Camira celebrates Jens Risom and Sonus at NeoCon 2019

Camira’s NeoCon showroom highlighted the textile innovator’s exciting new partnership with Jens Risom, the prolific Danish-American mid-century designer who died in 2016 at the age of 100.

Risom, best known for his iconic furniture pieces, also designed and manufactured a range of textiles. His mid-century textile designs, beginning with Zap and Armadillo, have been reimagined and reissued for the first time by Camira. Originally created by Jens Risom Design in the 1960s and reproduced for today’s commercial interiors, visitors can explore the fabrics and the period in which they were produced through an immersive showroom experience.

Risom’s designs helped define the era of playful mid-century sensibility and Camira’s showroom pays homage to the spinning top ‘must-have’ toy of the period. Featuring spinning tops inspired by Charles Eames’ original designs, the pieces form large-scale suspended installations upholstered in Camira | Jens Risom fabrics.

The eye-catching centerpiece reflects both the whimsical nature of mid-century modern, and the yarn-spinning process so integral to the creation of textiles and Camira’s manufacturing capabilities.

“It’s been an incredible honor to work with the Risom family in reimagining Jens’ original textiles. Bringing Zap and Armadillo back to life nearly 60 years after they were first created has been a truly exciting journey. We are delighted to be able to offer these icons of design history to our customers at NeoCon, enabling them to seamlessly blend mid-century classics with modern interiors.” – Rune Akselberg, President of Camira Group Inc.

A selection of fabrics from Camira’s portfolio will be displayed together creating an environment of rich burgundy, soft clay and blush pink color, including: Zap and Armadillo, Blazer, Era, Patina and Synergy. NeoCon will also mark the first showing of fiber felt panel fabric Sonus and concept previews of a natural, textured fabric made from British Wool, Yoredale, and a pairing of print fabrics in development.

Designed by Risom. Reimagined by Camira.

Zap is a wool-rich, dobby-weave fabric with vibrant tone-on-tone or cross-color blends, available in a mix of 30 zesty, poppy and vibrant colors. Armadillo is a wool and flax textured fabric available in 12 colorways. Both fabrics are engineered to meet modern standards for flammability, abrasion, and light-fastness.

Designed to work together or separately, the two ranges bring fresh life to the timeless textile patterns of Jens Risom. Working closely with the Risom family and FORM Portfolios, which manages the Risom legacy, Camira is able to reintroduce these mid-century designs to a new audience in a new era.

“The first reintroduction of Jens’ textiles is with Camira and as a family we couldn’t be happier. Jens would be so honored.”

Noting that these fabrics are an often-overlooked element of the Jens Risom story, Sven Risom, Jens’ youngest son, praised the Camira collaboration for putting the spotlight on that lost dimension of his father’s legacy.

Fiber Felted Sonus

Camira’s newest pairing of panel fabrics were seen for the first time at NeoCon, with its range of colorways and complementary textured partner.

The global textile innovator has introduced Sonus and Sonus Etch to its panel portfolio. Both are fiber felted panel fabrics with an appealing mélange effect. The Sonus range is the ideal accompaniment for a modern interior, in a range of 14 colorways and two gray shades available for Sonus Etch, which features a subtle embossed lattice design.

An acoustically transparent fabric for use on panels, Sonus is the perfect enhancement for a range of vertical surfaces and panels.

Designed to mimic the tactility of wool, the needle felting finish of Sonus provides a soft touch synthetic alternative to the natural fiber fabric. A non-woven textile, the felt finish is created by a web of soft, brushed fiber being interlaced before being pressed, producing the appealingly smooth, matted effect.

The palette for Sonus incorporates mid pastels alongside soft, comforting neutrals, accentuated by bold color pops.

To coincide with the launch of this range of panel fabrics, Camira has also launched its acoustic guide, which explains its selection of acoustically transparent fabrics and how they work to aid the acoustic properties of panels for a range of interiors.

Have you seen Camira’s latest trend report on Design Insider? You can read it here.

Contact Camira through their BCFA Product Finder Page