off a record year in 2015 with more to come in 2016 according to Greg Tarver, President & CEO. Covington turned in an impressive 84 sales increase with a staff increase of only 20 percent

since Tarver joined in 2011. Covington as a decorative fabric supplier will introduce more new prints in 2016 than it has in the past decade, he says, in different price levels and basecloth options with coordinated packages including solids. There will be a total of 85 sku’s introduced at Showtime in December. Tarver says prints are selling well for Covington. “Prints have grown exponentially in the last three years. They represent 35

percent of Covington’s business today but deep color lines of solids that are in stock in up to 72 colors are the keystone of Covington’s business today. “We’re known for prints but we are now wovens rich,” Tarver explains. For example, Covington’s best selling lines are solids: Jefferson Linen in 72 colors; Brussels, a new solid color linen yarn dyed in 45 colors and Glynn linen- yarn dyed in 47 colors, all sourced in China, a good, better and best scenario.

Products are priced at $3.95 for some plains to $22.95 for highend embroideries.The company also says it is expecting a record year in the furniture business for 2016 as an Tom Bruno, Senior Vice President, Sales, upholstery fabric sup- Chari Voehl, Vice President, Design, Greg plier. “We still think we Tarver, President & CEO and Stefanie can grow this business. Wotton, Director, Marketing & Contract We’re entrepreneurial Services, Covington Fabrics & Design LLC and nimble,” he says. Tarver joined the company three (continued on Page 32)

C/HNEWS I Pictographic’s Miller Sees Hospitality Digital Printing Revolution

His firm is concentrating on hotel projects going forward Sipco News Network

AS VEGAS, Nevada — “The hospitality designer doesn’t yet understand digital printing and what it can do but there will be a digital print revolution within the hospitality trade in the next three to four years,” says Craig Miller, principal of Pictographics Inc. here. Pictographics was named after the Anasazi Indian tribe which left many interesting designs in the caves found in the Southwestern U.S.A. The com-

Craig Miller and Jay Dash

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pany started in 1997 and is now primarily focused on becoming a boutique digital printer specializing in the hospitality trade. Miller says the quality will continue to improve so that 10,000 yard runs will be competitive to conventional printing. “Since 2004, digital printing has become much faster and the prices have become more competitive to traditional printing, Miller maintains. “At Pictographics, we don’t do commodity type projects. We take

the designer’s vision and go further with it, producing something that was beyond what the original design called for. The earlier we get the project, the more we can do with it,” he says. Pictographics is represented by Jay Dash International, a sales agency specializing in the hospitality market. Pictographics has experience in printing window treatments including sheers, blackouts and standard curtains; 56 inch width vinyl wall coverings and top of bed fabrics including pillows “with unique results,” Miller says. “We use European made inks and paper—not Chinese made ink and paper. There is a difference in the color management end calibration of the pattern we provide. We don’t compete on price.” Pictographics started in the hotel industry by printing gaming table felts and wall coverings for the casinos. “We also produce our own line of digitally printed wallcoverings, Miller says. Recent projects include the

Monterey Bay Aquarium.and The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas. ceiling at The Forum Shops, a part of Caesars Palace and the Marriott Hotel in Monterey California in conjunction with the Monterey Sea Aquarium.

Pictographics also produces digital images within certified safety glass in conjunction with Acoustical Solutions, a wall panel producer. F&FI

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C/HNews

C/HNEWS I Chris Latham Named

Holly Hunt VP; Moves to Chicago Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — Chris Latham has been named Vice President- Textiles, Leather & Rugs at Holly Hunt, a high-end Furniture, Textile and Accessories company with 10 Holly Hunt designer showrooms

Chris Latham

in the USA and London and other showroom partners around the world, serving the residential and contract design community. Chris will be managing the Textiles, Leather and Rugs division of this well-known interior designers’ resource, reporting to David Schutte, President of Holly Hunt. Latham moved to Chicago from his native New York in order to take this position. Since 2008, he was Vice President, Sales, based in New York for Raxon Fabrics, a division of Vescom Group based in Deurne, Holland. While holding that position, he also was North American Sales Manager for Mueller Zell and Leo Schellens, also part of Vescom. Prior to that, he was in charge

of US Sales for Leo Schellens, Eastern U.S. Sales for Backhausen and LA Mills. After graduating Rice University in 1990, Latham began his career working for Latham & Associates, his family owned Sales Agency in New York. Valdese Weavers and Leo Schellens were the first lines he represented and he continued to represent various lines for 17 years until he joined Raxon, Schellens and Mueller Zell as a fulltime job since 2008. Chris had a 23 year relationship with Leo Schellens. Holly Hunt was sold to Knoll in 2014 for $95 million. Holly Hunt remains CEO of her eponymous company. Knoll is a public company. Andrew Cogan is CEO. F&FI

C/HNEWS I Bousman

Retires; Carter Inspires Sipco News Network

RUSSELS — Liza Carter, who joined Trevira in September, will succeed Vicki Bousman as a manager of Market Development for Trevira® CS for the North American market in January. Bousman will retire after a 30 plus year career at Trevira. Recently, she accompanied and supported Carter on U.S. jobber and mill visits. Carter was a consultant several

years before joining Trevira and prior to that she worked at Ralph Lauren Home in New York. On a separate note, Trevira held an evening party at La Quincaillerien Restaurant in Brussels during MoOD on September 10 for its jobber and mill customers. The dinner was preceded by a chocolate making and eating session at Zaabar. Yum! F&FI Vicki Bousman, Trevira: David Borras, Sales agent Trevira, Spain: Svenja Fromm, Manager Business Development Trevira: Liza Carter, Consultant, Marketing/ Business Development, Trevira North America

(continued from Page 30)

C/HNEWS I Covington Turns in Record 2015 Results years after the new and current owners Mark Kahan, his sister Susan Rifkin and his brother-inlaw Bill Rifkin (Susan’s husband) put in a major cash infusion and inventory into Covington. They turned over operations to Tarver in March, 2011 when he joined and he was soon followed by his team including Chari Voehl, Vice President, Design (2011) who was designing for Swavelle before she came on board; Stefanie Wotton, Director of Marketing & Contract Services (2012) while Tom Bruno, Senior VP Sales was already on board since 2008.

