Decorative Fabrics of America LLC (DFA) is out to change the way people think about design and innovation, and specifically, how the market perceives woven materials. The company has entered into a strategic licensing agreement with Hologenix LLC, makers of Celliant®, to create woven fabrics that harness and recycle the body’s natural energy.
“Celliant® products contain infrared-emitting ceramic particles that penetrate muscle and tissue to promote a temporary increase in local blood flow,” says Bob McKinnon, President of DFA, which designs and manufacturers woven fabrics for the home furnishings industry under the brands Keystone Weaving and Se7en Upholstery. “Fabrics woven using this innovative FDA-designated technology will absorb energy (heat) emitted by the body and recycle it back into the body, increasing strength, giving you more energy while you work, better endurance and speedier recovery time,” the executive says. “We believe this will create an entirely new dimension in textiles as a meaningful part of everyday life and we are incredibly excited about introducing the product to the contract and home furnishings marketplaces. We know that health is everything,” McKinnon says. “If you’re not feeling good, nothing else matters.”
DFA’s news comes on the heels of the Showtime Fabric Fair in High Point, NC, where expanded performance fabric offerings were the talk of the market. Indeed, showroom after showroom pitched new entries in the performance category, which has been largely focused on producing durable fabrics resistant to stains. “With Celliant®, we’re out to outperform performance,” McKinnon says. “This value-add is not something that protects against stains, or some kind of topical or immersion treatment. This technology is built into the fabric inherently at the fiber level.”
“DFA looked to go beyond commonly accepted boundaries in our industry to create a new performance level benefitting the end user,” said Jim Calhoun, Chief Executive of Hologenix, LLC. “Together we will bring the next level of health and wellness to the interiors market.”
Thanks to the DFA’s Bentex Mills brand, which produces fabrics for the contract industry, buyers at NeoCon next week will be the first to experience the health-enhancing textiles where they will be launched for the first time by CF Stinson, a leading distributor of innovative products in the contract field.
“We have worked long and hard to get this ready for contract,” McKinnon explains. Product designer Nicole Casey, Principle of Casey Design LLC, collaborated with Hologenix and DFA over the course of several years to introduce the concept and to bring the product to market. “Nicole Casey has been the leader in making this possible. She helped invent the warp construction for us to do the weaving.” He added that the designer, product developer and educator has subsequently joined DFA in sales and design.
