Show Review - April 2008

"Green," Grommets & Glitz

This checkerboard faux suede called Matsudo is offered by Park B. Smith in both panels and its Magic Blind shade.

New York Market spotlights eco-friendly products with easy action traversing and shimmer

Window treatment buyers attending New York Home Fashions Market Week in February were exposed to three major trends in window fashions: the emphasis on “green” or eco-friendly products, the extensive use of grommeted headers and fabrics featuring a lot of glitz.

The stress on green takes varied forms. A key one is the expanded use of linings, especially energy-savers. Also featured are fabrics made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, linen, bamboo and woven woods. Several suppliers emphasize the recyclability of polypropylene, rayon and viscose.
As to the wider use of grommets replacing rod pockets, in some showrooms it was simpler to ask which styles were not grommeted. One executive explains that buyers today prefer grommets because consumers like the clean look, easier traversing action and simple installation.

However, rod pockets or tabs are not disappearing. These styles continue to dominate and take different forms. Many companies are showing panels with rod pockets in front and tab tops in back. Others are placing rod pockets at both panel ends so engineered designs can be located near the top or bottom.

There was no question that industry stylists are charmed by the shimmering effects of metallic yarns, shiny threads and beading which showed up both in luxury jacquards and opening price point offerings.
In addition to the top three trends, there seems to be a difference of opinion about the application of lined panels. Some vendors report that customers are demanding lining primarily for insulation.

Others note that many interlined or blackout panels offer little insulation and are included mainly for a decorative customized look and added privacy. Because some stores are unwilling to pay the extra cost for lined panels, several suppliers are offering selected styles in both lined and unlined versions.

Key Problems

 

Stylemaster embellishes a number of its new panels with striking decorative effects like this braided tie-back.
A big hit for Lorraine Home Fashions is this new tier called Poinsettia as part of its expanding Christmas holiday selections.

Price resistance from stores is a problem facing the drapery and curtain industry. One executive notes the cost of products from China “keeps going up with every new order we place.” This is the result of rising inflation in China, revaluation of the dollar vs. the yuan, higher prices for petroleum-based fibers, and increased labor, packaging and shipping costs. Most U.S. suppliers still find it difficult to pass on these added costs to the stores.

So, though one can find in some showrooms, such as Beacon Looms, 100 percent silk Dupioni panels with interlinings that could retail as high as $99.99, most vendors continue to keep many new styles within the $19.99 to $39.99 range. Some even show promotional merchandise that retailers can sell for as little as $9.99 with a full markup.

Also critical is the trend of large retail chains to import direct, buying products made for them from mills in China and bypassing U.S. suppliers. A prime example is the decision by JCPenney to concentrate on its own American Living label for 40 merchandise categories, including home furnishings. Some leading home textile brands are expected to lose significant placements and volume with Penney’s.

Overview Of Fashion Looks

The color green—in soft, muted tones in yellow and blue casts—keeps showing up in new fashions.
New fabrics feature linen-like looks, chenilles, tweeds, herringbones, velvets and faux suedes and leathers in panels, valances and tabs. There is an expanded use of pieced styles, more all-over embroidery designs and more animal-skin looks in prints and weaves. 

Here are highlights of new market offerings:

Achim offers energy saving, light-filtering Sedona panels and the foamback Debbie. Also new is Window-in-a-Bag Halley and the bright Sunflower.

Arley features Somerset, a stripe and a matching solid in taffeta with a banded balloon; an animal hide group, including Impala with a distressed leather look, as well as Safari, Cheetah, Zambia and Zahara; Pinstripe, a shimmery striped sheer; and Grafton, a casual texture with a flipover valance.

Beacon Looms spotlights its InsulDark group, which includes insulated, blackout and interlined styles. Also featured are upscale pure silks, such as a Dupioni with slubs and blends like Tailandier, a silk/linen blend pieced with striped fabrics in all-silk.

CHF Industries has an animal skin group, including Giraffe with inverted pleats and back tabs as well as Kenya, an all-flocked fabric with a velour look; Cleo, a crushed velvet with crystal trim; Borghese, a quilted velvet; and Isa, a woven bamboo drapery with grommets on a cotton duck band. New drapery hardware includes a bamboo telescoping rod with matching finials.

Commonwealth Home Fashions uses grommets extensively in Livingston and Manhattan, available with a liner on a double rod; and Cherry Blossom, which runs an engineered floral embroidery in the valance and bottom half of the panel. There are lots of heavy textures and emphasis on its lined and interlined styles.

Croscill Home highlights its interlined and blackout fashions as well as bulky yarn chenilles such as Hemingway and Faulkner. Also new are panels with both rod pockets and back tabs, engineered designs with rod pockets at both ends, plus metallic yarns in fabrics and finials such as an “aged metal” buckle and a tortoise shell look.

