Bygone trends and techniques have a way of coming back around again. So, it’s no wonder that the latest textile offerings, seen at NeoCon and Design Days 2024, are looking to the past for inspiration, whether drawing from architectural history, cultural traditions or even one’s own memories. Here, we’ve rounded up four new collections that feel both classic and contemporary:

1

Elemental Wright by Designtex

As far as figures of design history go, Frank Lloyd Wright is among the most prolific. In partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Designtex sought to translate his legacy into this collection of upholstery textiles. “Frank Lloyd Wright’s design principles predate concepts that are ubiquitous in wellness discussions today, like biophilic design, human-centered design, and evidence-based design – the emphasis on our innate human tendency to seek connections within nature,” says Sara Balderi, Design Director for Designtex.

To that end, the Elemental Wright series’ three woven patterns — based on Wright’s original design and artworks by Vern Swaback and Eugene Masselink, members of the Taliesin Fellowship — leverage nature-inspired geometry and colour palettes to pleasing effect. Pentimento balances the organic with the geometric, setting a playful floral pattern overtop a pentagonal line drawing. Circulate, meanwhile, organizes circular shapes into a graphic grid, weaving together different textures and tones to create a sense of tactility. Finally, Vertex’s triangular pattern nods to the fractals found in the environment, creating an abstraction of natural forms.

The collection also features two wallcoverings — Fellowship and Parquet — and four patterns available through Designtex’s Digital Studio tool, all embracing the underlying grids that define Wright’s architectural works. Though each pattern has its roots in design history, they feel equally at home in a contemporary interior — a testament to the timelessness of Wright’s design philosophy.

2

Memorable by HBF Textiles

Mary Jo Miller’s culminating collection with HBF Textiles looks back at her three decades as the company’s VP of Design and Creative Direction. Drawing on her recent collections, which play to an element of nostalgia, Memorable taps into inspiration from her own life, imbuing the textiles with a strong sense of narrative. The first, called Daydreamer, features a familiar organic pattern — resembling everything from weather radar maps to peeling bark or tree canopies — that “highlights our tendency to find familiar shapes in random stimuli.” What’s more, the textile is made of 100 per cent recycled post-consumer and post-industrial plastic, nearly half of which is recovered from ocean plastics. Hefty Herringbone, meanwhile, is an exaggerated take on the classic pattern, with plush, interwoven chenille yarns that create an interplay of light and shadow.

Made at one of the most recognized sustainable tanneries in the world, Glovely, a zero-waste leather offering, makes for a minimal counterpoint to the two textiles, with a supple quality that lends itself to exceptional tailoring. It is available in a luxurious matte finish in 15 hues that complement the rest of the collection. Offering aesthetic range and sustainable properties, Memorable is sure to leave a lasting legacy.

3

Ame by Kvadrat

During Japan’s Heian era, members of the imperial court combined different coloured layers of kimono to reflect their rank and the changing of the seasons. This tradition, known as Kasane No Irome, which translates to Colours of Layers, served as a point of inspiration for designer Teruhiro Yanagihara’s recent launch with Kvadrat. Dubbed Ame, the upholstery textile also borrows its rhythmic micro pattern from Japanese culture, imitating Sashiko, a functional embroidery technique used to repair worn textiles. “I felt that the Japanese philosophy of not throwing away items and instead using them beautifully for a long time was in line with the characteristics of Ame,” says Yanagihara. “I focused on layering colours and adapting the delicate precision of Sashiko to modern weaving techniques.” The designer utilized yarns of different thicknesses in contrasting colours to further emphasize the stitching pattern.

Ame is the first of Kvadrat’s collections to be woven entirely from polyester textile waste. Once sorted and shredded, the fabric is depolymerized and purified from chemicals and dies, then repolymerized and spun back into yarn. Though remarkable for its application of circular design, the product boasts comparable performance to virgin polyester and can continue to be recycled to feed the production loop.

4

Twist on a Classic by Luum Textiles

From fashion to furnishings, a handful of classic textiles have stood the test of time. For Luum Textiles, Suzanne Tick reimagines these traditional weave structures — houndstooth, herringbone, boucle and more — for modern interiors, playing with scale and unexpected colour combinations. The most graphic offering in the collection, Hyped Up lives up to its name with an enlarged, houndstooth-inspired design in nine fresh colourways. Herringbone Hybrid, meanwhile, utilizes heathered yarns twisted and woven into a broken twill jacquard pattern, creating a chevron motif. With a polyester base cloth and thermoplastic elastomer topcoat, the textile is ready to perform in even the highest traffic spaces.

Wooly Wooly and Demi Boucle each offer a richly textural appeal: The former recalls a mid-century-modern slubby wool boucle, with a medley of heathered yarns in multiple tones, while the latter is a more toned-down take on the boucle weave, offered in 18 colourways from neutrals to nature-inspired hues. The striated Sgraffito rounds out the collection, referencing the artisanal technique of scratching away plasterwork to reveal the layer beneath. The two-tone curvilinear pattern, formed from raised chenille yarns, works to highlight the organic forms of furnishings to maintain a sense of spatial harmony.

For more textile collections, visit our Spec Sheets section.