Burlington, N.C. – Textile producer Glen Raven Inc. has made progress in its corporate sustainability efforts over the past year, including achieving a 25% use of renewable electricity and a 50% increase in its use of recycled products.

“Our corporate sustainability report reflects what we’ve been doing through history, and it’s our opportunity to really articulate what Glen Raven has stood for over time,” said Leib Oehmig, CEO of Glen Raven Inc. “We want to be transparent both internally and externally and hold ourselves accountable. We want to make sure both our customers and the larger community are aware of what we are doing.”

Since last year’s initial report, the company has also attained a 33% decrease in Scope 1 and 2 net carbon emissions between 2019 to 2021,  recycled 108,309 pounds of fabric in partnership with customers and increased its waste diversion from the landfill rate to 97%.

“We feel like it’s an achievable goal to become 100% powered by certified renewable electricity by 2025,” Oehmig said. “25% of our energy use today is from renewable sources. We are learning every day, working with power suppliers. We own two of the largest privately held solar installations in North and South Carolina, and we consistently push ourselves to do more.”

The concept around the company’s Recycle My Sunbrella program goes back a decade with the company’s focus on motivating consumers to return fabric so the company could recycle it into reusable fiber that has the look, feel and texture that consumers expect from Glen Raven.

“We went through a lull in that program in terms of interest,” he said. “But we’ve seen a renewed energy in the program over the past several years. It took us a little while to recycle 1 million pounds, but we believe we’ll get to that next million much more quickly.”

The company also has made progress in its goals to support its people and communities by establishing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team to lead the company; creating six new positions to help foster associate growth and inclusivity; achieving safety rates that were 50% better than the latest OSHA benchmarks; and completing 2,193 hours of volunteer work via the company’s associates.

One of the areas that’s been important to Glen Raven for generations has been early childhood education, both at the local level and in a broader way.

Leib Oehmig

“We want to have a role in ensuring that the next generation can have access and the opportunity to get the education they deserve,” said Oehmig. “The company’s culture is such that if employees require time away from the office to volunteer, no one is looking at the clock. There is a high level of trust here. We schedule these initiatives in a way that has a minimal impact on operations. We are flexible with our associates and haven’t felt the need to formalize that.

”When the company issued its first corporate sustainability report last year, the goal was to share a set of aspirational goals with the public. This updated report is another step to demonstrate Glen Raven’s commitment to accountability, according to the company.

“We’ve always operated with the belief that business growth is most valuable when done alongside the growth of people and preservation of the planet,” Oehmig added. “I thank our dedicated team and partners working toward our ambitious goals in spite of the pandemic and supply chain challenges. I commend them for the wins made last year and for their continued drive for more wins to come.”

For more information and to view the progress report, visit GlenRaven.com/sustainability.

See also:

• Glen Raven takes steps to grow domestic capacity

Los Angeles — Morgan Fabrics chairman and CEO Michael Gittelson passed away July 12. He was 73.

Born March 17, 1949, in Minneapolis, Gittelson was the eldest of four sons of parents Arnold and Pat Gittelson. At age four, his family moved to California to settle in the San Fernando Valley. There, Arnie Gittelson began Morgan Fabrics, the family textile business.

Michael Gittelson began working at Morgan Fabrics in the 1970s as a salesman for the company in the Pacific Northwest.

He moved back to Los Angeles and married Tina in May 1978. In 1991, Gittelson became business partners with his father, growing the company from a leading domestic wholesale supplier of upholstery goods to an international giant in the textile industry.

He spent more than two decades establishing relationships in China, eventually establishing Morgan Fabrics of Shanghai.

Gittelson is survived by his wife Tina, his son, one brother and a cousin, Steve Gittelson who continues to work with Morgan Fabrics.

In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for donations to Women’s Guild Cedars Sinai (323) 904-4400; Agora Productions; The Rebecca Bender Initiative; or World Central Kitchen.

High Point, N.C. – The International Society of Furniture Designers continues its call for entries for the  2022 Pinnacle Awards, the juried competition being open to all furniture and textile designers, manufacturers and students who were directly involved in designing home furnishings, décor or textile products available for retail sale in the last year.

The Pinnacle Awards are intended to celebrate designs that are produced mostly in larger numbers for sale to consumers.