“Our owners are extremely satisfied with the Covington business today,” Tarver says. While his first three years were spent on building the product lines and sales while proving to customers “we could ship” he turned to improving operations including converting, purchasing, and computer systems. “We have world class computer systems today and we can fine tune sales reports by territory including the customers’ use of samples and the return on that investment.” Covington competes with P/ Kaufmann, Richloom Fabrics

Group and Swavelle in the USA and Bru Textiles, based in Belgium, the four largest converters in the world today, all over $100 million in sales and much larger than Covington which is under $100 million in sales. “We’ve been able to increase sales in a mature market like furniture and with the fabric retailer,” says Tom Bruno. “We’ve been hitting the retail chains hard. We had 174 appointments at Showtime last June versus 80 appointments five years ago,” Bruno points out. Covington will introduce its first contract line with Jennifer Adams

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in May. Covington Contract first started in 2010 and contract was only three percent of sales three years ago. In 2015, it is 20 % of sales. “We’re a decorative fabric supplier but contract is an investment that paid off for us,” Tarver says. Jennifer Adams continues to be a successful residential entry for Covington, with a third residential line coming next June. She is still its only designer line in its stable. “That doesn’t rule out other licensed lines,” Tarver says. “Her residential royalties exceeded our expectations so far,” he says. “Jennifer Adams original

start was in the small hotel business with a bedding line for spa and hotel. The Adams contract line will be a crossover line with performance capabilities; upholstery with 50,000 double rubs for example. Other opportunities for Covington includes export, which it steered away from consciously in the past year but expects to start up again in 2016. Sourcing is another opportunity for the company, which has recently rediscovered Pakistan as a viable product source, competitive in quality and price to China in printing and basecloth. F&FI

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Tenace, Oberndorfer Join Global Textile Marketing Exchange Sipco News Network

EST PALM BEACH, Florida — Rachelle Tenace and her husband Juergen Oberndorfer have both joined Global Textile Marketing Exchange, Inc. as Sales Manager and Market Development Manager, respectively. They report to President and founder, Bill Jones. At the same time, Tenace will continue to represent various

Margaret Bachleda Passes

import lines as a sales agent and Oberndorfer will continue as a sales representative for a Miami, Florida based fabric wholesaler. Tenace has worked in the design industry for over 30 years after having graduated with a degree in interior design. She has worked in almost every aspect of design which includes working as a sales clerk at a high end wallpaper and design shop while in college, to designing and selling fab-

Margaret Bachleda

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selling drapery hardware, decorative fabrics, leather, and furniture. His main responsibilities have been servicing the Rachelle Tenace, Juergen Oberndorfer, Bill Jones needs of interior designers, hospitality contacts, Global Textile Marketing Exchange and specifier contacts in Florida. has a showroom in Dania, Florida. F&FI

RM Coco Founders Leave; Bank Takes Over With Rapidly Falling Sales, Turnover; Industry Insiders Say Liquidation of Company and Inventory Lies Ahead Sipco News Network

Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — A dedicated entrepreneur in the textile industry, Margaret Bachleda started her career working with Lanscot-Arlen Fabrics, one of the large American converters which prospered in the mid 90’s. After Lanscot-Arlen closed its doors, Margaret started a fabric sales agency which represented multiple companies in Europe and in the U.S. Unfortunately, Margaret passed away on April 14, 2015 after battling pancreatic cancer for almost six months. She is survived by her mother, brother, and only daughter Sonia Bachleda. Sonia says “she has been inspired to pursue her mother’s business and continue her legacy in order to maintain the relationships with the customers and vendors my mother so passionately developed.” Those of us who knew Margaret were well aware she excelled at creating international relationships between people and companies based in Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and the U.S. Anybody who ever worked with Margaret was always impressed with her professionalism and enthusiasm. In addition, she always brought a smile to everyone’s face. She will be greatly missed by many. Anyone interested in honoring her memory can donate to the hospice where she received care (www.calvaryhospital.org), or to the pancreatic cancer foundation (www.npcf.us). F&FI

ric at a contract design firm, a mill representative in Germany, and a design and color consultant for the American textile market. Rachelle says she speaks three languages. English, Italian, and German, and is married with two sons. Juergen after emigrating from Ravensburg, Germany in 1994, has been in the textile industry for over 20 years as a sales representative for an American fabric wholesaler,

APE GIRARDEAU, Missouri — James and Beverly Rust, the principals of RM Coco and the Custom Creations workroom division left the company on October 16. At a company wide meeting with the Bank consultants hired to dispose of the assets as quickly as possible, employees were told that a more aggressive management style was required. RM Coco is a medium sized fabric jobber/workroom offering fabrics, trims and hardware with over 80 branches and multi line showrooms primarily in the Midwest and West Coast. Several American and Canadian wholesalers are in discussions with the Bank in possession about liquidating RM Coco’s inventory. These potential buyers include Duralee and Fabricut. At one time, RM Coco sales were in the $30 million range but it is understood that the company’s business fell on hard times with the high end of the business never realizing its total potential. As a result of the decline, RM Coco’s lender asked the Rusts to leave due to non-performance of loans extended to the company, it was learned. The Bank, at the current time nameless, is not talking but it is understood that RM Coco’s piece-goods sales were significantly less than the Bank expected once it took charge of the company. The Bank takeover seems to be clothed in secrecy for some unknown reason and nobody there wants to volunteer any information. Even the Chief Financial Officer of RM Coco did not want to be quoted in the press. Many in the industry would like further information or an explanation but it is not forthcoming at this time. Individual vendors are owed as much as $50,000 but attempts to collect have failed since the Rusts have left the company, one vendor reported.

In the wake of the Rusts departure, the Bank has appointed an interim management team, which includes at least three Bank consultants and RM Coco company executives, according to one source at RM Coco. An official statement from the Bank in possession is not available and no further comments have been made in spite of

numerous requests by Fabrics & Furnishings International. Trade reports indicate that due to its financial situation, RM Coco has not purchased new inventory for quite awhile and payments to vendors have been slow or not at all. At presstime, comments promised from the bank consultants were not forthcoming. F&FI

Beverly and Jim Rust

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European Mills Consolidate in Stronger Family Hands Like The Hellyns and Vandewieles of Belgium Movelta Group, Beaulieu Find ways to Survive, Even Thrive! Sipco News Network

RUSSELS — Mergers, bankruptcies and closures have been the recent history of the Belgian Textile Industry, which has been buried by high labor costs and Government bureaucracy. Belgium forces its textile producers to pay something like $250 in social benefits and support costs

for every $100 in salary. How can that possibly work? That’s what has also become of the European Textile industry. In one country after another, mills have folded their tents due to high costs and impossible competition from India, Turkey and China. It isn’t so different a story from what has happened in North America; a continuous consolidation of brands and factories in what

continues to be an overproduced business with too few customers. Expect the consolidation to continue, even in China where some mills have found it almost impossible to make a profit, even with a five percent devaluation of the RMB a few months back. Effectively, the Chinese Government gave their mills a boost of five percent in profits by doing that since the price is sold in fixed dollar terms.

