Fabrics Present New Fashions in Interior Design

Fabrics are an important element in distinguishing

Fabrics are vital materials for the furniture industry, which uses changes in print, pattern, and color, along with strengthened functions, to forge new fashions in interior design. Besides making spaces look more colorful, fabrics also generate a cozy atmosphere which other furniture materials can hardly match. “Fabrics are an important element in interior design,” said Jane Lin of Arche, a company which makes curtains, sofas, and cushions especially tailored to customer specification. “They can be used to distinguish the unique and creative style of an interior design.”

Generally, curtains, sofas, and cushions are made in colors that match or complement each other to generate an integrated feel.

“We supply dozens of new fabrics every year, in addition to hundreds already in our collection, mostly from European manufacturers. They embrace almost all kinds of colors and patterns for making sofas, curtains, and cushions,” Lin commented. “Because our collection is so wide, we generally talk with customers to understand what they want and then recommend ideal fabrics to them.”

While some customers may choose the same pattern and color for their sofas, curtains, and cushions to produce an integrated design, the fabrics used in making these products differ in thickness and texture even though they are made in the same pattern and color. In general, sofa fabrics are the thickest, toughest, and most wear-resistant, whereas cushion fabrics are generally thin and soft to make them feel comfortable.

Basically, according to Lin, fabrics of a single color, or light prints, are preferred for small spaces, while those with complicated floral prints are usually used for spacious rooms with large windows. In Taiwan, most people choose fabrics of light colors for their small apartments. Recently, Lin observed, an increasing number of customers prefer to decorate one or two windows with curtains bearing large floral prints so as to make their houses look more colorful, lively, and cozy.

Luxury Sofas

Brown CASA & Co., a high-end furniture supplier, is introducing several new sofas made with newly-developed fabrics this year. A model made with brown velvet textile is especially attractive, with a bright and shiny look. “This is called ‘diamond velvet,' and it's the highest-quality velvet we've ever seen,” said the company's Operations Assistant, Harry Lin. “Besides being bright, diamond velvet is perfectly wear-resistant and keeps its color fresh.”

Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric on which the cut threads are very evenly distributed, giving it a distinct feel. Velvet is expensive to make and is thus considered a luxury product, often associated with high status.

“However,” Lin noted, “velvet is a textile which is difficult to clean and tends to look old as the color of the part where people sit often is inclined to fade and become lighter than other parts.” Diamond velvet, imported from Italy, is made to prevent this problem and keeps a fresh look all the time. That, said Lin, “is the reason why it has earned the ‘diamond-class' title.”

Diamond velvet comes in several colors. Brown and purple are the most popular colors, Lin said, as they look noble and elegant.

Another luxury sofa displayed at the company's show room is made of a kind of textile which looks like genuine chicken leather. Chicken leather is often used to make shoes, belts, handbags, and apparel, but seldom for sofas due to its relatively soft texture. “Chicken leather” textile, imported from Italy, not only looks like genuine chicken leather, but also feels like the real thing. The apple green sofa is made with a distinctive texture and fashionable styling combined with high-quality construction.

“The leather-like texture is beautiful and durable,” said Lin, “and is often used to make luxury goods for taste-conscious consumers.”

Office Chairs

Besides sofas, curtains, and cushions, fabrics also add comfort to office chairs, especially “ergonomic” chairs. Wrought Enterprise, which makes a variety of chairs employing fabrics, has launched a doctor's chair claimed to be very ergonomic, featuring a low back so that a doctor using it can freely stretch backward after sitting down for a long time.

“Traditionally, executive chairs are made with high backs to provide full back support,” noted a company representative. “The low-back doctor's chair offers an alternative for those who would like to stretch back freely.”

The chair is made with a fabric seat and back attached to a foam-plastic frame that is supported by a single central leg equipped with a gas spring under the seat for flexible adjustment of chair height. Four wheels on the bottom allow for smooth movement of the chair.

“Red is a popular color for the doctor's chair, because it looks very cheerful and vigorous and helps cheer up patients who go to see the doctor,” the representative added.

Established in 1997, Wrought specializes in chairs and provides a wide range of office chairs, executive chairs, restaurant chairs, meeting room chairs, beauty salon chairs, and bar chairs, in addition to the newly-developed doctor's chairs. A large portion of the chairs are made with fabric seats and backs.

Color is a key factor that buyers consider when placing orders, the sales representative noted, because “They have to consider if the chair color matches its surroundings.” Churches, for example, usually choose liver red or somber blue to match their solemn ambiance.

To strengthen its competitiveness, Wrought provides quick service in the areas of production management, design, material control, and shipping for OEM and ODM buyers. Strict quality control is exercised from inspection of incoming material to the release of the finished product, and after-sales service is especially responsive.

The Golden Chair Enterprise Co., another Taiwanese chair specialist, makes stacking chairs with fabric seats and metal-tubing frames. “The stacking chairs are popular for use in churches, meeting rooms, restaurants, and other the places where the chairs need to be stacked to save space when not being used,” commented a company representative surnamed Chang.

Traditionally, Chang said, few stacking chairs have been made with fabric because fabric tends to catch dust while stacked. “Now, Chang said, “many fabrics are claimed to be anti-dust and easy to clean. These improved characteristics have made fabrics increasingly popular for stacking chairs. Compared to metal, wood, and plastic, fabric feels soft and conformable. In addition, it can be used flexibly to produce customized colors.”

The company has been procuring fabrics from China, where they are made on a mass scale at relatively low cost, for several years. Despite the recent rise in international prices of upstream materials and in wages in China, fabric suppliers there generally haven't reflected the rising costs in their prices.

Labor and other production costs have remained stable in Taiwan—so far. “We ship stacking chairs to the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and our prices have been steady over the years,” said Chang. “However, we can't guarantee to continue offering stable prices if Chinese suppliers adjust their fabrics prices to reflect rising labor costs.”