Designtex Reinvents the Custom-Design Process

Designtex believes that materials can solve problems. The company, which develops, designs, and manufactures applied materials for the built environment, introduced its first solution in 1962: a knit drapery created specifically for New York’s iconic Seagram Building. The brief was to deliver a product in line with the aesthetic vision of the structure’s architects—who included Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson—while also improving the interior experience for the space’s users.

Fitting, then, that Designtex is the lead partner of At The Crossroads of American Design: Sustainability in Practice and Spirit, the 2024 iteration of ICFF’s feature exhibition on U.S. talent.

The company will showcase its latest innovation, the Designtex Digital Studio, as part of the event. The recently launched self-service tool allows interior designers to create custom textiles and wallcoverings in minutes, with samples sent in five days and the finished product arriving within two weeks. All items are digitally printed on demand in Designtex’s factory in Portland, Maine.

Digital Studio users can select a substrate, pair it with one of more than 75 curated patterns, tailor the scale and colorway of that design to their preferences, and then visualize the results on different products before ordering.

The program’s substrate offerings include two durable wallcoverings, three multiuse fabrics suited for upholstery or panel, and a high-performance upholstery with a fluid barrier and silicone stain-repellant. Adhering to Designtex’s standards, all substrates are SCS Indoor Advantage Certified and have HPDs. The wallcovering inks are Greenguard Certified, while the textile inks are OEKO-TEX Certified.

Oriana Reich, Designtex’s vice president of marketing, describes the Portland printing facility as “an incredible blend of technology and high craft.” Artists founded and staff the studio, which Designtex acquired in 2010. “Everything is made under their watchful eyes,” says adds. Designtex offsets all carbon emissions created by the facility.

As part of its presence at ICFF The Crossroads, Designtex will demonstrate the Digital Studio’s possibilities. It will also highlight the company’s new circular multiuse textile, which is especially suited to digital printing. “It is the first closed-loop upholstery yarn made from recycling already recycled textile waste,” Reich says. “We are very excited to have it.”