Modeling Contract

Contract fabrics strike a fashionable new pose

Jen Renzi -- Interior Design, 4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Colorfastness, stain resistance, and suitability for high-traffic areas are the standard yardsticks against which contract fabrics are measured. But really, what could be a better way to test their integrity than to subject them to the pressure of a fashion show? In February, the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach, Florida, mounted Fabric Fair, during which 27 showrooms teamed up with interior and fashion designers to create haute couture follies out of some of the trendiest textile options, from toile to leopard trim—no wallflowers, these. Then models donned the sexy garments and sashayed down a catwalk before a 400-person crowd. "Interior design and fashion have a natural synergy," says DCOTA vice president of marketing Kimberly McNatt, who dreamed up the event. "The show was a way to inspire the showrooms to stretch their vision." Reshot in New York on mannequins by Ralph Pucci International, contract never looked so regal.