Building on the continued partnership with West Elm, 3.0 is the newest capsule collection for Designtex + West Elm. The textiles collection is inspired by trends seen in retail: a desire for classic textile constructions—like mohair and linen—and an interest in materials that feel well loved. The designers honed in on constructions that alluded to natural fibers and highlighted distressed textures that exude the romance of a past life. Designed to be layered, the collection is meant to be built upon, mixed, and matched, making the color combinations nearly endless. Color and texture are pivotal to this collection.
Boucle Dot is made of 87% polyester and 13% nylon with an acrylic backing and stain repellent finish available in 16 colors. In textiles, it is the height of luxury to hide most of the expensive yarn on the back, only letting it rise to surface sporadically. This is exactly what gives Boucle Dot its special quality—the heavy boucle yarn creates a three dimensional, stitched surface. The random dot pattern works as an organic texture on a richly colored field.
Distressed Texture was designed with patina in mind. Available in 12 colors, it is 100% polyester with acrylic backing and a stain repellent finish. A lovely, organic pattern is woven in a bleach cleanable construction, offering a fugitive and sophisticated surface. Bleached cleanable (10:1), Distressed Texture passes 70,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs (CD).
Double rubs are found through a mechanized test called the Wyzenbeek Test, which is regarded as the standard of measuring abrasion resistance for fabric in North America. A piece of cotton duck is stretched over a mechanical arm and passed back and forth over the test fabric in each direction. Each back and forth motion is one double rub. The cotton duck passing over the fabric simulates the wear of a fabric being used as a seat cushion, for example. The test is run in sets of 5,000 double rubs until the fabric shows “noticeable wear” or two yarn breaks.
During the development of the FOMO collection, the need for a “faux mohair” was discussed—a luscious texture that felt and looked like mohair but at a fraction of the cost. It offers a soft touch along with great performance in 25 colors. FOMO is made of 41% polyester, 25% cotton, 25% acrylic, and 9% rayon with a stain repellent finish and passes 75,000 Wyzenbeek double rubs (CD).
Offered in natural shades and tinted neutrals, Linen Like looks and feels like linen but offers more with 55,000 double rubs. It is made of 50% polyester, 35% rayon, and 15% linen with an acrylic backing and nano stain resistant finish in 11 colors.
