This is what winners look like: swela, a brand of Schmitz Textiles, has been honoured at the German Design Award 2021 for its outdoor latex print “Faces”.
“We are delighted to receive the award and proud that we were able to convince the jury of ‘Faces’ despite the Corona pandemic,” says Sales Director Wouter Hof. As the decision-making meeting this year was held online, the jury members were unable to hold the fabrics in their hands. They had to make do with supplementary materials and photos. “We congratulate and thank our design studio as well as the technical development and production departments, whose achievements convinced the jury,” Hof praises the teams’ work.
swela is one of the leading manufacturers of sun protection textiles, outdoor upholstery fabrics and maritime fabrics. The Emsdetten-based company sets benchmarks with the technical finish of its products: They are dimensionally stable, easy to clean as well as weatherproof, water-repellent, dirt-, grease- and oil-repellent. And the German Design Award 2021 shows that the aesthetics are also convincing. According to the jury, the outdoor fabric with the “Faces” print proves that latex prints with high light- and weather-fastness offer new, creative possibilities for textile sun protection with a hitherto unknown play on colours and shapes. "Faces" is one of fourteen designs from the new latex print collection Motif, which will present at R + T digital.
The winner in detail
The “Special Mention” outdoor textile with latex print “Faces” in the Excellent Product Design category creates a new look for awnings, parasols and sun sails. The face motifs, reminiscent of the work of art icon Picasso, are applied to the sunsilk filament-yarn basic fabric using the latex printing process in the in-house print shop. The state-of-the-art process combines special UV-stable inks with durable polyester fabrics. Explaining the reason for its choice, the jury said: “This modern fabric exudes freshness and playfulness.”
Photo: swela