“The Pinnacle Awards honor product designers, either individuals or teams — the ones whose imagination, artistry and technical abilities create fresh and desirable home products — and the companies that bring those designs to life,” said John Conrad, ISFD executive director. “Through their combined efforts consumers are offered engaging, inviting and innovative products that enliven their homes and, as an extension, it uplifts our industry’s reputation and cache.”

Submissions are open to all furniture and textile designers, manufactures and design students.  The items or collections entered must be in current production and must have been shown and sold at one of the major home furnishings or fabric markets worldwide. Winners will be announced at the Pinnacle Awards Gala, Oct. 24, at the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center at High Point University.

Submission details can be found at 2022 Pinnacle Awards. The entry deadline is Aug. 2.

The 26 Pinnacle Awards categories for 2022 are:

• Wall Décor – Home furnishings that attach to or hang on the wall including but not limited to wall mirrors, wall décor, clocks. Does not include wall art, paintings, or prints. Entry may be by piece or group.
• Floor Coverings – Rugs
• Accessories – Any home furnishings accessories that are floor standing like sculpture, large planters or vases, screens, pedestals, carts, etc. Entry may be by piece or group.
• Bedroom Luxury – Headboards, mirrors, nightstands, chests, dressers, and other storage units intended primarily for bedroom use. Entry can be bedroom piece or group. A four-piece suggested retail must be above $3000.
• Bedroom Broad Appeal – Headboards, mirrors, nightstands, chests, dressers, and other storage units intended primarily for bedroom use. Entry can be bedroom piece or group. A four-piece suggested retail must be below $3000.
• Dining Luxury – Entry must be a group of table and chairs with a suggested retail for a table and 4 chairs of above $3000.
• Dining Broad Appeal – Entry must be a group of table and chairs with a suggested retail for a table and 4 chairs below $3000.
• Entertainment Furniture – Entries in this category include individual or multiple units (groupings) that accommodate audio/video components.
• Home Office – Includes desks, seating, and storage intended for home office. Combine office functionality with style and sizing suitable for home use. Entry can be a piece or a group.
• Home Textiles – Woven – Textiles designed for indoor and outdoor home furnishings, primarily upholstered furniture. Entry may be jacquards or dobby wovens introduced within the last year. Entries are limited to one per company and one-color way per entry.
• Home Textiles – Print- Textiles designed for indoor and outdoor home furnishings, primarily upholstered furniture. Entry may be screen or digital prints introduced within the last year. Entries are limited to one per company and one-color way per entry.
• Leather Upholstery – Luxury – Includes furniture, either motion or stationary, predominantly covered in leather. Suggested retail price must be above $5,000.
• Leather Upholstery – Broad Appeal- Includes furniture, either motion or stationary, predominantly covered in leather. Suggested retail price must be below $5,000. Maker/Designer – This category is for builders/makers creating one-of-a-kind pieces for sale in galleries, stores and or client specific products. Makers should have an independent business providing design and build services for custom furniture and accessories in their local market. This includes wood and mixed material case goods, occasional pieces, seating, upholstery, and accessories for both indoor and outdoor use.
• Lighting – Includes incandescent or LED fixed lighting intended for indoor home use, including table lamps, floor lamps, pendants, and chandeliers. Entry can be a piece or a group.
• Major Collections – Entry must be a whole home collection of at least 18 unique pieces. Upholstery, lighting, or accessories can be included only as part of the collection. Motion Upholstery – Includes pieces whose motion changes the posture and comfort of the person seated. Entry can be made by piece or group. Occasional Storage- Occasional furniture whose primary function is storage. Entry can be by piece or group. It does not include entertainment or home theater furniture. Occasional Tables – Luxury – An open piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs or supports providing a level surface on which objects may be placed. Suggested retail price must be above $500. Occasional Tables – Broad Appeal – An open piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs or supports providing a level surface on which objects may be placed. Suggested retail price must be below $500. Stationary Upholstery – Luxury – Can include upholstered pieces with moving trays, shelves, etc., as long as the movement does not affect the posture of the person seated. Entry can be individual pieces or group. Suggested retail price must be above $2,000. Stationary Upholstery – Broad Appeal -Includes upholstered pieces with moving trays, shelves, etc., as long as the movement does not affect the posture of the person seated. Entry can be individual pieces or group. Suggested retail price must be below $2,000.
• Outdoor – Furniture designed primarily for outdoor or leisure-time settings such as sunrooms, porches, patios, or atriums. Youth – Infant and juvenile bedroom furniture including beds, children’s room accessories, and storage. Entry can be an individual piece or a group. The Green Leaf Award Subcategory – Products that meet the most discerning design standards while also meeting a legitimately eco-friendly profile. See application for more details.
• Student Pinnacle Award – Any bedroom, dining, occasional, home office, textiles, seating, or entertainment category piece selected from the student’s body of work.

