Creative drapes

Charles Parsons Interiors

Representing the interplay between tradition and innovation, Marlowe is a brand new drapery product from Charles Parsons Interiors that “seamlessly blends an air classical elegance with a contemporary twist, setting the stage for a captivating home aesthetic.”

“Marlowe crafted from a fusion of cotton, linen, and polyester, resulting in a delicate balance of textures, culminating in a slender drape that exudes an air of sophistication. The leaf jacquard pattern, artistically interwoven with a coordinating stripe, adds a touch of timeless charm, making Marlowe an ideal choice for those looking to establish an understated grace. While we see some trends towards bold colours and patterns in certain areas, there is still a strong market for a modern take on classic designs, and tones that can complement a natural setting with delightful tactility.

“With Marlowe, versatility reigns supreme. The collection effortlessly works in different design settings, from coastal chic to rustic country aesthetics. The neutral tones, carefully curated to evoke a sense of refinement, provide an open canvas for creative vision. Australians have shown a preference for natural and sustainable materials, and textured fabrics have been sought after for their organic feel and tactile appeal. These textured fabrics also offer a more relaxed feel to a space, making them an ideal choice for a lounge or bedroom.

Meanwhile, sustainable offering Enviro Guard Lining is positioned as an environmentally conscious drapery lining solution. 

“Guided by our commitment to sustainability, Enviro Guard Lining is a reflection of our dedication to providing high-quality products that are both environmentally friendly and competitively priced.

“Woven from 100% post-consumer recycled yarn, Enviro Guard Lining combines innovation with conscience. Its unique formulation is designed to help withstand the challenges posed by our harsh light, ensuring longevity without compromising on quality. This lining boasts a super soft 100% polyester face cloth that resists mildew, mold, and insect infestation, a testament to its durability and practicality.

“Enviro Guard Lining helps align with consumer eco-conscious values but can also elevate and protect your drapery investment. With its resistance to marking and UV-induced deterioration, Enviro Guard Lining ensures that your interiors retain their appearance for longer. Easy to maintain and even easier to appreciate, Enviro is designed to complement our drapery selection, offering a holistic solution that nurtures your space on a more mindful level.

“As we embark on the journey of transforming living spaces, we can be mindful that our choices reverberate beyond a home’s walls. Charles Parsons takes pride in presenting products that embody a fusion of innovation, tradition, and sustainability.”

Silent Gliss

In the ever-evolving world of interior design, Silent Gliss by Blinds by Peter Meyer takes pride in offering curtain and drapery ranges that embody timeless elegance and innovative features, says Managing Director Simon Meyer. 

“Our latest releases in this category introduce the next iteration of the iconic Colorama fabric, born from the revolutionary Trevira CS fibre. This new line offers customers extended design options and enhanced performance attributes, bringing the perfect balance of comfort and style to interior spaces.

“Back in 1980, Hoechst launched the groundbreaking Trevira CS fibre, inherently flame-retardant, and non-toxic. Sensing an opportunity, Silent Gliss and Tessitura Mario Ghioldi joined forces and unveiled Colorama 1, a high-quality, easy-to-work-with fabric for window coverings. Its resounding success led to the introduction of Colorama 2, offering a heavier, less transparent option that has remained a classic ever since.

“Now, with innovation and customer needs in mind, Silent Gliss developed the next iteration of Colorama. Woven from the original Trevira CS yarn, Colorama extended its horizons, offering the Multicolour, Acoustic, and Eco variants.” 

Multicolour adds accentuated colour and texture, elevating window furnishings to new levels of depth and dimension without compromising on performance.

“Colorama Acoustic takes aesthetics and functionality hand in hand, with a stunning transparent fabric that absorbs sounds and delivers outstanding acoustic performance through its carefully engineered weave. Retaining a light and airy design aesthetic, this fabric adds a sense of tranquility and peace to any space.”

“For eco-conscious customers, Colorama Eco is a sustainable fabric crafted from 100% recycled polyester. Embracing green building principles, this option offers both style and sustainability, meeting the increasing demand for eco-friendly solutions.”

“As customers increasingly seek versatility and eco-friendliness in their interior choices, Colorama’s extended range caters to a wide spectrum of design preferences while adhering to environmentally conscious principles.”

Meyer says that in the current market landscape, the strong trend for sheer curtain fabrics continues, with floor-to-ceiling sheers becoming an architectural preference among designers and architects. Weinor’s recessed ceiling fixed curtain tracks have gained popularity, particularly when combined with an array of sheer fabrics.

Linen and linen/polyester blends have also emerged as sought-after choices, embodying a delicate balance of sophistication and natural beauty. Customers appreciate the softness and texture these fabrics bring to interior spaces, creating an atmosphere of understated elegance.

“While the pandemic may have receded, its influence on interior design and lifestyle choices lingers,” he says. “The trend of working from home and reduced travel has led to increased investments in residential spaces. People’s interests have shifted inward, and the desire for warm, comfortable living and working spaces has become a priority.