Vandewieles Move Production to Romania, Take Over Ragolle Line Sipco News Network

RUISHOUTEM — For the past year, Beaulieu has been making its upholstery in Ploiesti, Romania as well as part of the Ragolle brand from Waregem. The Beaulieu Group, largely concerned with the manufacture of carpet, has quietly owned the Ragolle Fabrics brand since November, 2013 and it is expected that production of Ragolle Fabrics by the original Ragolle factory will cease in 2016. Tessutica, a new division of Beaulieu, which includes Beaulieu and Ragolle upholstery, will pro-

duce the Ragolle brand. Ragolle will continue to produce rugs which had been the major business of the Ragolle family—not upholstery. “Beaulieu has bought a very successful business with Ragolle. For the past two years it has been going well,” according to Luc Vandewiele. “We want to be strong in the European market.” Christa Vandewiele, General Manager of Beaulieu International and Luc’s wife, actually set up the factory in Ploiesti, Romania and early reports indicate it is a smashing success for Beaulieu. This factory has created a new tumbled fin-

ished for Beaulieu jacquard which is described as a softer hand than previously. Still, others would argue that the skills of the Belgian workers are superior and something is lost in the process when the factory is moved. Beaulieu has found a way to technically improve its offering in the case of its tumbled finish in Romania. “We cannot replace the skills of the Belgian weavers,” says Laurent Mainaud, owner of Bayart Vanoutryve, an old French mill that he purchased and then produced the line in Mouscron, Belgium. F&FI

Richloom Contract Makes Major Play in Vinyls, IMO Lines

Company reports increased growth across the board Sipco News Network

EW YORK, New York — Richloom Contract reports increased growth in all product areas with some major introductions in the contract arena. The nearly 100 year old converter which started on the lower Eastside of New York has increased its hospitality offerings with two major collections of ‘Shield’ brand vinyl fabrics, a totally new effort directed to the cruise industry and two new books of Kelly Hoppen designs for contract, according to John Ringer, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Domestic markets are growing for the company with the Chinese division in Shanghai holding its own. Ringer also mentions that Recreational Vehicle (RV) markets are growing for Richloom as well as a continued expansion of Richloom’s Solarium® outdoor fabric line. “Vinyls especially are being

sought in trendier hotels today,” he points out. The new collections were introduced at the recently concluded Hospitality Design Show in Las Vegas. One Shield vinyl collection is for normal wear levels while an upgraded Shield product is offered featuring Richloom’s proprietary Fortress® finish for high traffic areas of the hotel in lobbies, meeting areas and guestrooms.as well as fast food restaurants, cafes and airport lounges. The finish is said to offer superior cleanability and stain resistance. Shield with Fortress is said to be constructed of three layers which has passed a seven-year hydrolysis test, Ringer emphasizes. “This product is high puncture, scratch and abrasion resistant, he adds. The imported vinyl lines are priced at $40 for Shield and the scaled down version is mid to high $20 per yard.

The new IMO lines for the cruise industry represent a first effort for Richloom in this area. “We have three to four new books of IMO fabrics now for seating and window applications. We have never paid attention to the IMO market like this before. F&FI

Still, there are strongmen in the business like Luc Vandewiele and Frans Hellyn who see a future in this business and they are finding ways to be more efficient and improve their products. Below is the latest story. F&FI Luc Vandewiele, GM of Beaulieu in Kruishoutem, Belgium

Hellyn Family Takes Over Devantex Sipco News Network

RUSSELS — On September 4, the Movelta Group was the successful high bidder for the 14 Van de Wiele velvet looms and archives that had previously made up the Devantex product line. Originally, there were three sisters and two brothers in the business with their dad Frans. Today, it’s one sister, Charlotte, 42, her brother Olivier, 40, and their father Frans, 68, who is in an advisory capacity only but joins the pair at the fairs. “If all goes well, dad will play golf and we will do the work,” Olivier laughs. Charlotte, who does the shipments and Oliver who does sales and the purchasing are running the business today and apparently, they are successful and also very modest when you have the pleasure of meeting them. Frans’ father Andre started the original mill and it is still solidly in family hands in the third generation. Movelta bought the equipment and the design archives from the Belgium bankruptcy Court

in August after Devantex closed its doors. The Devantex line is expected to roll off the recently purchased jacquard looms before November 1, according to the Hellyn family ownership. Kravet, one of the five largest customers of Devantex was patiently waiting for the goods promised them by November, a wait of approximately three months since the Devantex line changed ownership. Movelta’s owners, the Hellyn Family have their eyes now set on a $10 million business for all of their brands; Tavelmo, Devantex, W Collection and Waesland are all part of the Movelta Group. Devantex will now be based in a 22,000 square foot building on 50,000 square feet of land in Deerlijk, Belgium not far from the original Devantex factory. The companies are vertical yarn forward. Waesland is the piece dyeing operation in Sint Niklaas, not too far away from Deerlijk. Belgium is a small country of course but it is geographically in the center of Europe. F&FI

Tavelmo N.V in Deerlijk merchandises deep color lines at MoOD. Charlotte Hellyn, her brother Olivier and their father Frans

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Rockland Brings U.S. Made, Soft Roc-lon® Blackout Lining to World Market Also Adds Wide-Width Blackout Roller Shade Roc-Rol® Program First Time Sipco News Network

ALTIMORE, Maryland — Rockland Industries Inc., creators of Roc-lon drapery blackout linings has introduced ‘Luna’ and ‘Lily’, the softest blackout linings in its history according to Darren Fradin, Vice President, Sales & Marketing. “Our new products are so soft, the customer will not believe its 100 percent blackout,” Fradin remarks. Fradin says these two new collections are available and stocked in the following widths: 54 inch (137 cm.); 110 inches (280 cm.) and 116 inches (295 cm.) In addition, the products are available in FR and non-FR versions in 52 colors. “These new soft blackouts eliminate the need for woven dim-out which was used because it had a softer hand,” Fradin adds. The new soft Roc-lon is also available in PFP versions which can be dyed in any custom coloration or heat transferred in with any design in Rockland’s Bamberg, SC manufacturing facility. In addition to the soft Roc-lon, Rockland has added a wide-width Roc-Rol® roller shade program in 110 inch width with an updated color palette, 52 shades in all with multiple different basecloth options. “The Roc-Rol products feature cloth on the front and back with a middle layer of blackout,” Fradin explains. “You can make your own ‘sandwich’ featuring custom designs on the room side and solid color on the outside or any fabric and color combination you desire” he says. These new products will be shown at Heimtextil 2016 for the first time. “Rockland was also selected to take part in MADE: in America, a program started in 2008 by a not-forprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the American manufacturing story,” says Fradin. “The Rockland window products will be featured in the renovated Carroll Mansion in Baltimore and will be open to the public,” Fradin points out. Carroll was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and he built this house in 1808. Rockland started up business in 1832, making the company 183 years old. Roc-lon’s fabrics will also be fea-

Winter 2015-16

tured on an upcoming episode of Lifetime’s DESIGNING SPACES series, a home improvement show which focuses on getting the most out of the spaces we live in. F&FI

Carrol Mansion

Carroll House interior

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Wang Rebrands, Redefines Babei’s Role as Total Home Player Under Tuscon Products Label With American design for Chinese Market Sipco News Network

