FORT LAUDERDALE—Valley Forge Fabrics, Inc. debuted its second FRESH collection at the Hospitality Design Boutique Exposition & Conference in Miami last month. The two new FRESH collections were created by New York designer Celerie Kemble and Palm Beach designers Mimi McMakin and Brooke Huttig.
FRESH is an acronym for Fabrics Redefining Environmental Standards (for) Hospitality and represents the first environmentally friendly comprehensive fabric program designed specifically and only for the hospitality industry. With these new collections, the FRESH line now spans six volumes and more thant 550 skus of patterns with vibrant colors.
“This collection is innovative and beautiful,” says Cliff Tuttle, senior vice president of Forrest Perkins. “It’s hard to believe this is recycled product. Valley Forge has really hit one out of the park with their FRESH collection. By having a truly sustainable product with cutting-edge patterns and colors that can be customized, designers can offer their clients choices that are environmentally responsible.”
Many of the new designs in The Celerie Collection for FRESH and The Palm Beach Collection for FRESH by Mimi and Brooke are 100 percent post consumer recycled polyester.
“One hundred percent post consumer product means what once was your bottle of water, is now your FRESH fabric,” says Diana Dobin, vice president of design and sales at Valley Forge.
Recyclable Finishes Available
Although FRESH fabrics require no finishes to meet stringent hospitality durability requirements, those customers still requiring additional “earth friendly” finishes can now get them with FRESH finishes. FRESH finishes are completely recyclable and provide additional stability and durability when needed.
As part of their commitment to pioneering environmentally friendly fabrics in the hospitality industry, Valley Forge offers customers a pickup and delivery reclamation service that will deliver FRESH fabrics to a recycling facility at the end of their life cycle. This radical departure from traditional disposal is aimed at further protecting the environment by alleviating mounting pressure on landfill capacity. Furniture manufacturers will be able to recognize FRESH fabrics by the ‘recycle symbol F’ on every FRESH fabric.
A portion of all FRESH fabrics’ proceeds will be donated to an environmental charity chosen by those designers who specified the FRESH fabric for their projects. Visit the Valley Forge Fabrics website for more details on this program.
