We had the pleasure of hosting Marcia Blake at Glenn Raven, Inc. for a continuing education presentation at our Austin Design Center.
Glen Raven, where Marcia is the Merchandise Manager, is a family-owned company based in North Carolina with operations worldwide. From its founding as a cotton mill more than 140 years ago, Glen Raven has applied its experience and market position to help indoor and outdoor furniture manufacturers understand the influence that textiles have on home environments.
Today, their flagship brand, Sunbrella®, helps them revolutionize the way the world thinks about how fabrics can look, feel and perform. Sunbrella is luxuriously soft and exceptionally beautiful fabric that integrates style with legendary performance qualities: easy care, fade proof, stain resistance, and best in class durability.
Led by a global design team, premium Sunbrella fabric gives consumers, designers, and architects the materials they need to create the extraordinary in residential and contract applications.
We were able to interview Marcia and below are some the questions and answers that designer found helpful.
How can a designer ensure they are procuring the highest quality performance fabrics?
Marcia: Not all performance fabrics are created equal. Some rely on a sprayed-on topcoat, which can give them a stiff feel, and the protection can wear away over time. However, all Sunbrella fabrics feature a proprietary Color to the Core™ technology, ensuring each fiber of every yarn is saturated to the core with UV-stable pigments for long-lasting, fade-proof beauty and strength. Even after continual usage and cleaning, Sunbrella fabrics maintain the same luxurious look and feel, year after year.
Our fabrics also carry industry-leading certifications including Greenguard Gold and Oeko-Tex certifications verifying low chemical emissions and that no harmful substances are used to produce Sunbrella upholstery fabrics. In addition, The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends certain Sunbrella fabrics in shading products as part of a complete sun protection regimen.
Fabrics boldly play a key role in Design, visually – But can you elaborate on how fabrics can affect the mood in an environment?
Marcia: Fabrics help to define a space’s overarching feel and personality. Not only do upholstered pieces soften spaces, the colors, patterns and textures chosen can entice visitors to experience the space in different ways. Certain colors and pattern types energize us by being bold, having high contrast and offering visual stimulation that forces our minds to respond in kind. Muted tones, neutrals and heavy textures create spaces that feel cozy, welcoming and relaxing signaling to visitors that this is a space to unwind, and be more serene.
By layering textiles, designers can create spaces that provide a backdrop for any type of experience, adding depth and intention to any space. Sunbrella fabrics offer a range of colors, patterns and textures that can bring any design idea to life in a way that will also stand the test of time – no matter the environment.
What are some design trends that your team is excited about?
Marcia: One of the trends we’ve been discussing is the increasingly personalized approach to residential spaces, creating meaningful spaces outfitted to foster deeper connections and memorable experiences. Contrasting elements are embraced as they help provide authenticity and further accentuate one’s individual style. For example: having something new paired with something old feels more interesting as it is unexpected yet approachable. Juxtaposing materials that are more organic or raw with furnishings that are more refined provides a intuiting perspective In residential upholstery, this manifests as jacquards layered together to create depth, richness and materiality, or patterns accumulated over time and places, paired together for a collage of eras and elements that is ever-evolving.
We are also seeing a redefinition of the state of luxury to be more inclusive. This modern sense of luxury is not about the price tag or status of an item but rather about high-quality, cherished items that people connect with on a personal level. In an age of overconsumption, it’s a sustainable approach that transcends fleeting trends. People are looking for pieces that are bespoke and highly meaningful with the potential to be future heirlooms. In residential upholstery, this means incorporating quality fabrics that will last with designs that feel timeless and luxe.
Our CEU today was Well-Being & Design: Elements of Positive Environments, Could you give us a few key takeaways for someone who wasn’t able to attend?
Marcia: Neutral and natural palettes have become increasingly popular in recent years, featuring warm browns and grays with touches of deep, muted greens and blues. Colors and highly intentional ways of utilizing light are key ingredients for achieving biophilic design.
It’s important to keep in mind that how someone feels about a color is highly subjective and there are no right or wrong answers. Furthermore, some research findings about color even seem to conflict with one another. And in addition, our experiences of color are influenced by personal associations and cultural factors.
Cozy is not just for the sake of pleasure, but as we’ve seen, in service of a more important priority: creating positive spaces that are good for us.
What’s more, performance fabrics are also highly livable and worry-free, adding to a sense of well-being by eliminating stress.
Color, light, nature, and texture all combine to enhance the human condition.
What is something you wish a Designer told you when you first entered the industry?
Marcia: In school we learned about traditional design principles and ‘best practices’, but the number one piece of advice I wish I had when I entered the industry is that there are no rules in design. I encourage those in the trade to embrace experimentation and step outside the boundaries of what you’ve been taught. It is there you will find the best expression of your talent and get the most gratification from your projects.
Tri-Supply was very happy to host this continuing education unit and we have more planned in the very near future. If you’d like to attend those events please let us know, and we’ll share the upcoming continuing education units schedule with you.