HANGHAI, China — More Chinese companies have moved into a one stop shopping zone for home furnishings arena than ever before in an attempt to grow their overall share of the home furnishings business including fabrics. “This includes fabrics, furniture, drapery and bedding for the domestics market,” says Yak Wang, who says that exporting of fabrics alone became more difficult as a business these last

few years. Tuscon Home, a rebranding of Babei, has 50 independent agent or company owned outlets in China today and expects to have 400 showroom by 2017. It has just completed a 300 home project in Hangzhou, Wang says. Eventually, Wang sees a Babei Home and Tuscon Wood Products scenario for the total offer. Wang is now the head of Tuscon Home which now incudes a total turnkey solution for domestically built project homes

Coulisse Opens USA Headquarters/ Showroom in Miami Sipco News Network

MIAMI--Coulisse, the international manufacturer and supplier of designer window coverings, unveiled its new US showroom located on Brickell Key in Miami to its international guest list. The new showroom will be used to continue to grow Coulisse’s presence in the US and cater to the local and Latin American markets. -- Israel Brod

Belinda and John Vrielink, President CEO BTX, BTX Holdings LLC/Elero USA Inc., Dallas, Texas, manufacturer of automated systems for window coverings and shades in North America and worldwide.

Adriana Lara Portolleau, Sales Director Coulisse Latin America Maria Jose Riera, Coulisse Fabricator Guayaquil, Ecuador (Plasticloset)

Jop Vos, Managing Director Coulisse Inc. USA, Miami; Maurice Roetgering, Director Owner Coulisse BV, Enter, The Netherlands Benjamin Collingwood-Selby, Coulisse Fabricator, Santiago, Chile

from the fabrics to the carpet to the bedding and even the furniture, interior doors and panels. “We would like to start importing our own exclusive private label lines of American furniture,” he says, “but it has to be from better brands which do not yet export to China. It has to be exclusively ours,” the young executive explains. “The USA and Europe is our main market today. Europe is difficult because the Euro has dropped. The USA is also down.

We were supplying fabric to Coach Bag in our Babei division but Coach buys mostly leather today. The UK market is good for us because the pound is more stable than the Euro. “There is lots of investment in the UK from Hong King and China,” he points out. “In China, the business of bedding is very big and still growing. Bedding used to be 100 percent silk but now it’s cotton and cotton blends.” F&FI

Yak Wang, President of Babei

Neva Fabrics Is Always First Stop For the World’s Central American Road Warriors Agents Say Guatemala City’s Isaac Selechnik Is always smiling, polite and kind Sipco News Network

surrounded by his friends and admirers. For 40 years, Selechnik has welcomed and smiled to those who visit him. He is the owner of five showrooms with the main showroom 1,000 square meters in size. He is considered a ‘bible’ of the fabric business with a reputation that is polite and kind. He is one of the most important buyers in the Central American region according to his suppliers. Selechnik buys mainly from China with some product from the USA. Seasoned sales agents like Johnny Keeton of Johnny Keeton Studios, New York and Rolando Henao of Fibers and Colors International also based in New York, say that

hanghai, China — While the industry moans and groans about the devaluation of South American currency in each country by as much as 25 percent, Isaac Selechnik, principal of Neva Fabric Wholesalers in Guatemala City is growing his fabric business five percent annually serving a population of four million people, he says. Neva is a family enterprise. Isaac Selechnik His wife Aida is in charge of finance; his son Jonathan, 32, is in furniture sales and daughters Selechnik is usually the first Beverly (35) and Carol also customer everyone likes to see participate in the business. when travelling in the South His fourth child, a daughter American market. F&FI named Eva Beinberg lives in San Diego and is starting up an upholstery line, which she designed herself. Johnny Keeton is someone well “If Neva makes known in South America who has called money, we all make on Isaac Selechnik, principal of Neva and money,” Selechnik other wholesalers there for many years. laughs. Keeton says that Peru, Colombia and N o b o d y Mexico have seen a 25 percent devaluwould expect to ation of their currency against the US see Selechnik Dollar which has slowed business down in Shanghai for quite a bit.” Shanghai Intertextile “I tell my principals to be in the South but nevertheless; American market for the long haul. We there he was at have seen the currency highs and lows for Johnny Keeton the Holiday Inn 40 years in South America. If you keep West dining going, it will pay off,” Keeton says. “Do not leave the market if the room in Shanghai currency drops. Stay with it and you’ll get business.” for breakfast in early September

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Valdese Hosts 150 Customers, Friends at Chelsea Tower, New York City Southern hospitality came to New York’s westside this fall with the Valdese 100th Anniversary bash that has been making its round all year; first in High Point for Showtime; then in Chicago for Neocon which saw six inches of rain and flooding in June and next at Showtime in December. The New York crowd was vibrant, fresh from the New York bedding market week and very multifaceted, from retailers to jobbers to manufacturers from as far away as California and Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Valdese CEO and President Mike Shelton was the host and he told of the early

beginnings of Valdese as a group of European migrants looking for religious freedom. Joe Feege and his partner Ernie Latham were the original sales team in the Northeast for Valdese and they grew the Northeast business from nothing to nearly $20 million in a short period of time. Shelton commented on their love/hate relationship—Joe didn’t want a partner but they ended up playing beautiful music as a sales team. Ernie is retired in Nantucket where he carves wooden objects. He’s 90 years young and has a beautiful wife in Chaille. (French for Shelley)

View from Chelsea Tower, the location for the Valdese Northeast 100th Anniversary bash arranged by Laura Levinson, VP Design

Kravet Cheesecake: (front) Lorraine Hazel Mellijor Tanyu, Senior Woven Stylist, Lee Jofa and Groundworks and Shelby Miller, Kravet designer; (back left) Alice Guercio, Vice President, Product Development; Karen Keating, Kravet Design Director;

Tracy Kwong, Product Manager, Kravet with Suzette O’Garro, Senior Product Manager, Robert Allen Corp., and Travis Wood, Textile Designer, Kravet, New York based.

Andrea Bruckner, Vice President, Sales with Keith Sorgeloos, founder and soon to be Chairman Emeritus, Home Source International, the Marianna, Florida warehouse and bedding supplier

Jerry Schwartz, COO and Bob Belof, VP Sales, National Accounts, Kravet, Bethpage, NY

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Mike Shelton, CEO Valdese Weavers with Marc Teppel, President, Samelson Chatelaine, New York; Scott George, Contract Sales Director, Valdese

Louis Newman, Vice President, Operations & Sales, Interspec, Allenwood, NJ (USA) with Catherine Schneider, Valdese Sales Rep, Northeast

Shawn Nelson, Sleep Sack President, Stamford, CT., a hot 59 retail furniture store chain with manufacturing and Issac Scharf, e commerce consultant, Gardena, CA

Ernie and Chaille Latham, the original Valdese Weavers Northeast Sales Team

Jerry Mobley, Design Director and Julie Brady, President, J. Queen NY with Joe Feege, VP Sales, Valdese Weavers