See also: ISFD presents 2021 Pinnacle Award winners

High Point, N.C. — When it comes to selling performance fabrics, brands say that having a thorough knowledge of the category is a must.

According to industry players, pre-COVID there was a demand for performance fabrics, and the market was beginning to move in that direction.

With that in mind Furniture Today spoke with several performance fabrics makers to find out what RSAs need to know about selling this category.

Jack Eger, senior vice president,
Crypton

It is good to offer a truly memorable moment in the presentation. For us, this can be as simple as a repellency demonstration with liquid beading up on the fabric. Or it’s good to make an illustrated, real-life comparison either with non-performance fabric and show the differential in strength and cleanability side-by-side.

Another key element is to set the definition of performance. You want to explain cleanability, repellency and durability. A clear definition of performance will automatically eliminate that secondary category of brands that sells itself as performance but really isn’t.

It’s important to distinguish your brand. You can give them the reasons as to why your product belongs in the performance category and provide facts about what sets your brand apart from others.

It’s also important to specialize your training modules to suit the various roles that exist at retail. First you have managers and owners, who need to be enrolled in the value proposition of performance, the marketing and sales support your brand offers, and the potential for upselling through COM and other custom programs.

In sales, there are two groups, one selling furniture on the showroom floor and another group designing rooms or residences. So, it’s two different kinds of sales staffers. You need to train them separately because their skill sets and knowledge bases are different, and often their clientele are at a different level of design interest.

Susan Sheil, sales and design consultant
Culp

COVID has exaggerated this whole movement. We have seen a lot of growth in this segment within our company. Some consumers are remodeling, and some are buying furniture for the first time. They all want performance fabrics that are available at an affordable price. Whereas before, performance fabric was something you worked with a designer to get, or there was a $600 or $700 upcharge to get a performance fabric.

A lot of other companies have a performance story. For Culp’s LiveSmart, we start with quality fabric that goes through lots of rigorous testing before we ever introduce it to the customer. We then explain how the fabric starts with high performance polyester yarns and the process encapsulates the entire yarn, not just the top surface.

Also, Culp’s LiveSmart performance fabrics are all converting to be Fluorine Free. Culp is continually researching and improving to give our customers the best quality product.

Iwan Nassimi, executive vice president
Nassimi
When we look at performance fabrics, we try to think beyond a singular feature such as stain resistance. To us, performance means that the material will endure and remain beautiful even after years of use.

For that reason, performance should be looked at more holistically to incorporate all the stress areas that are most often the cause for a fabric’s lack of durability. These include pilling resistance, seam strength, abrasion and stain resistance. A true performance fabric should address all of these, as our Resilience TX performance fabrics do.

Above and beyond that, one should consider the added benefits that may be of particular value in households with pets or small children, such as a liquid barrier or bleach resistance. Liquid barrier fabrics, such as Supreen, protect the furniture from the inside out, preventing liquids from penetrating and reaching the inside, keeping the furniture hygienic, smelling fresh and looking clean.

Anderson Gibbons, vice president of marketing
Revolution Performance Fabrics

With performance fabrics its important to make it simple: They are stain resistant, family-friendly and bleach cleanable. The easier performance fabrics for RSAs to sell are those that have a set warranty, since when you buy a performance brand, you are buying a promise that these will be easily cleanable performance fabrics.

When it comes to durability, it’s important to know the results of the double rub test and whether the product offers dynamic seam slippage. At Revolution, we run 20 different tests on our everyday fabrics that are in the mill before they even go to market. If the fabric fails any of those tests, it doesn’t get released.

I think that durability is becoming more of an issue with the weavers not making durable yarns. It can often be harder to understand the amount of durability with these beautiful fabrics since they aren’t actually performance fabrics if they can’t perform on someone’s sofa.

