Louvolite explains the history of the Roman blind and how it has adapted its own offering to assist customers and ensure ‘a prosperous New Year’

“In the heyday of the Roman Colosseum crowds would sit through a day long programme of events in the open air.

This prolonged exposure to the sun was eased by constructing long awnings that would be opened in the arena to offer some sun protection. Unlike the Roman blinds we now have today, the original blinds folded back on themselves horizontally and extended from the walls of the Colosseum – today Roman shades typically operate vertically within window frames.

Whilst the mode of operation required to make Roman blinds in Ceaser’s day was a little different from the manufacturing methods of today’s Britain, there are still many challenges that face professional blind making companies who receive enquiries for Roman blinds from domestic and commercial companies alike.

Why? Well to make a Roman blind you have to be able to handle unfinished curtain or upholstery fabrics. In addition you need to have resources to machine sew large pieces of fabric together, hem them and then apply a lining fabric. Finally you have to create openings to receive wooden dowels at regular intervals across the full width of the fabric – this again is achieved by machine sewing. Once all this is done you need to establish the appropriate operating system and hope all goes well.

Typically the methods required to make Roman blinds are not familiar to a modern blind maker’s workforce – they are far more adept at using 21st Century blind making skills which utilise coated fabrics and a logical systematic approach to window furnishing; this is frustrating as there is no doubt that the market demand for Roman blinds is still growing. In the commercial marketplace additional challenges are encountered such as the need for Flame retardant fabrics and those offering improved solar protection.

It became obvious to Louvolite that there was a real need for a simple and logical method of manufacture for Roman blinds to be introduced which would allow its customers to use all of their existing resources and skills to satisfy this potential new market. So it set about creating a product that would combine the skills of today’s professional blindmaker with top quality systems and materials and a progressive manufacturing method.

There were a number of critical parameters that had to be set very early in the project. The manufacturing method had to be simple, repeatable and utilise equipment already available to manufacturers of blinds. Sewing has become a black art in modern blind making techniques, so any manufacturing technique had to omit sewing.

In order for the concept to be of real interest, the collection of fabrics on offer had to be wide and varied, include fabrics which offered benefits to the commercial market sector in addition to the domestic one and be available via Louvolite’s unbeatable cut length service.As you can see, that’s quite a number of hurdles to be jumped which is probably why this has not been done before – the good news is that Louvolite has created a programme that will help its customers in gaining access to this section of the market at a time when new business opportunities are few and far between.
OK, so how has Louvolite achieved this?

Well the biggest dilemma was that of fabric – the size of the collection required and its usability. Louvolite recognised that there was no benefit in going down the route of offering uncoated fabric collections as this is of no use to its typical blind making customers.

Louvolite’s preferred option was to utilise its existing fabric collection, but this just didn’t work as a Roman blind – so the company decided that if the fabric didn’t work as a traditional Roman blind then it would develop the system to allow Louvolite fabrics to be made into Louvolite Roman blinds.

First of all the manufacturing method is very similar to Louvolite’s roller blind making method. The fabric is cut square and a bottom rail secured using Louvolite’s method of inserting fabric locking tape into the groove designed in the bottom bar.
Then, at predetermined distances that are dependent on the blind drop, additional divisional bars are attached to the fabric using exactly the same method.

Once the required number of divisional bars are fitted, the blind is corded and attached to the operating system – preferably Louvolite’s roller blind system. Whilst all this is really simple Louvolite will of course operate its full Technical Support Team back up facility for training if required.

The principle of difference is that when raising traditional Roman blinds the fabric folds within each panel – this is only available with uncoated or extremely soft fabric. With the new Louvolite Roman Blind the fabric does not fold, the divisional bar acts as a hinge as the fabric remains relatively flat.

This allows blind making companies to utilise their Louvolite roller blind fabric collection and now offer a new option of the whole programme being available as Roman blinds too.  In time honoured tradition, Louvolite has also identified ways of individualising any blind by incorporating optional contrasting or complementing strips across each panel join – these can match the fabric used for cassette fascia and bottom bar too.

To assist its customers to achieve maximum benefit from this exciting option, Louvolite is introducing fabulous, high impact images of how its fabrics look as Roman blinds. These will be printed onto a new insert card that will be placed at the front of its roller blind fabric book.

Armed with this new programme and point of sale material it really should be a prosperous New Year for Louvolite customers.
No doubt if Julius Caesar was alive today to view this exiting shading option, he would praise the concept and award it a wreath of laurels!”

• Louvolite