Morbern’s sustainable yet dashing solution to durable upholstery

Browsing through Morbern’s Digital Print Library of bold shades and patterns, one is instantly taken to Northern Italy, more precisely Milan, with its distinct and colourful fashion and design movements. Elegant and classy, yet not lacking humour, courage and playfulness – think Gio Ponti or Miuccia Prada.

There’s a reason why the work of these Italian design masters exudes exactly that; it somehow stays fresh and stirring, thanks to their daring and original motifs. Whether geometric, minimal, ornamented or tropical, the Prada prints have always excited and surprised their fashion following. Perhaps because that is what print can; it allows for our fantasy and imagination to be easily materialised onto our attire - and interiors. ‘Turn your design dreams into reality’ is Morbern’s way of saying it, in short.

Besides their own library of print designs, Morbern facilitates the production of unique custom-made coated fabrics, particularly useful for any architect or designer who wishes to conceive a specific look or décor; a service at hand for large projects as well as small scale, with a minimum run quantity of 300 m.

Thanks to high resolution printing, Morbern’s fabrics obtain crisp and vibrant colours with a resolution of up to 1080 dpi. In addition, they reach 300,000 Martindale (abrasion), are bleach and alcohol cleanable and are also available for outdoor applications, a multitude of features making this coated fabric exceptional in the market.

So, what does ‘coated fabrics’ mean, in fact? Vegan Leather is another name for it, as it works as an ethical alternative to animal hides which demand a substantial amount of energy as well as chemicals to be converted into leather. Basically, it is a textile which has been treated with a vinyl coating to become strong and durable. With the world’s leaders meeting at COP26 right now, we are again reminded, how the entire production sector needs to face the challenges of staying innovative regarding their environmental footprint - Morbern seems to have taken major steps already.

Director at Morbern Europe, Carine Equeter, explains: ‘The vinyl of today has little to do with the products sold 20 or even 10 years ago. Our coated fabrics are made of 50% salt as well as other bio-based sustainable ingredients which makes it less reliant on fossil fuel compared to other plastic materials. The products are phthalate and heavy metal free and our ISO 14001 compliant manufacturing process ensures we deliver greener surface solutions which we can only be very proud of.’

A tough and enduring material like the coated fabric is without doubt particularly suitable in public spaces where large numbers of people come and go, like in the hospitality, healthcare and transport sectors, just to name a few. Yet, meeting all the regulations and still being able to produce a highly sustainable and eco-friendly material, takes expertise, something Morbern has refined during their 50 years of existence.

But let’s not forget their promise of turning dreams into reality: ‘We found that telling designers and interior specialists that they could create anything for us to reproduce in print baffled them at times’, says Equeter, ‘That is why we also propose to have a look in our Digital Print Library, a selection of designs representative of our printing capability, including playful concepts such as the cowhide which invariably sees people reaching over and stroking the fabric as it is so convincing they are expecting to feel real fur.’ Most certainly an encouragement for designers and architects to go ahead and use their imagination.

© Architonic