Sarah Dooley, director of upholstery
Sunbrella

First, it’s important to understand your customer and their lifestyle. In the case of performance fabrics, it helps to ask not only questions about their home and overall aesthetic, but also how they’ll be spending their time. Today, performance fabrics can be beautiful, easy to clean and soft. This makes them a perfect option for families with children and pets or for someone who likes to entertain.

Based on the customer’s design goals, it is helpful to merchandise performance fabrics by explaining their role in designing a complete and comfortable home. Choosing a performance fabric for larger furniture items will provide a soft yet durable foundation that can be built on with throw pillows in fresh color pairings, patterns and other motifs to make a consumer’s space feel uniquely theirs.

It can also help to call out the benefits of performance fabrics for certain environments. For example, while Sunbrella performance fabrics are suitable for both exterior and interior environments, our key selling attributes for indoor spaces include being a worry-free choice offering durability, comfort and stain resistance without sacrificing style.

Sunbrella upholstery fabrics are also Greenguard Gold certified for low chemical emissions, contributing to healthy indoor air quality.

In addition, it’s important to help customers understand that some performance fabrics are made with surface-dyed yarns and are only protected by an external coating that wears over time. In contrast, Sunbrella fabrics are woven with proprietary yarns made with durable fibers completely saturated with color, offering superior fade resistance.

A final tip is to do some research and communicate a brand’s commitment to quality and craftsmanship as well as the longevity of the fabric.

Jeff Smith, director of residential sales
Ultrafabrics

Our customers, and ultimately the end user, expect that materials will not only hold up to any situation in or out of the home, but also expect the fabrics to remain attractive, easy to clean and safe for their families.

Typical woven performance fabrics are made from polyester, cotton, viscose, olefins, etc. In time, these fibers will begin to wear, and any protective coatings will diminish. While manufacturers have improved the performance aspect of their fabrics with different finishes, some of these finishes are looked at as environmentally unsafe, while other plant-based options only protect against water-based stains. That is where understanding the needs of performance from both technical and practical aspects are important in order to recommend the right product.

Ultrafabrics’ double rub/abrasion results range from 200k to 400k compared with the industry standard of 15k, while our hydrolysis testing ranges from 10 to14 weeks compared with the industry standard of five weeks. On a practical level, our enhanced attributes are inherent to the product and will not wear like a topical treatment. Ultimately our fabrics are engineered for all aspects of performance without sacrificing comfort, look or sustainability.

Patrick Shelton, senior vice president of sales
Valdese Weavers

The last thing a retail salesperson wants to do is sell their customer a performance fabric that doesn’t meet the needs of their customers’ space and lifestyle, potentially leaving the customer disappointed and unlikely to return.

It is important to be educated about different performance brands by using the resources the performance brand’s company offers. We recommend visiting the brand websites and browsing the product features and FAQ pages.

We also recommend taking advantage of virtual or in-person training with a brand representative. For example, InsideOut Performance Fabrics has an outreach program in which a training manager will come to the retail store or host a virtual training session with all sales staff to ensure they feel comfortable speaking about InsideOut Performance Fabrics.

It is also important to remember that not all performance fabrics have the same characteristics. Many performance brands check the box of being durable, easy to clean and liquid resistant, but what if the customer needs fade resistance for outdoors or an interior room with a lot of light. What if they want something that is bleach cleanable for a room that sees a lot of messes? What if they require a fabric that is PFAS free?

Also, showing a customer how a performance fabric actually performs can go a long way. A quick demonstration of spilling a liquid, such as red wine or soy sauce, on a sample piece of fabric and showing how easy it cleans can significantly increase buying confidence for a consumer.

See also:

• Price hikes coming in Q2 from leading fabric supplier
• Milliken unveils its first entry in this hot fabric category

   

   

   

New York – Home furnishings company Kravet has introduced its debut fabric collection with Denver-based interior designer Nadia Watts. The new Gem Collection draws its inspiration from the iconic colored glass of Watts’ family heritage.

Nadia Watts

Watts’ great-great-grandfather, Louis Comfort Tiffany, founded the iconic stained-glass studio in New York City: Tiffany Studios. Son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of quintessential American jewelry brand Tiffany and Co., Louis began working with glass around 1880, creating inventive sheets of multi-colored glass for his stained-glass windows and later making artistic glass vases and lamps, which are now renowned collector’s items.

