Velvet Manufacturers Prepare for the Resurgence of Velvet
April 6, 2006
HIGH POINT, North Carolina – Velvet has come back in a big way, as was obvious at many of the high-profile fabric showings worldwide both this year and last.
"Suede has peaked," said David Li, owner of American Decorative Fabrics, who launched a new cotton velvet line for furniture at Showtime in December, 2005. "People are looking for solutions," Li said, and velvet offers them one.
Levent Dogan, export manager for Epengle Tekstil, the oldest existing velvet mill in Turkey, said velvets are also giving people alternatives to chenille flats.
According to Li, it is velvet's natural fiber and better hand that makes it so appealing. Richard Oussoren, owner of Raymakers velvet in Holland agrees.
"Velvet is currently experiencing a revival in the market of interior decorating, both domestic and commercial. Rich decorations, deep colors and soft touch fabrics are the underlying trends for the increased usage of velvet for curtains and for upholstery. Also, in the latest fashion collections, velvet has been used more frequently," he said.
"People always want what is hard to get," said Germaine Desmet, principal of Desalux. "Velvet is a material that is very sensual," he said. Desmet said to look for a new velvet line from Desalux to premiere at Proposte in Milan, Italy.
According to Desmet, there is not enough production for exclusive velvets. "It's a cycle, you know," he said of why the material has come back with such a vengeance. Sometimes, there isn't an exact answer as to why things become popular, he said.
"Velvet is a niche product in 'curtain and upholstery land," Oussoren said. "It has been on the market for centuries and, in our opinion, has not been supported enough by range changes and recoloring in the last decades. Therefore, the product has lost its attractiveness to many designers, wholesalers/converters and retailers. Raymakers now is presenting the product differently in trendy – sometimes even shocking – colors and this strategy proves to be successful."
In order to support the velvet trend, Raymakers has also intensified their product development and improved their services.
"Above all, velvet is the product to use deep, warm, and vibrant colors on. By doing so, it enhances any curtain presentation in a showroom or any interior with its rich appearance," Oussoren said.
"By using new and different yarns for shine, for flame-retardency, for a more natural look or structure," they've upped the ante on powerful, explosive appearances.
They've also done this by using different finishing techniques such as brushing, embossing and printing, to decorate plain velvets.
"But the growth doesn't always come from new products," he said. According to Oussoren, an increased market share can also be achieved with an improved product presentation. "One of the mainstream trends of today is presenting an existing or even classic product of the past in now, trendy colors."
"Velvet offers a store of value in a cloth," said Robert Lachow, vice president of J.B. Martin, producers of high-end velvets. According to Lachow, velvet is popular because it can be done with so many different types of fibers (cottons, rayons, mohairs, linens).
"Not everyone knows how to make it well," he said. "It's not flooded in the marketplace." Velvet is deep, rich and takes color beautifully, he said. "Whatever fiber you put it in feels so different."
He said over the years, there's been a loss of capacity, so people need to find someone they can rely on.
J.B. Martin has three mills, one in the U.S., one in Mexico and one in Canada.
Among their extremely diversified product line, Lachow said at Showtime that rayon sheen is very popular. "Velvet offers a lot of opportunities to furniture manufacturers." It can be modern or traditional. And the list goes on.
"There is a big resurgence, especially with luster, renaissance and desire," said Jozien Vet, design director for De Ball velvets in Montreal. According to Vet and principal Cornelius de Kort, De Ball is the only velvet mill left that does jacquard, cotton and acrylics and has a capacity of eight million meters. They are also the only mill that does dye and discharge fabrics. This is a new technique where the fabric is first dyed, then "discharge printed," which allows for very fine detailing.
There is a lot of demand for sheen and luster, they said.
"More and more wholesalers/converters are revamping their velvet ranges. Also retailers who have changed their velvet presentations accordingly have realized very interesting results. They also proved that velvet can be sold to any age group, as long as it is presented in an attractive way to the target group. The same applies for architects/designers. They start using the product in their projects again, when presented in the right color ways and qualities," Oussoren said.
Raymakers has also improved their stock service by offering a one piece minimum per color and by revamping the color range for all their qualities. "This service enables our customers to introduce big color ranges and additional qualities without the burden of a big stock. In total we have 12 velvet qualities in over 500 colors in this stock program. Any special colors can be produced with just 2 piece minimums."
