MAR/APR 2019_ _ 075Kvadrat, the Danish textile manufacturer, has long been known for the high
quality of its fabrics. Now it’s seeking to redefine the category altogether,
pushing the limits of technology to create industry-leading products and
eliminate waste. Exhibit A: Re-wool, a collection made with 45 per cent
recycled wool – the repurposed scraps left over from Kvadrat’s yarn spinners
in Britain. The palette – a rich array of luminous blues, greys, golds and other
hues – was developed by Danish designer Margrethe Odgaard, who based her
colour choices on a “Nordic spectrum” and aimed for a lustrous effect.
“Specifically,” says Odgaard, “I focused on finding the right balance
between warp and weft. I thought of shimmering pearls on a recycled wool-
len base. It was important to me that the tones in the weft had a certain
glow that could lift the colour from the dark base.” This shimmer and
depth, Kvadrat says, makes Re-wool especially well suited to upholstery:
“Reminiscent of colourful stitchings on a darker background, Re-wool’s
exceptional depth of colour [creates] a dynamic play on the textile’s surface
when applied to furniture.” The fact that the line is also eco-friendly is
icing on the cake.
Kvadrat’s green ambitions, however, don’t end at upholstery. In partner-
ship with Really, a Copenhagen-based firm partially owned by Kvadrat, the
Refashioning the
future of fabric
larger company is channelling yet more of its textile waste into the creation
of hard goods, including seating, cabinetry, shelving and other items. Such
products are being constructed out of the high-density Solid Textile Board
that Really produces using end-of-life fibres and offcuts – mostly cotton
and wool – from Kvadrat and other sources (the core of the board is made
of upcycled white cotton from industrial laundries). The board’s potential
was highlighted during last year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan, where a host
of commissioned designers – including Jo Nagasaka, Jonathan Olivares
and Benjamin Hubert – exhibited boxy club chairs, sinuous room dividers
and sculptural wardrobes made from the material.
Among the most commercially viable of the designs was Hubert’s Shift,
a flexible retail display system composed of acoustic wall panels incorpo-
rating fold-out shelves. The system’s name, of course, alludes to its
versatility, although it’s also reflective of the broader shift that such prod-
ucts represent for the design industry. The prospect of displaying clothing
and other soft goods on a panel made from recycled fabrics is, after all,
the quintessence of the circular economy, which forward-looking companies
such as Kvadrat are clearly attempting to tap into. _D.S.
kvadrat.dk, reallycph.dkAmong the prototypes constructed out of Kvadrat
and Really’s Solid Textile Board are (clockwise from left)
Benjamin Hubert’s Shift display system, Jo Nagasaka’s
boxy club chairs and Front’s sculptural wardrobe (detail
opposite). Developed by designer Margrethe Odgaard,
Kvadrat’s Re-wool collection (above) is made of 45
per cent recycled wool.