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GM Fabrics Installs Robotic Warehouse, Expands Product Line Indian mill offers drapery, upholstery, sheers, prints, velvets, ready-mades under one roof by S. Wishnawath

UMBAI, India — GM Fabrics has recently upgraded its dye house, laboratory facilities and also installed a robotic warehouse. “Since we are manufacturers of fancy decorative home furnishing fabrics, we have to carry a huge range of grey, processed, dyed yarns and the manual handling was cumbersome; we also needed to stock various grey fabrics and a huge range of finished packaged inventory to be shipped out,” said Gurvinder Singh, Managing Director, GM Fabrics. “It becomes practically impossible to manage all this manually, which usually results in huge delays in locating the product as human error cannot be avoided completely and the need of installing the new robotic warehouse became a necessity,” he added. “Now there is complete transparency of all the inventories, their accessibility is instantaneous

and the factory operations have become smooth plus increased efficiency has been achieved.” With a total infrastructure now in place G.M. fabrics had to strengthen its portfolio by offering a wider range of collections under one roof. ‘We have now added velvets, digital prints and the market acceptance is positive’ Gurvinder said. “The company has taken care to offer quality velvets by choosing reputable Belgium made machines that produce face to face pile velvet, 16 Dobbies, eight Jacquards; we can also do Italian Jacquard styles in one pile, two pile, three pile and four pile colors in 145 cm standard finished width that are suitable for drapery, upholstery and almost all types of soft home furnishings and priced between $6-11 per meter, 300 meters standard minimums and 200 meters at a surcharge,” Gurvinder said. G. M. Fabrics said it has also installed digital printing equipment (Italian origin), which

can print up to 180 cm wide but only dispersed printing (polyester base) and accepts 300 meter standard minimums and said it is ready to offer lower minimums at an extra surcharge. Delivery time is three to four weeks on standard bases and carries a price range of five to seven US$. ‘”In the domestic market, digital printing on velvets is gaining acceptance but export acceptance is mainly to print on natural fiber bases, which we will be ready to offer first quarter of 2016”, Gurvinder added. GM’s HOMES collection introduced a year ago for the domestic market has been well accepted “even though the domestic market situation is tough,” he said. “The brand has been able to build and its growth has contributed immensely to our strength and has created good will

among retailers,” he claims. HOMES direct retail distribution gives us the opportunity to expose our vast product line to the market, experiment and launch novelty products that previously had limited exposure to the existing wholesale network,” he concluded. F&FI

Kishanlal Punjabi, Director - Production and Gurvinder Singh, General Manager

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Major Expansion Greets C&M Textiles’ 65th Year Other outlets planned by brothers Peter and Charles Auger Sipco News Network

ONTREAL, Canada — Retailer and distributor C&M Textiles has opened its newly expanded 40,000 square foot flagship location on St. Hubert Street to serve the custom residential and contract market primarily in Canada but also elsewhere. Canada is a country with a population of 35 million in a landmass the size of the USA. The population is grouped around the major cities with a lot of open space in between. The original founders of C&M Textiles (1948) Charles and his then new bride Hazel and his brother Maurice Auger expanded the St. Hubert Street location twice, and now, the second generation brothers Andrew and Peter Auger expanded it a third time to better serve the ever-growing design market. The best may still be to come if you consider Peter’s and Maurice’s plans to open another location on the north shore

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of Montreal within the next six months. “We’d like to open a new outlet every 18 months if we could because the business continues to grow five percent a year with the roller shade segment growing at 20 percent a year,” Peter says. C&M produces private label collections for other retailers or programs with other brands supplied by their customers. This is 30 percent of C&M’s business today and growing. Peter often shops MoOD and other shows in search of high end products, half from Europe and the balance from India, Turkey and the USA. “We don’t like Chinese goods as a rule “because the minimums are too high and the quality is not consistent enough for our needs,” he maintains. C&M places orders for 40-50 pieces at a time so for many suppliers, C&M is a great direct customer. With the 3rd generation entering the business in 2000, they

also decided to add locations in Ottawa (12 years ago) and the dynamic Dix 30 mall in Brossard, Quebec. Brossard at 6,000 square feet is in a high-end outlet mall on the south shore of Montreal, Peter points out. He is President and CEO. C&M serves the interior designer trade, retail trade, and distributes to several other boutiques across Canada with a private label program of their exclusive lines. They have also revamped their website to facilitate online shopping and make their line available to worldwide markets. They offer turnkey service to all clients, and still have a bridal and eveningwear fabric department. Among the products offered are an exclusive line of low, medium and high-end hardware collections, and every brand of custom made blinds available on the market. C&M also offers all types of automation for blinds and

C&M store front and fabric section hardware, with experts on hand to guide their clients through installation procedures and show them

how easy and reasonable it can be to motorize any product they offer. F&FI

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F FI P H O T O G A L L E R Y

Shanghai Intertextile Shanghai Intertextile Takes on the World By Eric Schneider

SHANGHAI—If the recent Shanghai Intertextile proved anything it was that the Chinese have earned a place at the world’s fabric table with better goods, something that even two years ago was not in focus. “The types of equipment used by the Chinese mills is directly comparable to what is used in Europe and the USA,” a fabric veteran told F&FI. “The Chinese

warp construction is comparable to what is produced in Europe and the American designs produced by the Chinese are no longer copies. In fact, the Chinese are more worried about their designs being copied by the outside world,” it was said. “The mills left standing in Europe and the USA (see the Belgian Meltdown on page --have only survived because they have produced unique products which are first rate with excellent deliveries and sought by

the wholesaler,” a source stated. The Chinese producers of better goods like Chinasia’s ‘Qipu’ line at $11-$12 soon to be coming to the USA and Huatex, which has been selling $8-$10 upholstery have reduced minimums to 200-300 meters. Other higher end Chinese made lines in wool for example that were evident at Shanghai Intertextile still ask for 1,000 meter minimums at $23 a yard. Who is going to deal with that volume at that price? “If the world has accepted Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors apparel made in China, then the world will accept home furnishings fabrics made in China at every price level,” one agent said. “It’s just a question of time.”

‘Here’s the 400,000 square meter Shanghai Convention Center, the new home of Intertextile Shanghai. Take a Segway and defibrillator if you visit. It’s hard work covering the show, especially when you want to get there and when you leave! The 1,400 exhibitor show Pulled lots of buyers in from Pacific Rim and All of Asia over three days.

DCtex & Bollywood Actor Hrithik Roshan Join Hands to Promote New Furnishing Collections

Alpine Lounge, Cape Town, South Africa’s Ryan Beattie and Marie Cilliers, fabric buyer with Jordan Du (right) Sales & Marketing Director, Culp Fabrics Shanghai Co. Ltd.

by S. Wishnawath

Sanjay Arora, Principal of D’Decor Exports, Mumbai with John-Andrew Ovenstone, Director of Warwick UK

Aydin’s Taha Hasan Karabacak, Sales Director, Bursa with Ziya Aydin, son of Ali Aydin, Aydin President; Chia Cheng Chong, Director, Diva Design, Malaysia; and Su Zhi Feng, director, Shir Mily, China based sales agency for Aydin

Joberg, South African agents David and dad Stephen Boyer expect to run in the Chicago marathon.

