Future Tense 2019

Designers: Luum Textiles, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Manufacturer: Luum Textiles, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Harkening to past eras characterized by large graphic applications and the elevation of everyday materials, the Future Tense collection harnesses the power of textiles to simultaneously define and shift our spatial perspective. The new fabrics are grounded in industrial design, celebrating advances in conscious manufacturing and sustainability. The expressive patterns and palettes are both bold and complex, reflecting the balance between harmony and discord. Each fabric requires a second look, encouraging interaction with the environment and promoting curiosity. Through questioning the tangible, we become more engaged with our surroundings. Future Tense highlights a progressive approach to textile design and emphasis on super scale and the duality of materials. Non-traditional processes are applied to honest materials, providing new context. 

The fragmented graphic pattern of Schema acknowledges generations of restless designers; an awakening of brilliant color and disciplined lines in an attempt to dissolve space. Nodding to recurring visual cues, super graphic patterning shifts one’s notion of scale and context while bringing vitality to an interior. By juxtaposing graphic geometries with pure hues, curvilinear forms are reintroduced in spaces both built and imagined. Digital dream spaces signify our vision of utopia, while the built environment increasingly breaks from norms and requires deeper engagement.

Actuate is a classic and versatile tonal texture. Technical fibers in a multi-faceted basket weave are softened by integrating a unique yarn that combines rich colors with subtle luster. This blended yarn interrupts the balanced weave structure to create organic movement and visual interest. The next evolution of Percept, Actuate expands the offering of resonant colors in this versatile and high-performance construction. 

Macrotweed explores volume through texture and color. Marled and chunky yarns are blended to create a hyper-textural upholstery product. Amplified and graphic color combinations mimic a multi-colored pattern, motivating the user to question previous suppositions about a textile’s color, dimension and form. Macrotweed’s color palette challenges the expected and creates an explosion of graphic hue.

Color Fuse transforms natural materials, making the tangible intangible. This high-performance polyurethane is transparent and bonded to a chunky black and white cotton weave structure, creating a chromatic barrier between the user and the natural fiber below. The tinted color softens the effect of the high-contrast substrate, while highlighting the depth and texture of the weave. The unexpected color palette represents the evolution of pastel colors toward soft but saturated hues with greater clarity of color.

The linear design of Tilt Shift and use of recycled cotton matter encourages us to shift our value system toward sustainability. The post-industrial and post-consumer cotton used is derived from apparel waste, which is carefully sorted by color, shredded and spun into yarn. This process points to a new approach toward sustainability on an industrial scale. Inspired by the isometric language and forced perspective of architectural drawings, the parallax pattern engages and prompts the viewer to adopt new ways of thinking.