D. Kwitman offers two new lace programs from China, including Garland Lace with intricate cutwork and balloon panels, and Damask Lace, plus a new valance program.

Ellery Homestyles devotes a wall to its Eclipse group of light-blocking, energy saving and noise-reducing curtains. New styles include a Thermaweave called Cancun; Suffield, an all-cotton duck with a quilted top treatment and tie-back; Poie de Soie, a faux silk shown with a glitzy Crackle Sheer; and a velour with a quilted pieced top and grommets.

Heritage Lace shows Papyrus and Eco-Sheer with grasscloth looks and a matchstick panel track made of recyclable yarn-dyed polypropylene; a shade with a fabric made of a three-layered yarn; and Rabbit Hollow, a cut-paper look in cafes and panels.

Lorraine Home Fashions debuts Geo, a geometric jacquard with swirl and square grommets; the interlined St. Regis panel; and the energy saving Normandy. New in tiers are Facets, an interlined style for rooms with small windows; a faux suede; and Christmas holiday designs.

National Curtain highlights Contempo, a faux silk jacquard; Vienna, a jacquard with a box motif and an attached valance; Joelle, a tab-top semi-sheer; Danielle, a semi-sheer with box stitching; Aspen, a rose-embossed pattern; and Patches, with patchwork and brightly colored embroidery.

Park B. Smith offers natural, recyclable materials, including Bennington, an all-cotton printed corduroy; Eco Renaissance, a paisley medallion of an organic cotton blend in panels and its Magic Blind; Junior Shop, brightly colored prints for teens; and a collection from Eileen West in “Silk” fabrics made of a polyester/acrylic blend.

PHI features a wall of energy saving panels and grommeted styles, including a hemstitich in a linen/rayon blend; Corduroy, a small-wale polyester/cotton panel lined or unlined; Opera, an all-cotton velvet paisley; and the heat-set, quilted Titonic.

Richloom Home Fashions spotlights a wall of grommeted fashions as well as a display of separate valances. New styles feature pieced panels, such as Fermo, an engineered number, and classic jacquards and textured chenilles, including the puckered Vivant, a selection of layered treatments with linings plus several burnout sheers.

Saturday Night Ltd. highlights Season of Blessing, a Christmas-theme scenic, as well as Mosaic, a cotton/viscose print; Sierra, an engineered design with rod pockets on both ends; On Line, a panel with grosgrain ribbon trim in long-length and tiers, plus novelty tiers such as Apple Pie, with the pie recipe printed on an all-cotton duck.

S. Lichtenberg debuts lined styles, such as Geo, and grommeted panels such as the quilted Morris and its UV-resistant Outdoor Collection. Also new is Rita, a floral print with metal yarns.

Softline Home Fashions offers new laces, modern colors, burnouts and textured linen looks, including a curtain with alternating bands of semi-sheers and sheers. A special display featured white faux silks.

Stylemaster’s upscale Renaissance Collection features insulate linings, pinch pleats and rod pockets. Also highlighted is a windowpane jacquard and luxurious woven designs with tuck valances.

TexStyle adds fashions in four lifestyle trends. Green House natural fabrics welcomes a recycled silk line. Sophisticated Traditional includes Blossom, a pieced leafed branch design with back tabs. City Velvet, a rayon/cotton blend with square grommets, joins City Living, and Global Styles adds Sisal, a menswear herringbone with metallic shimmer.

Versailles unveils pleated woven wood panels with grommets in a cotton binder heading in its shade line. Also shown are telescoping rods with simulated wood-grain wraps and matching real wood finials and caps, and a new metal group with brushed metal finishes and nylon-lined rings with friction-free action for traversing pinch-pleated panels.

Westgate Home exhibits lined and grommeted panels as well as pieced styles. These include Zanzibar, a faux silk damask pieced with Gabrielle to offer an animal hide look; Capri Stripe in ombré colors with a sheer over-panel creating a shimmering effect; Casting Call, a burnout with a large polka dot print; Westchester, a tweedy soft chenille stripe; and Carlotta, a cut-out with embroidery.

Zorlu USA shows pieced and grommeted styles and jewelry, including Melissa, a puckered plaid; La Boheme, a woven contemporary floral shown with a printed sheer; and Taj with embroidered medallions combined with a sheer featuring Swarovski crystals.

Industry executives are concerned about the squeeze on profit margins during the current economic slump. One has to applaud the industry’s ability to supply fashions with innovative features while offering outstanding values for consumers.

Resources
LDB INTERIOR TEXTILES is published by EW Williams Publications Company
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