Andrea Maharaj and associate ‘Samantha’ of the DuoTextile Agency, South Africa with F&FI publisher Eric Schneider (Photo by Brett Fleetwood)

Fargotex Group’s Ola Shapoval, Collection Director; Jozef Kosiorek, Board Chairman; with Yavuz Yavuz Acar, Managing Director, Kets, Istanbul; Jaroslav Jesionek, purchasing for Fargotex, Lomza, Poland

Kurniadi Tjandra, Director of Ateja, Bandung, Indonesia with Moe Manuel, Mexico based wholesaler

DCtex, India signed up Hrithik Roshan a Bollywood actor to bring more awareness to Indian consumers of its brand and newly launched collections. Though they have already made their presence among 800 retailers in India and export to 48 countries, this venture targets to generate more consumer awareness in India as well improve the brand’s value and positioning worldwide. Also recently DCtex has partnered with Warner Bro’s and has developed a new innovative range of bed linen for kids expanding their design library further. During the launch Hrithik Roshan disclosed that he has chosen Dicitex furnishings collections for his home recently and the touch as well as the feel that brought him pleasure was the main reason behind collaborating with DCtex. “Home-making is a great learning

process in ﬁnding ones individuality and it is a beautiful way to become part of someone’s home and that’s why I wanted to be a part of it”, said Hrithik Roshan during the launch celebrations. “There is more market share available in India for us in bed linen category and we are expanding our offerings by innovation and hard work but silently yet successfully achieving positive results”, said Nimish Aroraa, Managing Director, Dicitex Furnishings. Further, satisfying the passions of our consumers who want good décor within their homes also provides challenges to us that we always relish and cherish,” added Nimish. Dicitex Furnishings began its furnishing manufacturing and marketing in the year 1991 and caters furnishing lines to requirements of homes, hotels, hospitality and outdoor applications. F&FI

Rajjnish Arora, Manoharlal Arora, Hrithik Roshan, and Nimish Arora

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Winter 2015-16

F FI P H O T O G A L L E R Y

Shanghai Intertextile

English speaking Chinese Export Manager, Mr. Roger with M. Forouzandeh, CEO, Casafina Home Furnishing, Dubai and Iran Kelvin Wang, CEO Novatex Textile, Hangzhou with Roger Zeng, Manager, Leather purchases, Future Design, Hong Kong. Futura is a large private label furniture manufacturer

Nadi Al-Hamwi, owner, TL Trading & Consulting Co., Damascus, Syria and Shaoxing, China with Ella Lin, Chinasia Export Sales and George Gao, principal of Chinasia, Hangzhou

Yak Wang, Babei President, Shengzhou City, China (center) with Jared Whyte (left) and his dad George. Whyte Design, Woodbury, Minnesota USA

Erol Turkun, Vanelli Mill owner from Bursa with Ulrich Furus, MD of Deco Design Furus, Krefeld, Germany

Warwick Jeffrey, National Sales Manager and Jason Rademaker, General Manager, Ken Bimler Ltd., Christchurch, NZ fabrics wholesaler

Ismail Arslan, VP Business Development, De Leo Textiles with Engin Ocak, principal of Guleser, Bursa, Turkey with Craig De Leo, CEO De Leo, Fairfield, NJ (USA) and Tangun Ocak, son of Engin. Roberta Giardina, designer with Enrico Vaj, principal of Vay, Chieri, Italy based converter and print seller Michael Joseph, Manchester, UK

Rolando Henao, principal in FCI (Fibers & Colors International), New York based specialist in South America (partners with David Li-not shown); Isaac Selechnik, fabric wholesaler from Guatemala City, Guatemala (seated) and Johnny Keeton, Johnny Keeton Studios, New York based fabric sales agency, also specializing in South American market.

Winter 2015-16

Jacqueline Moss, Vice President Soft Home Merchandising for Michael Amini Furniture, Pico Rivera, CA with Doris Deng, CEO, Kentex Mills, Hangzhou, China

Jamie D. Urroz, sales agent with Boyteks based in New Orleans with Mevlut Baydar, Director of Sales & Marketing for Boyteks, Kayseri, Turkey; Ricardo Perez de la Vega, Artelinea, Guadalajara, Mexico with Daniel I. Ruesga Pelayo, founder of Formatex in Mexico, a less than one year old fabric wholesaler

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F FI D E S I G N

London Calling

t 100% Design the Anne Kyyro Quinn stand had walls covered with her intricate, bespoke felt acoustic wallcoverings—ideal for commercial or residential application.

By Jennifer Castoldi

ach September, London Design Festival, known as LDF by the ‘in’ crowd, has been growing exponentially and has become a great source of inspiration as well as business opportunity for locals and international attendees alike. In addition to the slew of trade shows—100% Design, Decorex, Tent, Designjunction, Designersblock, Focus at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre—there are hundreds of external events along the design trail from retailers to showrooms to pop-up locations that are worth a gander. Here, distinguished readers, are some highlights.

Anne Kyyro Quinn

vadrat, a prominent European fabric company, had a rather surprising display, a graffitied textile-covered wall, along the aisle at 100% Design, which just relocated from its home at Earls Court to its new position at Olympia.

ver at Designjunction Jon Burgerman, a British-born artist recognized for his drawings and doodles, currently based in NYC, created a vibrant collection for Kirby Design. Ligne Roset upholstered a sofa in the colorful pattern, which could be seen there in addition to the showroom in Chelsea Harbour.

Jon Burgerman for Kirby Design

Kvadrat

omebody coming to Chelsea Harbour for the Focus show could get his/her bearings and discover showrooms to visit in the Design Centre by viewing the room dividers on the top floor with a patchwork of samples available in the buildings. Laid out in a trend presentation of color, texture, and pattern each piece links back to a company within a stone’s throw. Showrooms at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre

lobally renowned Timorous Beasties had a splash of color to behold at Decorex. The Damsel Damask, part of the Hornbrook Collection, is digitally printed on a non-woven wallpaper and takes the classic damask to new levels with its complex colorway, something only achievable due to the color and gradation capabilities of digital printing. Timorous Beasties

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Winter 2015-16

F FI D E S I G N

ijo Studio, discovered at Tent, is a textile design duo from Copenhagen that blends Scandinavian tradition with trends and unique patterns. The watercolor, hand-painted collage with marbling is perfectly in sync and on-trend with international design directions.

he latest range from Elli Popp, featuring items for fashion and the home, really stood out with its newest boundary-pushing design utilizing 3D digital prints on textiles and wall décor. Put on a pair of glasses and see high-end design in a new light.

