Showtime upbeat, gets positive reviews

By Courtney M. Paschal -- Casual Living, 1/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Despite what seemed like a slip in traffic, this winter's Showtime proved to be a success for many suppliers of performance fabrics, with a focus on new collections and keeping production within the United States.

"The outlook for domestic manufacturing is more optimistic than it has been for a long time," said Debbye Lustig, Cone Jacquards.

Several introductions were made during the fabric event, held Dec. 2–5 in High Point, N.C. Cone debuted a new UV acrylic line that prompted a great response from customers.

"It is very rewarding to see what we offer in design and service is being recognized by our customers," Lustig said.

Showtime was a success for Altizer & Co. as well. The company introduced a collection of seven colors and 14 patterns in its Al Fresco Functional Fabrics outdoor line plus 30 additional SKUs of prints for outdoor use, all constructed of solution-dyed acrylic and treated with a UV and antimicrobial coating.

"It was a driving force behind the show for us," said Todd Nifong, vice president of Altizer & Co.

The collection is a departure from past seasons in terms of color, Nifong said. Soft neutral and pastel tones mixed with a soft canvas white replaced stark combinations of black and white, lime and white, and red and white. New designs are more transitional in nature and feature large, medium and small scale designs for easier coordination and use with various frame sizes.

Outdura by Shuford Mills has shown its fabrics at Showtime in the past, but last month the supplier made its showroom debut.

"It was very positive for us," said Natalie Scott, vice president, customer development. "We saw a lot of existing customers as well as new customers. "

Outdura introduced six colors during Showtime, in addition to the Precious Metals Collection, a color palette modeled after the popular metallic color story in apparel, with shades like platinum, moonstone and jasper.

"Our most positive response came from the collections called The Good Life and Rock the Kasbah," Scott said.

Rock the Kasbah features an intricate woven medallion jacquard along with a variety of supporting stripes, textured and smaller scaled patterns. The Good Life features more traditional inspired patterns with a twist. (Both collections can be seen in the Fabric Showcase, beginning on page 36).

The next Showtime event will be held June 8–11.

Frinier debuts 4th Sunbrella line

In related fabric news, designer Richard Frinier launched his fourth Sunbrella fabrics collection, featuring modern, playful fabrics created in response to the latest home decorating trends.

"I felt it was time for patterns styled for the 'NuModern' home and for gardenscapes being created by trade professionals all across the country," Frinier said.

The five new Richard Frinier patterns for Sunbrella, all based on hand drawing by Frinier, are Orb, Twirl, Vegas, Sultan and Aralia.

Glen Raven also introduced Sunbrella Shade, an open-weave version of Sunbrella fabrics that is ideal for umbrellas, draperies and cushions. Initially available in 15 colors ranging from neutrals to black, Sunbrella Shade offers fade resistance, durability and ease of cleaning.

"Umbrellas made using Sunbrella Shade block about 85% of the sun, resulting in a nice shading effect," said Suzie Roberts, casual furniture fabrics manager for Glen Raven. "Because Sunbrella Shade is woven from the same yarns as traditional Sunbrella fabrics, it coordinates well with our cushion fabric colors."

Where quick-drying is a concern, Sunbrella Shade can be used for the entire cushion, or as the coordinating bottom panel of a cushion using regular Sunbrella furniture fabric.

Silver State fabrics introduced The Generations Collection for the home and hospitality markets, a vinyl line with anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties. Available in 84 SKUs and seven patterns, the collection uses a newly patented (u)phoria printing technique to provide a fashion-forward palette of solids and patterns to easily mix and match.

New fabrics made their debut at Showtime. Top: The Generations Collection from Silver State includes Bangle, Concepts, Chance, Glitz and Ascend in the color crimson. Left: Altizer & Co.'s outdoor line, Al Fresco Functional Fabrics, introduced a variety of prints, patterns and colors for outdoor use.

Outdura by Shuford Mills made its showroom debut during last month's Showtime event.