“As a result, the demand for interior solutions, such as curtains and draperies is still strong despite rising interest rates impacting consumer spending. Customers seek to create cosy, stylish havens within their homes, and the sheer curtains and Colorama fabric options from Weinor have emerged as favoured choices in this pursuit.

“Silent Gliss by Peter Meyer continues to redefine interior aesthetics with its curtain and drapery range, introducing the next iteration of the iconic Colorama fabric alongside eco-friendly options and innovative designs. As customers embrace sustainability, elegance, and comfort, our extended fabric choices meet their diverse needs, offering endless possibilities for creating inviting and personalised interior spaces. The demand for sheers, linen blends, and the timeless Colorama fabric showcases the enduring appeal of our products, reflecting our commitment to elevating interior experiences for years to come.”

Ricky Richards

Ricky Richards’ offering from outdoor performance manufacturer Citel in Spain, Albis, is described as the “quintessential sheer curtain fabric for use in outdoor spaces.”  National Sales Manager at Ricky Richards, Darren Best confirms the collection is made from 100% solution dyed acrylic and combines the highest technical features with the fineness, feel and quality of cotton. 

“It allows filtered light through, providing controlled amounts of privacy, shade, and sun-protection throughout the day. Albis is water resistant, UV treated mildew and rot resistant – making it the superior choice for continued exterior exposure to the elements, ultimately limiting yearly replacement.” 

Best adds that the products’ durability makes them an environmentally sustainable option. “Our range of textiles are carefully selected by a team of experts to ensure they are high quality with features that guarantee that they are made to last.” 

“Albis ensures a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoor environment; available in five effortless colours, 300cm wide rolls and supported by a 5-year UV warranty, the range is exclusively available in Australia from Ricky Richards and is the ideal choice for light outdoor curtains in open spaces such as pergolas, bungalows, garden gazebos, Balinese beds, or the alfresco dining area at a restaurant.” 

BM Blinds

Michelle Macready, sales manager at BM Blinds confirms Veri Shades have long been held as the “Clever Curtain” for the blind industry, blending the elegance of an S-Wave Curtain with the functionality of a blind. She adds that the introduction of the Classic and Privacy ranges to the Veri Shade offering, “means that not only do you have a nice-looking finished product, but it opens the door to the more price conscious homeowner.”

“Classic and Privacy give you a selection of fabrics at an affordable price, making a quality segmented curtain available to many more retail clients. Clients that had baulked at the price previously can now be contacted and offered the same functionality at a heavily reduced price.”

“The Classic range also offers the choice of either the Plush or Sleek option. The Plush look has wide segments giving you the best view through your shade and minimises the stack size or the sleek look with narrower segments that protrudes less into your room.

“For clients looking for better room darkening properties, you can’t go past the Privacy Plush range. This range gives you an improved room darkening experience and is available in a great range of colours that will coordinate with your client’s home interior.

“Being able to give your clients choice is a big part of what we like to offer our customers. The Classic range being able to be available as Classic Plush or Classic Sleek coupled with the Privacy Plush range makes Veri Shades suitable for many applications that had previously been impossible.”

Macready says that lighter shades continue to dominate sales in the segmented curtain ranges. 

“White is ever popular with its ability to diffuse the light and give an air of freshness to any room. We have seen the segmented curtain market continue to grow year on year for the past four years. 

Initially, this growth had been associated with the Covid lockdown period where we had seen many homeowners updating their interiors or finalising home renovations. However growth has now continued over the past eight months, beyond the Covid lockdowns.

“I believe this continued growth is due to the popularity of soft furnishings as a preferred window covering and the movement away from more hard lines such as shutters. Clients are now looking for a resort type feel to their own interiors, a relaxed and easy feel. Veri Shades offer a smart looking window furnishing with almost no maintenance required.”

Basford Brands

In August Basford Brands released a new readymade range under the Zaab Homewares brand that features a modern take on readymade soft-furnishing products. Decorative General Manager Michelle West confirms the range will feature a selection of coordinating high-quality readymade curtains and accessory products across multiple sizes and colours. 

“Incorporating a selection of luxurious fabrics such as linen, the range will highlight the importance of offering to the market affordable readymade products which see no compromise in quality,” she says.. 

Pip Collins, Australia/New Zealand Sales Manager, Packaged Division at Basford Brands, explains: “We want to make it possible for every home decorator to have soft furnishings that complement their personal aesthetic, adhere to the latest trends, but don’t break the budget which is seen as a common sacrifice with these types of products. 

The range will see an important move for the Zaab Homewares brand in the ready-mades industry with more products to come in the future.

New decorative fabrics were showcased at the recent Super Expo in June, in particular a number of Maurice Kain’s new releases, as Michelle West, Decorative General Manager, confirms. “Whilst the market currently is saturated in sheers and plains, it was a pleasure to present some of our new prints.  With an in-house design team it was exciting to take two of our designers to the expo so customers could see new print and weave designs come to life.  “All our new product was hanging in-situ on wave fold headings for customers to appreciate how well products were performing.”

