Finally…
- Color is in!
- Indigo is still going strong.
- Black and White is hot.
- Soft Blush and Soothing Naturals eternal.
That’s my take away from our annual trek to High Point, North Carolina to view the International Textiles Alliance Fabric Show. The Market Square Tower holds the permanent major textile companies’ showrooms adjacent to the rustic brick walls of what once was a thriving mill.
Our first stop is always PK Lifestyles where our slip-covered Chameleon Fine Furniture™ displays the current fabrics (taut and tailored as always) – this year in soothing white blends from the new Kelly Ripa Collection. The fabric, Raffia, resembles a linen-look yet is a non-scratchy, 100% Polyester… making it perfectly washable for our slip-covered furniture.
Great “story boards” of new patterns and colors adorn the walls.
Color, Color, Color!
You have no idea how elated I was to see bold use of color in many showrooms.
Lori Rhees of Covington shows off a dynamic colorful geometric print. (She’s also beaming because she just got a promotion… Congrats Lori!)
P. Kaufmann also displayed the beautiful colorful florals they are known for. I ordered this one at the show, but it is back-ordered till end July.
Corales now comes in a colorful version. The fabric from Spain, is 100% Cotton and great for a fresh new look for those on the coast.
This dramatic print is from France, also made with 100% Fine Cotton. We will be taking pre-orders for this one.
England also puts its colorful foot forward in this bold linen-cotton blend from Edinburgh Weavers. It has several of our favorite bridge colors: Lagoon, Poppy and Indigo!
Conventional “neutrals” and natural looks will remain a constant in the home décor industry. Keystone Weaving is famous for its casually yet elegantly appointed showrooms.
Matt Underwood of King Textiles shows us the real deal- French linen fibers before they are washed and spun into beautiful vintage looking fabrics.
Indigo in its many nuances is still a big color story.
Robert Allen Home shows off its upholstered wall to welcome buyers to its showroom.
An entire wall of new blues:
Win selected one of his favorite blue Magnolia print from Lacefield.
The new Tilton Fenwick Collection at the Duralee Showroom is always fun.
More Indigos at the King Textiles Showroom are shown off by Win and one of our favorite Mill Representatives, Steve Rexford:
One of the most interesting showrooms is always the Lacefield Textiles room. Beth Lacefield has always been an inspiration to me as a woman–owned company, though I missed her this visit. Ashley Danter took good care of us though as she showed us all the Art as Inspiration for this season’s designs.
Black & White prints and patterns played an impressive role in this season’s showing.
The Kravet Family celebrated their 100th Anniversary. We presented a Chameleon card to President, Cary Kravet, of many of the furniture pieces we’ve made from Kravet Fabrics. See some of our favorite Kravet looks over the years here.
Roni Gold worked for Bloomcraft back in the early 90’s and is the designer of one of the very first fabrics we put on our first Jody Love Seat in 1993! I still love this vintage floral and asked her if it could be reproduced. I think it would sell even if the colors are “out of style”. Any input from you our readers, is welcome!
Jaclyn Smith, (still gorgeous and gracious – a rare combination), was at the Fabricut-Trend Showroom to introduce her new line of fabrics.
The woman on the left is Alida, a vibrant business owner from Venezuela that I met at the show 5 years ago and helped her navigate the show with my Spanish! Her shop in Venezuela is much like our Chameleon Style Store. She saw me in the elevator lobby and we just picked up where we left off – in Spanish! She was effervescent over meeting Jaclyn in person!
Just Breathe!
Milliken Textiles is making waves in the home décor fabrics industry with exciting new technologies in fabrics, stain resistance, but eco-friendly – literally letting the consumer know how many plastic bottles were saved in each yard of fabric. I will be doing a special blog on this later so stay tuned! Rene Vaughn and LeAnne Flack show off some of the new fibers.
All said – the 2018 show was great – we anxiously await our samples from all the wonderful mills. I conclude this season with Fuchsia, my own personal “Bridge Color™. I found this velvet like textured polyester from Advantage Fabrics and it was irresistible! Have fun!
Thanks Camy for featuring me in your market recap!
Love, love these colors. Can’t wait to see some of these fabrics at your store.