“This collection began five years ago with a visit to the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass where I was inspired by the depth, quantity and dimension of color before my very eyes,” said Watts. “With this glass as my Northstar and using watercolors and markers, I created a series of designs and patterns that would eventually become the Gem collection. I am grateful that Kravet could see my vision and supported bringing it to life.”

The brightly colored fabrics feature modern embroideries, prints, velvets, bouclé’s and textures, “offering versatility and a beautiful design aesthetic,” according to the company.

Inspired by the intricate nature of Tiffany’s Favrile glass, the collection highlights the brilliant and rich colors – pops of chartreuse, fuchsia and teal – intended to mirror the shimmering hues found in stained-glass.

Watts has taken this influence and transformed it into an exciting collection of textiles in a range of designs and textures, such as Somersault, a printed chevron on a textured ground cloth; Cozy Up, a luxurious and lofty boucle; Antiparos, a printed batik-inspired diamond pattern; and Hoopla, a hand-cut embroidered fabric resembling streamers of beads.

“I love that I can take my great-great-grandfather’s Tiffany glass from more than 140 years ago and have it be the foundation for a fabric collection that can be used today for furniture, draperies, pillows, headboards and more,” Watts said.

The Gem Collection is now available in Kravet showrooms.

MORE

New Kravet collection features Wedgwood dinnerware designs

Donghia launches first collection as part of Kravet Inc.

High Point , N.C. – Upholstery and mattress fabric supplier Culp will be raising its prices in the second quarter to combat increasing costs, inflation and other economic pressures.

In the company’s year-end and fourth-quarter conference call company executives said price increases on its products would be effective in the second quarter. The increases are one of a number of steps the company is taking to cut costs as the mattress and home furnishings business continues to see a slowdown.

Culp reported a net loss of $6 million for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $1.5 million in the prior-year period. The company posted fourth quarter net sales of $56.9 million for the quarter ended May 1, a 28% decline from the same quarter last year. Mattress fabric sales dropped 30.6% from the fourth quarter last year, and upholstery fabric sales down 24.8% compared to the same period last year.

On the year, Culp reported a net loss of $3.2 million compared with net income of $3.2 million in fiscal 2021. Net sales for the year were $294.8 million, a 1.6% decline from the prior year net sales of $299.7 million.

Iv Culp, president and chief executive officer, said the fourth quarter was impacted by the unexpected shutdown of its facilities in China due to COVID-related restrictions. He also said the year started strong, but was later impacted by “the rapid rise in inflation, changing consumer spending patterns, COVID-related disruption and other geopolitical events, materially affected the performance of our businesses,” he said.

“We took several pricing and cost reduction actions throughout the year to help mitigate these pressures, but with the ongoing volatility, we are now taking additional measures to align our business, to meet current demand trends and diligently manage our liquidity.”

In addition to the pending price increases, the company is moving to reduce inventory, limit capital expenditures, reducing production schedules and making workforce adjustments to align with product demand.

“In response to the ongoing headwinds, management is taking decisive action to further reduce expenses and improve operating efficiencies with the targeted annual cost savings of approximately $2 million,” Culp said. “We’re also planning to announce additional pricing action during the first quarter that will be effective for the second quarter of fiscal 2023.”

The company’s board of directors has suspended the quarterly cash dividend on its common stock to “preserve liquidity and support future growth opportunities.”

MORE

Culp’s Haiti facility gets high-level visitors

Culp promotes Tsacoumangos to divisional COO

Lake Como, Italy – Proposte, the showcase for furnishings and curtain fabrics, will celebrate its 30^th edition next spring.

Dates for 2023 trade fair have been set for April 18-20. The event will again take place at the modern exhibition center of Villa Erba in Cernobbio, a commune of Lake Como.

The dates were selected to work around European bank holidays and other international expositions – particularly the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, which will take place next year from April 18-23.

The 2022 edition of Proposte three months ago saw a 30% increase in attendance and a 45% increase in non-Italian exhibitors.

MORE

Textile vendors bring recycled, sustainable fabric lines to forefront

5 fabric trends that will shape the look of 2022 and beyond

Spartanburg, S.C.  – Milliken & Company has entered the outdoor performance fabrics market with the launch of Milliken Outdoor Fabrics. The new line, premiering at Casual Market Chicago this month, marks the first time the 155-year-old manufacturer has supplied the outdoor furniture fabric market.

