Dedar fabrics are seen in the Casa Decor 2022 Suite Italia exhibition by Spanish interior designer Raúl Martins.Dedarmilano instagram
Portland design reporter Damon Johnstun will cover the 60th edition of Salone del Mobile, the prestigious furnishing and design show, June 7-12 at Fiera Milano Rho in Milan, Italy. The trends and products that debuted during Milan Design Week last year are showing up in showrooms. Here is a designer spotlight:
Nicola and Elda Fabrizio founded the fabled Italian fabric house Dedar 46 years ago in Milan when the city was establishing itself as the epicenter of fashion, art and design. A year before, Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani had also selected Milan to launch his namesake company.
The Fabrizios, who each came from families with fabric experience, started their artisan textile company with a team of 12. Dedar grew by producing contemporary textiles for curtains, upholstery and wall coverings, and by advancing the process, materials and patterns that influence world trends.
To be closer to textile production facilities, the company relocated about 30 miles north of Milan to the manufacturing districts near Como. Here, craftspeople and fabric specialists mix techniques by working with specialized mills and creating a network of experts.
Over time, the small, passion-driven, family-run enterprise has evolved into an international company, earning relationships with some of the world’s best designers and brands such as Hermès.
The Italian fabric house Dedar not only creates quality fabrics, but advances the process and designs that influence world trends.Damon Johnstun
Currently, there are 197 employees and the founders’ daughter Caterina Fabrizio is the CEO. She handles the business and marketing side while her brother, Raffaele Fabrizio, is the creative director.
“We discuss everything,” said Caterina Fabrizio. “Each of us has the latitude to do things we feel convinced about. We leave room for expression.”
When they see their fabrics in a tony Paris hotel or a high-end New York restaurant, she says they feel right at home and know it represents a piece of them. “It’s the fulfillment of high quality, innovation, creativity and sharing of a passionate love of curiosity, belonging and technical aspects,” explained Fabrizio.
“Because fabric is not a finished product, we sometimes find our fabrics are used in ways that are surprisingly different than what we imagined,” she said. “This is part of our dialog with the rest of the world.”
Every year, the company selects a location or architectural structure to inspire a new collection. “Some of the new fabrics fit in that place but some of them don’t,” she said. “There can be two personalities and they both give value.”
She added that a creative path leads to exploration and mistakes, and the mistakes are interesting.
“Clearly, we want to be authentic to ourselves. We were one of the first companies and the first in Europe to use technical fibers,” she said, explaining that Dedar also gained respect by creating weaves on extra wide looms typically used for sheers and by breaking other industry norms.
The Italian fabric house Dedar not only creates quality fabrics, but advances the process and designs that influence world trends.Damon Johnstun
Dedar’s fabric makers enhanced the function and practical aspects of silks by weaving with quality polyester yarn. “Everyone thought this could only be natural fibers,” Fabrizio said. “We saw something that could accomplish different technical requirements and allow more freedom of use. We want to enlarge our vision.”
Over the past five years, boucle fabrics, popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, have experienced renewed interest.
Boucle is created by having tight tension on one of two yarn loops, creating a nubby surface reminiscent of a lamb. This construction is well suited to upholstering curvaceous furniture such as the designs of Jean Royere.
Today’s shapely neotenic design trends combined with an irregular feel have created a huge demand for the fabric’s technical qualities as well as its tactile ones.
Dedar amplified the revival of boucle with the introduction of its soft-to-the-touch and durable Karakorum fabric made of wool and viscose. An outdoor version is made of polypropylene or solution-dyed acrylic. Pet and ice cream safe, it opens a new world of specifying opportunities.
According to Fabrizio, about 75 percent of Dedar’s production is made in Italy. A small percentage is from France.
When the fabric has irregular yarns, they source old artisanal looms and the expert craftspeople needed. For handwoven work, they look to India. Screen printing on wallpapers is performed in Italy.
“We have understood since we were young the pleasure of touching something beautiful,” said Caterina Fabrizio. “We love textures for walls because they have a depth that can’t be found on paper. We want people to be surrounded by this warmth.”
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Dedar’s new venture, Papier Francais wallpapers, can restore and reproduce archival wallpaper designs on a variety of high-quality grounds. The made-to-order model reduces waste while still being able to be produced quickly. If the pattern has already been restored, it can be sent in two weeks.
Not only are there hundreds of existing patterns, but more can be created in a customized color palette.
Dedar is known for its extensive color offerings. Nicola Fabrizio often teased his daughter that “you will ruin me with all these colors.”
“Color is pure emotion,” said Caterina Fabrizio. “When we think about linens, we think about lightness or something a little dusted or muted. Silk is a material where you can express best the luminosity and sheen. You can have the brightest colors and they will always be extremely elegant. We love velvets because the color is very deep.”
More Damon Johnstun design stories:
• From fashion boutiques to wallpaper, Storage Milano progresses the design conversation
• Top brand furnishing trends: Luxurious textures, chunky shapes, ‘70s ruching soften hard edges
• Archiproducts is an online design wonderland
• Your home office deserves a standout modern chair designed by Eames, Saarinen, Citterio
• Designer Antonio Citterio’s guide to contemporary Italian elegance
• Minimalist master Piero Lissoni is surprisingly funny: Milan Design Week
• Step into Dimore Studio’s evocative world: Milan Design Week (photos)
• Quietly elegant office chairs come home: An interview with Jeannette Altherr
• Hive Modern hosts Italian luxury furniture boss Patrizia Moroso
• Christian Lacroix’s Sacha Walckhoff creates carpets for Moooi
• Paris-based designer’s elegant work documented in new book ‘Joseph Dirand Interior’
• ‘Milan is the capital of design’ says Nina Yashar of Nilufar galleries
• Furniture impresario Giulio Cappellini in Milan (photos)
• Papilio chair inspired by swallowtail butterfly: Naoto Fukasawa in Milan
• Modern furniture inspired by the Mini Cooper: GamFratesi in Milan
• Gallery owner Rossana Orlandi: Starmaker of furniture designers
• Designer Bethan Laura Wood’s lighting inspired by lollipops
• Architect, furniture designer Vincent Van Duysen: ‘Timeless modernism’
• Lighting designer Michael Anastassiades: Simplicity from complexity
• A $100,000 pool table: ‘The price for the pursuit of perfection’
• Ferruccio Laviani: Design-obsessed people know his name, others will soon
• Bisazza interprets iconic Pucci prints in mosaic: Reflecting on Milan design shows
• A glimpse into Giancarlo Giammetti’s lavish book ‘Private’
• Barcelona’s early modernist masterpiece: Mies van der Rohe’s Pavilion
• Baccarat partygoers in Milan treated to iconic crystal luxury
• Self-taught multicultural designer Philippe Nacson invests in a new future: Design City
• Design Week Portland kickoff party: Nonstop visual wows
• Magritte-inspired boudoir and a nude pink room with a velvet loveseat: Snapshots of a furniture fair
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