Healthcare Design - January/February 2020 - 21

tioned but is also aesthetically beautiful. Figuring that out is the work of real textile designers-we love that challenge. For example,
some of the most stringent environments we
design for require coated fabrics only. Coated
fabrics don't have the inherent luscious quality that woven textiles have, so it becomes our
work to design in the beauty. We start with a
durable and cleanable base and add design
motifs and visual texture that work in conjunction with embossed textures to create a
new rich surface.

made use of per fluorinated compound
(PFC) stain repellant finishes, which
made fabrics highly cleanable and stain
repellant. With the shift away from PFCs
in some environments, we've needed
to co-develop sources for fluorine-free
finishes that are still highly cleanable and
stain resistant. There are also things that
can be done on a fiber level to advance the
cause. The chemistry is definitely catching
up to the demands of the marketplace.
W H AT I N S P I R E S Y O U ? G I V E U S A

W H AT ' S T H E B I G G E S T
H E A L T H C A R E - R E L AT E D I S S U E O N
YOUR RADAR RIGHT NOW?

There's a lot of change happening in
healthcare regarding textiles, such as
new environmental and human health
expectations being established every year
on a federal level, a state level, and even on
an individual design firm level. Important
changes, but most require a product pivot. I
think the overriding challenge for us is getting
things to sync up a bit more. For example,
design firms are using many standards to
measure fabrics for environmental and
human health impact, so we're working to
find ways to best communicate our fabrics'
attributes to everyone. We're also working to
sync up developments in chemistry that can
help fabrics be more durable or cleanable,
with the desire for less chemistry overall.
Traditionally, many performance fabrics

ABOVE: "Frequency"

layers washes of color
and hand-drawn
etching in a durable
printed vinyl.
BELOW: Patterns "I
Spy," 'Knock Knock,"
and "Supersillyness" were created
for young people in
healthcare environments as part of the
collection "Funnybone," which includes
original woven
upholsteries, coated
fabrics, and privacy
curtains.

S N A P S H O T O F Y O U R C R E AT I V E P R O C E S S .

Though it's a cliché, inspiration really is everywhere. Reflections in an
ugly puddle or metal scaffolding might inspire me one day. A beautiful
twig outside our studio might provide the next day's inspiration. Often
a new yarn might spark an idea for a woven textile, or a new printing
technique using layers might direct a coated fabric design. My favorite
way to work is to develop an overriding theme and design a collection
around that concept. I love developing fabrics from the ground up and
starting with a story keeps the development connected in spirit and can
carry right on through to our presentations to designers.
IS THERE ONE HEALTHCARE PRODUCT YOU'VE
D E S I G N E D T H AT S TA N D S O U T T O Y O U ?

I worked for several years on a collection that was introduced in 2004
called "Funnybone." The concept was to create positive distractions in
fabric form for young people finding themselves in healthcare situations.
For example, the pattern "I Spy" at first glance is a woven texture of line
work but upon closer inspection is bursting with hand-drawn objects.
The pattern "Knock Knock" is a stripe that has a joke in each stripe. My
kids were young when I started the group and they got involved, so it
holds some special memories for me.
W H A T D O Y O U H O P E T O H AV E T H E O P P O R T U N I T Y T O

COURTESY OF CF STINSON LLC

DESIGN IN THE FUTURE?

I would really like to design something that feels totally new and breaks
away from the current zeitgeist. For example, I love the softness and
approachability of the "resimercial" trend, but it isn't really new; it's reworking what's been popular in residential design. I'm interested in what
can be done with that trend to make it feel truly fresh. It also seems like
every new geometric that hits the streets reminds me of an older geometric. It's really difficult to design something that feels fully original, but it's
an important goal. Maybe it's going to come from strong collaboration-
when people come together from different sectors, sometimes sparks fly.

J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0

Healthcare Design - January/February 2020

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