“Milliken has been successfully developing indoor residential and contract fabrics and partnering with large furniture OEMs in the contract and residential markets for more than 50 years,” said Benji Bagwell, Milliken & Company vice president of décor in the textile business. “Our arrival to the outdoor fabric market is a natural extension to the innovation in performance fabrics our global team has been providing for decades.”

The first collection from the outdoor line is New Vistas, a line of performance fabrics designed to move effortlessly from indoors to outdoors. Including 10 patterns across 72 skus, New Vistas is a collection of 100% solution-dyed acrylic fabrics that feature a non-PFAS finish to make it stain and water resistant. These fabrics are in-stock and ready to ship from South Carolina. The new line includes a five-year limited warranty. A follow up collection, Outer Realm, is anticipated to launch in late 2022.

The Textile Business at Milliken & Company will exhibit the new Milliken Outdoor Fabrics at the Casual Market Chicago at showroom space 7-8053.

MORE

• Milliken & Company to eliminate PFAS from textile finishes, fibers
• 1888 Mills, Lenzing, Milliken and Unifi in U.S. textiles pilot

Hickory, N.C. — Designer Erin Ruby’s third collaboration with HBF Textiles celebrates being comfortable in one’s own skin.

The new In Your Skin collection features six sensorial textiles, each with its own unique name to match its pattern.

• Matriarch is a twill weave with strong, bold, color combinations meant to evoke the wisdom that comes with age and experience.
• Laugh Lines mimics is a joyful casual stripe pattern.
• Tattoo Toile is a modern play on the traditional Toile de Jouy, incorporating floral and hummingbird motifs common in tattoos.
• Chubby Baby is a soft and smushy matelassé tufted in a way that mimics the arm rolls of a baby.
• Goosebumps is a nubby wool texture meant to feel like a warm hug.
• Stardust is a reflection on the vastness of the cosmos and each person’s small part in it.

Produced in 55 colorways, each piece was made to have a handmade quality, with performance attributes as a plus. Each of the fabrics in the collection is certified Indoor Advantage Gold (SCS), woven and manufactured in the United States with wool locally sourced from the Midwest, and most of the patterns are manufactured using post-consumer and/or recycled materials.

Most of the patterns in HBF Textiles’ new collection are manufactured using post-consumer and/or recycled materials.

“In Your Skin truly showcases Erin’s strengths as a creative,” said Mary Jo Miller, VP of design and creative direction at HBF Textiles. “She maintains a sophisticated color palette, weaves in meaningful stories to showcase her inspiration, and executes her vision by minding the smallest of details.”

Ruby noted that while the collection was holistically designed to be layered and coordinated together, each pattern can stand on its own.

“Sometimes contract textiles can tend toward being cold or lifeless for pragmatic reasons, but this collection is so warm and tactile even with its high performance functionality. It’s full of life – imbued with optimism and aspiration, which I think will resonate within a space,” the designer added.

In Your Skin previewed last week at NeoCon 2022 in Chicago and will launch on July 5.

MORE

HBF Textiles adds to its Clean Impact fabric portfolio

New York — Luxury textile manufacturer Schumacher recently announced a collaboration with Haitian American fashion designer Victor Glemaud called Cul-de-Sac, a 35-SKU collection of upholstery, textiles, trim and wallcoverings in 14 patterns and a variety of colorways. The collection draws inspiration from Glemaud’s Caribbean heritage and his family and is Glemaud’s first foray into the home market.

One upholstery fabric in the new collection — Toussaint toile — is evolving toile’s traditional take on history by paying homage to Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the only successful slave revolt that took place in Haiti in the early 19th century. Featuring historic scenes that celebrate Louverture, along with the country’s national bird, national flower, foliage and landscapes, this large-scale print on 53% linen for upholstery upends traditional toile with a Black national hero, much as historic toiles celebrated George Washington in the U.S. and Napoleon Bonaparte in France.

Glemaud’s creation is reminiscent of Sheila Bridge’s famous Harlem Toile, which shifted toiles’ narrative to something never seen before, a play on Black stereotypes within a traditional pattern.

nown for his colorful knitwear, Glemaud studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked at Paco Rabanne and Tommy Hilfiger prior to launching his own firm. He was a finalist for the 2017 CDFA/Vogue Fashion Fund award.

The new collection is available to the trade through fschumacher.com and through Schumacher’s showrooms.