Scottish Textile companies and designers fly the flag in New York
Ten Scottish textiles companies and designers will be building on Scotland's reputation as a leading producer of luxurious textiles in exciting and innovative designs for contemporary living when they exhibit at the prestigious 21st Annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) being held in New York from May 16-19.
The fair is a showcase for international modern design and the world's leading designers and manufacturers to show their latest wares to an international market for today’s living. The fair is expected to attract over 26,000 visitors which are made up of architects, interior designers, retailers, manufacturers and developers. With international attendance expected to increase by 7% on 2008 figures, attendees will include visitors from as far as field as the Caribbean, Canada and America, as well as Central America and South America.
Scottish Enterprise and Scotland Development International (SDI) is organising the ‘Scottish Pavilion’ within the fair and will showcase work from designers and manufacturers many working in collaboration. They include Timorous Beasties, Glasgow School of Art - Centre for Advanced Textiles, The Plan, Begg Scotland, Green Grove Weavers, Morton Young and Borland, Johnstons of Elgin, Alexanders of Scotland and The Isle Mill. Building on this SDI have arranged for additional press and buyers to attend the show to meet the Scottish companies directly.
And in addition to the fair, a Globalscot dinner will be held on the 18th May where textiles, media and hotel chain Globalscots will come together to network and discuss the textile industry.
Lena Wilson, Chief Operating Officer, Scottish Enterprise and CEO Scottish Development International said “It is Scottish Enterprise's role to help companies internationalise and access global markets. The ICFF presents Scottish designers and manufacturers with a unique opportunity to exhibit and showcase their latest products building on Scotland’s highly acclaimed reputation for producing the best quality textiles internationally. The fair will allow buyers to meet the designers and manufacturers face to face to discuss any requirements and developments and to network."
A selection of the companies attending is:
Interior designer Suzy Hoodless who is working with Johnston's of Elgin to produce a luxurious range of cashmere throws for the Fair commented “The cashmere throws are an addition to the successful range of wallpaper that I designed for Osborne and Little, launched in 2008. My vision is to develop a larger range of home interior products and accessories. The cashmere throws will add a real element of luxury and bring colour to any room, whilst they are also incredible practical at the same time. It is really important to get the opportunity to raise Scotland's profile and I am really looking forward to showing my throws but also seeing what other designers and manufacturers are working on".
Classic Textiles – Centre for Advanced Textiles (CAT), Glasgow School of Art who is also attending will be launching their Sylvia Chalmers collection, the first time the collection has been shown in the United States. Sylvia Chalmers was a Scottish designer and a past student from the Glasgow School of Art, who ran a textile printing company in Scotland for over twenty years.
The classic textiles collection contains digitally printed reproductions of textiles by 20th century influential designers and artists. As well as retrospective work from Sylvia, the collection features the work of two other designers, Lucienne Day whose career in design spans 60 years with the freshness of her designs still relevant for contemporary interiors. And Robert Stewart, Scottish designer and artist famously known for the designs he produced for Liberty, Pringle and Donald Brothers in the 1950s will be showing printed fabric designs.
A new service is also being offered by CAT who is offering to reproduce fabrics no longer in production. Alan Shaw added “Any printed fabric can be digitally re-created, subject to copyright whether it is in cotton, silk, wool or viscose. We have recently just completed an order for an Italian velvet fabric for banquette seating for a Glasgow restaurant and we have even printed a bespoke coffin cover for a funeral. We offer a fairly unique service so we are confident that this new service will be well received at the Fair and we hope to be busy with potential enquiries and orders”.
Timourous Beasties, renowned for producing hand printed fabrics and wallpaper will be presenting a new range of digitally printed linens for drapery and upholstery featuring fieldfare and colours depicting the natural world challenging the idea of beauty, with detailed images of moths and insects. Timorous Beasties pride themselves on working in a wide variety of specialism’s and are possibly one of the only textile design companies that offer a product range so diverse ranging from pillowcases to gravestones.
Alexanders of Scotland Ltd known for their high quality woollen fabrics for the fashion industry have introduced a new stock of furnishings fabrics ranging form country living to more contemporary designs in woollen cloth. They pride themselves in offering a bespoke in house design services and will work closely with clients to develop and design new cloths. Their colours of Scotland yarns include a large pallet of colours and they offer a colour matching service.
Begg Scotland offer luxury accessories for lifestyle and the home. Dating back to 1869 they have been making woven accessories blending vintage and modern to create a stunning new collection of throws using only the finest natural fibres. Their new collection uses the finest yarns of 100% cashmere, soft lamb’s wool and angora and is offered in a wide variety of plain shades, stunning checks, traditional tartans, geometric jacquards and floral prints.