Textile, Bonded

Suzanne Tick is one of the most important American textile designers of her generation. She has always chosen to explore new technologies and fibers in her work while continuing to manipulate existing weaving techniques in innovative ways to produce highly engineered textiles. Her creative work in industrial fabrics is balanced by her handwoven and unique textiles, which allow her to experiment freely with materials, scale, and form.
Tick launched Teknion’s first textile line in 2013. That same year she began working on the development of Bonded, which originated from her desire to produce a coated fabric that could be durable enough to be used for upholstery, but that was luxurious and affordable. Having worked previously with a mill that was a leading coating supplier for the fashion industry, she approached them with this new concept. "I wanted a large scale basket weave for this collection, but with a high tech twist to it, and then use the mill’s laminating technology to create a urethane coating for the surface of the acrylic fabric. We started using solid colors in the first trials, but they failed as they did not give the fabric the life we wanted. We then submitted a number of metallic chips to try. The combination of low-tech weave structure with high-tech finishing is what gives this product its interest."* The earthy and metallic tones (available in 7 colorways) give the fabric an unusual luster and texture and provides a luxurious shimmer for an affordable upholstery fabric.
*email to Matilda McQuaid April 16, 2015

Textile, Bonded; Designed by Suzanne Tick (American, b. 1959); Produced by Teknion Textiles; 66% acrylic, 26% cotton, 8% polyurethane; H x W: 365.8 × 137.2 cm (12 ft. × 54 in.); Gift of Suzanne Tick Design Studio; 2015-36-1