 “A crowd favourite was the new Malia and Kalani collections.  As a response to the bold sub-tropical design trend, we have printed the design on both a sheer at 300cm (Malia – available in two colourways) and a solid at 140cm (Kalani available in five rich colourways).  Using a pre-shrunk and stabilised blended yarn of linen and viscose, the base cloth has a beautiful drape and can be used for light upholstery,” said West.

“Hamptons was another print collection we had on show – the navy and white colourway looked stunning upholstered onto a couch with wingback chairs – a perfect fit for that coastal feel in the Gold Coast. Produced on the same base cloth as the Kalani, the Hamptons comprises three co-ordinates: Calverton (trellis design) Manorville (Jacobean) Riverhead (stripe) in three colourways.”

To bring all our print ranges together we have incorporated a new plain that works across all designs and colourways – Sayville – available in 19 colours.  Dyed on the Linen Viscose base cloth the versatile fabric lends itself to a range of decorating solutions – drapes / upholstery / cushions colours co-ordinating to your print selection.

August saw the much-anticipated release of six new ranges into the Resene Curtain collection.  The fundamental core of the Resene Range is the co-ordination with paint and design.  Each design and colour is paired back with three paint choices incorporating a base colour to feature wall suggestions.  The hard work has been taken out of the equation when it comes to matching your paint to your curtains.  

The six new ranges offer a wide decorating choice from florals to bold geometrics. Free flower is a bold floral creating subtle movement in striking duck egg, silvers and red colourways.  

Verdure uses a shrink yarn to create texture as a backdrop to the tailing leaf design.  Foliage creates an entwined leaf pattern in the negative space creating a subtle yet imposing design boasting two colourways.  

“The two geometric designs are Converge and Meridian, woven on a cotton linen polyester blended yarn. Tying the new ranges together we have incorporated a new plain called context woven from a blended Cotton Linen and Polyester Blend which works across all colourways.” 

James Dunlop Textiles

James Dunlop Textiles has launched three sheer textiles constructed in recycled polyester: Kumo Recycled, Natura Recycled, and Beauvoir.

Polyester can be repurposed into yarn from a range of sources including plastic bottles, packaging materials, textiles, or marine waste. Technical advancements in recycled yarn production have led to the development of textiles which emulate the soft handle of virgin fibres and extend the resource’s life cycle, in addition to reducing the environmental impact.

Woven in 92% recycled polyester sourced from post-consumer PET plastic bottles and 8% polyester yarn, Kumo Recycled is piece dyed in James Dunlop’s custom colour palette to reference our Australasian flora and fauna. Expertly finished to create a handle echoing soft cotton, Kumo Recycled embraces the imperfect quality of natural materials in the slubby, delicate weave. This textile is suitable for those seeking a high-performance wide width sheer that is fire retardant and has a weighted selvedge to elegantly framing the view in any residential or commercial setting. It is also Oeko-Tex 100 certified, ensuring no harmful chemicals were used during production or are present in its final form. 

James Dunlop’s next release, Beauvoir, is woven in a blend of 48% recycled polyester, 29% linen, and 23% organic cotton. Crafted with sustainability in mind this wide width sheer is yarn dyed in a curated palette of versatile neutrals and enhanced by subtle shades of blush and duck egg. Offering a timeless texture and soft handle to residential interiors, Beauvoir is washable and Oeko-tex and ISO 14001 certified, ensuring it is free from harmful substances and manufactured to environmentally responsible standards. 

Natura Recycled is Mokum’s first foray into designing drapery using recycled polyester fibres, an innovative fibre which repurposes post-consumer PET bottles. Woven in 100% Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certificated recycled polyester, the GRS certification ensures that not only is Natura Recycled itself certified recycled but that the entire supply chain has been audited to a high environmental and social standard. Its naturalistic and refined colour palette delivers an earthen, natural look with the performance benefits of synthetic fibres. The tumbled finish delivers a soft touch and sumptuous drape to present a sustainable drapery solution with the appearance of a natural textile for your interior space.

SHAW

Mark Lewis, Head of Division, Shaw Performance Fabrics, tells WFA that in response to customer requests, Shaw has created Linesque Air, a sheer curtain fabric which looks and feels like a linen blend. 

“This competitively priced 100% polyester fabric is light and airy, with an organic appearance which drapes and holds an S fold shape beautifully.

“Linesque Air has a quality weighted eco bead hem. It is 3000mm wide and carries a five year warranty. This practical sheer has minimal stretch and is easy to work with. It is washable with reference to WCAA care label 4.

“From a wellbeing perspective, Linesque Air is Greenguard and Gold certified. It is tested for fire classification against AS 1530 Part III & AS 1530 Part II. 

“Linesque Air is offered in an extensive colour range from bright white through to an intense black. The core 12 colours co-ordinate with bestselling Linesque blackout and light filtering roller fabric, enabling designers and homeowners to create the popular layered look on windows and doors, or to install different qualities in each room using the same colours and texture.”

“Linesque Air is the latest edition to Shaw range of drapery fabrics which pair with roller fabrics; Linesque and Linesque roller fabric, Iluka and Palm Beach roller fabric, Orora and Orora FR roller fabric.”