Designtex, the Fabric Manufacturer with a Pulse

The American contract market is dominated by a few key players: Herman Miller, Knoll, Steelcase, Allsteel, and Haworth. Far from being stuffy purveyors of office equipment, these brands made a lasting impact on both productivity in the workplace and comfort in the home—thanks in no small part to designers like Susan Lyons. Lyons, a former creative director for materials at Herman Miller, rejoined Designtex, the textile-manufacturing offshoot of Steelcase, as president in 2012. Since then, she has spearheaded collaborations with the estate of Charley Harper, 3M, and the British studio Wallace + Sewell.

Designtex is a design and product development company providing research-based materials for the built environment. Previously, Lyons was the Executive Vice President of Design and Marketing for Designtex, leaving in 2002 to start a collaborative studio focused on sustainable product development. Lyons’ work in sustainable product development began in 1993, when she approached William McDonough to collaborate on a project to develop the first cradle-to-cradle product—a collection of compostable contract textiles.

Designtex's most recent collaboration, with Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell of the British textile studio Wallace + Sewell, is a series of wool fabrics in saturated, oversized plaid. The large-repeat stripes and grids are inspired in part by Bauhaus textile artist Anni Albers and in part by Wallace Sewell’s London neighborhood. In keeping with the duo’s focus on industrial production within Britain, the fabrics are being woven at the Hield Brothers mill in West Yorkshire. 

Meet Susan Lyons in person and hear her speak about changing material innovations in textiles at Dwell on Design NY (Friday, October 10 at 1pm).