Elli Popp

Mijo Studio

he patterns found on the silks from Noorsaab are all derived from quotes on peace. The first 25 years of the designer’s life were spent in Lebanon where she became captivated by orderly abstract geometric patterns and structures before moving to London. “A strong oriental identity engaging with a plethora of western influences, embracing the coexistence of opposites… the old and the new, the conservative and the rebel, the traditional and the modern, the solemn and the witty,” is how she describes her works.

t Tent, Witch & Watchman welcome you to the wild side with a collection of bold patterns for decorative pillows, upholstery, wallcoverings, and home accessories.

Noorsaab

Witch & Watchman

omfortably Spun by Cavalcanti at Designjunction was a textile and sound installation where the tangible and audible joined forces. “With an emphasis on the sounds of production, these rugs depict an abstract visualization of sound bites collected from the traditional machinery used to make them.” The patterns are just as powerful as the sound emanating from the speakers.

Cavalcanti

Winter 2015-16

n the Shoreditch Design Triangle, at boutique retailer O’Dell’s, Rachel Scott demonstrated to visitors how her rugs are produced. She expertly spins and weaves local, natural wool in a meditative manner highlighting the mastery of the craft she keeps alive.

Rachel Scott at O’Dell’s Jennifer Castoldi is the CEO and Chief Creative Director of Trendease International. Since 2004, Trendease has been providing cutting-edge and competitive design information to readers spanning over 170 countries. Trendease is an influential resource reporting on global trends and key international design events. Hundreds of images and forwardthinking articles are presented on www.Trendease.com each month, additionally videos and podcasts are available on www.Trendease.TV.

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F FI P H O T O G A L L E R Y

MoOD: The Show Must Go On…and It Did! MoOD and Indigo made their contribution to the fabrics industry this year with a boutique exhibit with plenty to offer to those who came. This was the feedback from people polled by F&FI. Aside from the BueDrop Awards and the expanded designer section within Indigo, there was a Launch Pad area which presented new and promising young designers with their projects. Agents were pleased to see the likes of Quadrille and

others from the USA and there was plenty of activity in the stands. There was a good turnout from the Eurozone and the UK. Next year’s location will be at the Tour and Taxi Center close to Place Rogier. No more Heysel! It’s way too big for a scaled down MoOD and the Tour & Taxi Center ambiance should enhance MoOD for 2016. Who doesn’t like Brussels? --Eric Schneider Our Publisher with Tatjana Tyler, Product Development Manager for Panaz, Lancashire, UK. The view from La Blanche Rose restaurant in the Grand Place.

Lantian Bu Yi, Chinese wholesaler and Shai Zeiler, Vice President, Sales, Flocktex, Keir Malachi, Israel

Florence Vermelee, designer of Casamance and Misia lines; woven prints and wall covering with Laurent Maenad, owner of Bayart Vanoutryve, Neuville-en-Ferrain and Scott Kravet, Bethpage, NY

Ruth Bond, UK based Designer for D’Decor

Crew Joins John Spencer, Burnley Based Mill BURNLEY, UK— Matthew Crew has joined John Spencer in order to spearhead sales and marketing and take the brand ‘Ian Mankin’ global – and at the same time seek out commission weaving opportunities with European editors of high end furnishing fabrics. Crew is a seasoned veteran of the English textiles industry, spending most of his career at Crowson’s. Crew reports to David Collinge, Managing Director of what is the last textile mill still operating in this small town of Burnley in the north of England where the industrialized cotton weaving industry had its roots. The Spencer family started the mill in the 1860s and it is still owned and run by the same family. Collinge is now the 6th generation of the same family in charge of the business. Traditionally, the town was famous for fabrics for printing but John Spencer now specializes in stripes, checks and fancy jacquard designs using dyed yarns, Crew explains.

Matthew Crew

John Spencer

This chair is upholstered with Flocktex’s newest creation, embossed nylon flock. Looks like Leather. Very expensive.

“At its peak in the 1920s there were over 100,000 looms rattling away day and night – more than one for every man, woman and child in the town. The weaving industry had a glorious 100 years but went into terminal decline in the 1960’s,” Crew says. The town of Burnley and John Spencer had a tradition of weaving fine cotton fabrics for calico printing. Nowadays, the production is much more varied and the textiles created and woven in the mill go into end uses such as interiors and furnishings; industrial fabrics for coating and laminating, fashion, technical composites, and even parachutes for the ejector seats in fighter planes. The yarns for these applications are made from a wide range including wool, silk, acrylic, polyester, viscose, linen and hi-tech items such as Kevlar and Nomex. In 2008 one of John Spencer’s interiors customers retired and asked the mill to take on his business. Ian Mankin was a well-known fashion designer who had designed leather jackets for celebrities like the Beatles, Michael Caine and Ronald Reagan. Mankin also started an interior fabrics business in 1983 with a shop in London and rapidly became famous for his natural fabrics. John Spencer was weaving most of Ian Mankin’s fabrics and David and Ian had worked closely together to develop the business. It was a natural transition for David to take over the running of the business when Ian decided it was time for him to retire.

www.fabricsandfurnishings.com

Gokchen Kibrit, Boyteks sales and marketing specialist handles USA. Knows the jobber market cold after 12 years in the business including the last five with Boyteks

Scott Kravet gets around (center). Here he is with Luc Vandewiele, GM of Beaulieu in Kruishoutem, Belgium (left) and his colleague, Koen Vanackere, Account Manager.

Paul Wesson, Sales Director, White Meadow Furniture, Nottinghamshire, UK. He’s smiling because the business is so good; 21 years in the business.

Winter 2015-16

F FI P H O T O G A L L E R Y

MoOD Digitally printed collar and pocket square for Yaron

Benny Elfassy, principal of Armel Textile, Rishon Lezion, Israel with Yaron Shmueli, Creative Director (right) with Uulco Ballet, Export Director for Crevin of Barcelona, Spain

‘Launch Pad’ start up section of MoOD featured flocked flounder on Georg Jensen damask from Denmark designed by Cecilie Elisabeth Rudolph. Fun stuff!

This is the way women used to dress according to the Lace Museum.

Erol Turkun, Vanelli Mill owner from Bursa with Ulrich Furus, MD of Deco Design Furus, Krefeld, Germany Gretna Esposito, agent with Federico Tolino, Director, Tolino S.p.A., Nola, Italy, an important Italian wholesaler with Dolaine Hoareau, designer

Vicki Bousman, Trevira: David Borras, Sales agent Trevira, Spain: Svenja Fromm, Manager Business Development Trevira: Liza Carter, Consultant, Marketing/Business Development, Trevira North America

Roberta Giardina, designer with Enrico Vaj, principal of Vay, Chieri, Italy based converter and print seller Michael Joseph, Manchester, UK

Mark Beacroft, principal of MB Textile Agents, Derbyshire, UK with Laura Major, a designer working closely with him and his principals

Winter 2015-16

No respectable woman would be left without her Chinese made fan in the 1880’s.

