Sekers/FR-One – Q&A with Olivier Delhomme
FR-One, are high performance inherent FR fabrics meeting severe contract requirements and worldwide Fire standards on land and at sea. We took the opportunity to speak with Olivier Delhomme, General Manager of FR-One, about being a long serving passionate member of the industry and the brand’s RE-Invent range.
What was the main focus when designing the new RE-Invent range?
The RE-Invent concept was developed two years ago in a pre-COVID | pre-Greenwashing era.
Our line of thought at the time was: “what is next… more fabrics to swamp the world of fabrics?” we had to find another direction.
When creating this concise range, our drive came from wanting to improve not only our products, but also our environmental impact. We wanted to create fabrics in a responsible way by re-thinking the materials we use, working with recycled PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) in the form of recycled polyester. PET begins as a plastic bottle or as the packaging for many of the products we use on a daily basis. One of the benefits that comes from working with PET is that it has a limitless lifecycle meaning that it can be recycled time and time again without any loss of quality. Our RE-Invent range showcases 3 new fabric constructions, manufactured from recycled polyester, fully certified and compliant with the Global Recycling Standard. The idea of responsible design can be discovered at every stage of our fabrics’ production process and we are always trying to find incremental ways to improve. While some changes might not seem like much on their own, when you add them up, they are more powerful than we could have ever dreamed.
We were also driven by the well-known statement ‘Less is more’. The collections re-created within the RE-Invent range have a proven record of accomplishment in the marketplace, so it is important their longevity and value is fully maximised. In a saturated market, this approach to textile design is preferable to simply producing more and more new ranges for the ‘thrill of the new’.
The result, a compact and to the point collection that could not be better named: “RE-Invent”
How did environmental considerations influence the design of the RE-Invent range?
It is intrinsic and the accomplishment of years of research. Conceptually RE-Invent was made possible through the work carried out years prior.
We now need to rewind the clock back to the introduction of the first recycled inherent FR yarns. I remember the first time seeing such quality being woven and having a broken heart realising the prices were much too high for the market to bear.
Patiently and with the help of the fashion industry in driving more demands for recycled yarns, prices started to tumble, finally allowing FR-One to produce our RE-Invent range of high technological performance fabrics at an affordable price. Our main desire and responsibility to our eco-system was also to make the collection accessible to all.
What is your favourite collection from the RE-Invent range ?
Difficult question, choosing between my “babies” RE-Invent is eclectic and has a range of design options:
From the Velours de Gêne Regal Velvets collection of durable, multi-use fabrics and the best-selling timeless velvet collection that is Moon; featuring 39 on-trend colourways, to our 100% GRS recycled wide width dim out collection RE-Vive; the choice within our new fully inherent FR polyesters fabrics is impressive and yet the collection has been edited with great care.
Great care, in assessing beyond the high mechanical/washing performances, the relevance of every single design and the colourways. The six RE-Invent collections all have a story. Resurgence takes inspiration from a long weekend on the Adriatic coast, RE-Store; a trio of wide width, textured dim outs in GRS certified recycled polyester, a blink of eye to our best sellers and finally what could be more relevant to our concept than the RE-Delis collection; RE-engineering a timeless quality in double width, using GRS recycled Inherent FR polyester yarns, giving the fabric a totally organic natural touch.
FR-One’s RE-Invent range is simply a collection of beautiful fabrics.
Statement from Sekers’ Group Sales Director, David Lawton
“We are very proud to be the new, exclusive UK provider of FR-One, supplying their enviable product range, with an emphasis on the new RE-Invent Collection. This concise range has been carefully designed to encourage the consumer to embrace FR-One’s timeless and proven best-sellers with many collections featuring recycled polyester yarns. We are confident that these collections will be the ideal choice for clients, old and new, specifying for all commercial contract, marine and residential projects.”
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