"Suede has peaked," said David Li, owner of American Decorative Fabrics, who launched a new cotton velvet line for furniture at Showtime in December, 2005. "People are looking for solutions," Li said, and velvet offers them one.
Levent Dogan, export manager for Epengle Tekstil, the oldest existing velvet mill in Turkey, said velvets are also giving people alternatives to chenille flats.
According to Li, it is velvet's natural fiber and better hand that makes it so appealing. Richard Oussoren, owner of Raymakers velvet in Holland agrees.
"Velvet is currently experiencing a revival in the market of interior decorating, both domestic and commercial. Rich decorations, deep colors and soft touch fabrics are the underlying trends for the increased usage of velvet for curtains and for upholstery. Also, in the latest fashion collections, velvet has been used more frequently," he said.
"People always want what is hard to get," said Germaine Desmet, principal of Desalux. "Velvet is a material that is very sensual," he said. Desmet said to look for a new velvet line from Desalux to premiere at Proposte in Milan, Italy.
According to Desmet, there is not enough production for exclusive velvets. "It's a cycle, you know," he said of why the material has come back with such a vengeance. Sometimes, there isn't an exact answer as to why things become popular, he said.
"Velvet is a niche product in 'curtain and upholstery land," Oussoren said. "It has been on the market for centuries and, in our opinion, has not been supported enough by range changes and recoloring in the last decades. Therefore, the product has lost its attractiveness to many designers, wholesalers/converters and retailers. Raymakers now is presenting the product differently in trendy – sometimes even shocking – colors and this strategy proves to be successful."
In order to support the velvet trend, Raymakers has also intensified their product development and improved their services.
"Above all, velvet is the product to use deep, warm, and vibrant colors on. By doing so, it enhances any curtain presentation in a showroom or any interior with its rich appearance," Oussoren said.
"By using new and different yarns for shine, for flame-retardency, for a more natural look or structure," they've upped the ante on powerful, explosive appearances.
They've also done this by using different finishing techniques such as brushing, embossing and printing, to decorate plain velvets.
"But the growth doesn't always come from new products," he said. According to Oussoren, an increased market share can also be achieved with an improved product presentation. "One of the mainstream trends of today is presenting an existing or even classic product of the past in now, trendy colors."
"Velvet offers a store of value in a cloth," said Robert Lachow, vice president of J.B. Martin, producers of high-end velvets. According to Lachow, velvet is popular because it can be done with so many different types of fibers (cottons, rayons, mohairs, linens).
"Not everyone knows how to make it well," he said. "It's not flooded in the marketplace." Velvet is deep, rich and takes color beautifully, he said. "Whatever fiber you put it in feels so different."
He said over the years, there's been a loss of capacity, so people need to find someone they can rely on.
J.B. Martin has three mills, one in the U.S., one in Mexico and one in Canada.
Among their extremely diversified product line, Lachow said at Showtime that rayon sheen is very popular. "Velvet offers a lot of opportunities to furniture manufacturers." It can be modern or traditional. And the list goes on.
"There is a big resurgence, especially with luster, renaissance and desire," said Jozien Vet, design director for De Ball velvets in Montreal. According to Vet and principal Cornelius de Kort, De Ball is the only velvet mill left that does jacquard, cotton and acrylics and has a capacity of eight million meters. They are also the only mill that does dye and discharge fabrics. This is a new technique where the fabric is first dyed, then "discharge printed," which allows for very fine detailing.
There is a lot of demand for sheen and luster, they said.
"More and more wholesalers/converters are revamping their velvet ranges. Also retailers who have changed their velvet presentations accordingly have realized very interesting results. They also proved that velvet can be sold to any age group, as long as it is presented in an attractive way to the target group. The same applies for architects/designers. They start using the product in their projects again, when presented in the right color ways and qualities," Oussoren said.
Raymakers has also improved their stock service by offering a one piece minimum per color and by revamping the color range for all their qualities. "This service enables our customers to introduce big color ranges and additional qualities without the burden of a big stock. In total we have 12 velvet qualities in over 500 colors in this stock program. Any special colors can be produced with just 2 piece minimums."
