Latest innovations in knitted textiles from Kvadrat Febrik
Febrik, founded in 2013 by Renee Merckx and Jos Pelders, is a specialist in knitted textiles for a wide range of applications. Febrik’s knits complement the Kvadrat collection, which led to the two brands joining forces in 2018.
The Kvadrat Febrik collections are built on mutual expertise and visionary creativity, elevating each other and blending naturally together. They provide an immersive scale of structures, textures and patterns, ranging from discreet to dynamic, and are perfectly suited for layering colours.
Industrially knitted textiles are commonly used in clothing, however knitting is a relatively unexplored textile technique for upholstery. Recognising this potential opportunity, Febrik developed a special yarn and challenged the existing machinery to produce strong, durable knits that meet the requirements for interiors and furniture.
Australian and New Zealand wool
Febrik is made using the finest Australian and New Zealand wool, with the yarns spun and blended with synthetic fibres to achieve high pilling and abrasion results. Wool, however, is always the main fibre so as to preserve the material’s inherent properties of being easy to clean, resistant to flames and ecologically friendly.
Benefits of knitted textiles
The major benefit of Febrik’s knitted textiles is its natural stretch. This makes it ideal for creating smooth upholstery as the textile’s memory for its original state prevents it from sag.
Also of great benefit, the process of knitting allows different kinds of surfaces, patterns and three-dimensional effects to be created, adding texture and visual interest to furniture and wall panel applications.
Colours are as important as the look, feel and performance of the textile, and is a delicate process of careful curation. Each Febrik textile has a strong colour expression on its own, and work in perfect harmony with Kvadrat textiles to provide an evenly balanced palette.
Latest collection - Planum by Raw Color
Planum is a knitted upholstery textile with a refined woven expression and a smooth, soft surface. It comes in curiosity-inspiring colours crafted by Dutch Design Studio Raw Color.
Planum textile is constructed using a simple double-knit with a predominantly woollen surface, resulting in a subtle matt lustre and a natural, dry handle.
Raw Color took a collection of three-dimensional objects as a starting point for Planum’s versatile colour scale. The studio explored diverse directions and shades before selecting 21 tones from 350 hand-painted samples.
“We decided to develop the colour palette based on hand-painted swatches. This enabled us to create shades that are less expected and uncommon.” – Raw Color.
As a knitted textile, Planum features excellent stretchability, making it ideal for upholstering organic-shaped forms while minimising the number of seams. The textile combines well with the more voluminous, three-dimensional textiles in the Kvadrat Febrik collection, and is suitable for contract and private use.