Patrick Geysels says ‘thumbs up’ for next year’s MoOD at Tour & Taxi Center

This beautiful woman is Marguerite Kebbe, Chairman of Linea Verde, Beirut, Lebanon wholesaler with Joseph Matar, her Marketing & Sales Manager and Hamza Sevsevil, Cerotex Principal, Istanbul

Mustafa Chelikoz, principal of Matrocon Machines, Gent, Belgium, buys and sells looms like you might buy fabrics. He knows what’s going on in the textiles industry from a different perspective

New Home of MoOD for 2016

Bruxelles Tour et Taxis photo by Torsade de Pointes

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F FI C A L E N D A R December 2015 Showtime December 6-9, 2015

http://www.showtime-market.com High Point, NC

January 2016 Heimtextil January 12-15, 2016

http://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/ besucher/willkommen.html Frankfurt, Germany

Cologne Furniture Fair January 18-24, 2016 http://koelnmesse-welcome.com/imm-cologne/en/ Cologne, Germany

Maison Objet January 22-26, 2016 Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte http://www.maison-objet.com Paris, France

Paris Deco Off January 21-25, 2016 http://www.paris-deco-off.com/en/ Paris, France

March

New York Home Textiles Market Week March 14-17, 2016 http://www.homefashionproducts.com/about.php New York City

Sea Trade Cruise Global Show March 14-17, 2016 http://www.cruiseshippingevents.com/en/miami Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center

April

Proposte April 27-29 2016 http://www.propostefair.it/en Villa Erba, Cernobbio (Como), Italy

May

HD Expo May 4-6, 2016 http://www.hdexpo.com Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas

Evteks May 17-21, 2016 http://cnrevteks.com/ Istanbul, Turkey

June

Heimtextil India June 22-24, 2016 New Delhi http://heimtextil-india.in.messefrankfurt.com/newdelhi/en/visitors/welcome.html

F&FI L E T T E R S

Haufe Still Active Leaves Retirement at 80 I never really retired, can’t live without the contacts and friends. I will continue consultancy and maybe I get a new start for American designs and home furnishing products if they exist. Best, Henner To the left Haide my wife with Maxi our dog found in Spain and the lady with the hat Ursula Eisenbeck her sister. The mountains Eiger/Moench/Jungfrau in the Berner Overland, Switzerland.

(Continued from Page 8)

Heimtextil Shanghai Shanghai was hot in Autumn, the air conditioning was not working in halls 5 and 6 / air conditioning did work however in hall 7 about midday onwards on the first day, after much complaints from Exhibitors in that hall. The registration process was beyond a joke. For example people who had preregistered online, still had to reline up again and go through the process, that was just Plain dumb. If you did not preregister, the first day started really badly in hot crowded conditions The wait was a 35minutes at a 9 a.m. start. My Observation: There were very little food areas and water areas available for people; so people if you go to this event again bring your own. I presume somewhere on this site food facilities existed surely? The exhibition halls were too large for this event the ceilings far to high, we completely lost the atmosphere and buzz of other Exhibitions. The event is for Home Furnishings, not selling Aircraft There was no sitting or waiting areas available off the stands where people could mix and mingle, and allowing smoking on stands this was new for me and uncomfortable. The Security was to way over the top, riot gear was in evidence / shields / pepper spray / all security in black / guards constantly holding 800mm batons, intimidating was an understatement, did they know something we did not? What next,

tear gas next year, to try to control the crowds trying to get in? This part was bizzare. There is less security at the airport Escalators not working / Elevators not working from the metro, main exits and doors closed off from the metro, this part was really disfunctional. I can’t see at all this show getting traction at this event Centre until the surrounding areas are all functioning correctly. It was really disappointing to leave the Pudong Exhibition area, one year too early. Again it would be interesting to know the financial gain given to persuade the event to be relocated. One good plus on this event the toilet facilities for men’s and women’s were great. A big plus to the ladies who ran these, maybe the organisers should talk to these ladies to see how things are done correctly and in a correct way. This part was done right. Kind regards, Brett Fleetwood http://scorpioagencies.com/

Poland Price Driven Sipco News Network

RUSSELS — “In Poland, wholesalers are just trying to sell more goods without regard for profit,” according to Suleyman Ozturk, CIM&T (Crescent International Marketing & Trade) is a 17 year old wholesaler and also a brand based in Rotterdam, Holland and sells 50 percent synthetic leather and 50 percent all kinds of other fabrics in the three to six Euro price range for the furniture industry. CIM&T has eight employees operating in three countries. “Europe is quiet,” he says. However, the competition for the business is intense.” Romania, which CIM&T has just opened for business under the name Kvadrotex Fabrics, is an up and coming market, he says. In Poland,

CIM&T operates under the Karisma brand. “I left Turkey 36 years ago. I buy 30 qualities from ten factories in China for the time being. I think the market is headed more to India in the future. Many factories are closing in China today due in part to the environmental requirements.” F&FI

Turkish born Suleyman Ozturk, MD, CIM (Crescent International Marketing) fabric wholesaler based in Rotterdam doing business in Poznan, Poland

Charles Silverman, Hospitality Icon, Passes Charles Silverman was a gentleman’s gentleman. He was considered the godfather of the Las Vegas hotel design and mentored many of the current stars in the hospitality industry. It was a privilege to have known and worked with him for over four decades. His charm, grace and talent will be greatly missed. —A remembrance from Jay Dash

AS VEGAS, Nevada, — Charles L. Silverman passed away Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, due to conditions related to Parkinson’s disease. He was born Sept. 20, 1932 in Newark, N.J. Silverman graduated from Rutgers University in 1954, with a degree in history and made his start at Albert Parvin & Co. Later joined with fellow Parvin interior designer Bill Yates to form Yates-Silverman, Inc. in 1971. Silverman’s design creations can be

found all over the Las Vegas Strip and around the globe. Family and faith came foremost in his life. He enjoyed driving and collecting sports cars, playing golf, deep-sea fishing and spending time on one of the many boats he has captained over the years. Silverman was the widower of Mona Silverman. They shared over 50 years of marriage together. Their two daughters, Margot SilvermanSchumacher of Las Vegas, and Marcy Horky of Los Angeles survive him. F&FI

Advertiser Index

Aydin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19 Boyteks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 Cerotex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Casa Chonburi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Classical Elements . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Covington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 D’Decor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7 DC Tex Furnishings. . . . . . . . . 27 Dicitex Furnishings. . . . . . . . . . 47 Edmund Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39 Elite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Express Air Freight. . . . . . . . . 35 GM Fabrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23 J. Ennis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

J. Queen-NY . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 15 KCG Textiles/Kucuculik. . . . . . 14 Kravet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Marteks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 MoOD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Novita. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Richloom Fabrics Group. . . . . 31 Rockland Mills. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3 Stof. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Texco Home Textiles . . . . . 28-29 USA Tex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Valdese Weavers. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 YongShun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25

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Winter 2015-16