Louvolite tells Blinds & Shutters about its new fabric collection and product books which are now even more user friendly, making it easier to sell

Believe it or not it is two years on from Louvolite’s last fabric collection change – maybe it is us just getting older but it has to be said that time is not just flying, it appears to be moving at warp speed!

 However, it must be stated that Louvolite has not been sat on its laurels for the past couple years, its fabric team has been incredibly busy checking out the new trends and establishing what its customers wanted to see in the new collection of fabrics. Well the time has come for the unveiling and the response from the customers has been awesome.

First and foremost lets consider the appearance of the new books.  They are the perfect visual example of a product change through evolution rather than revolution. No changes for change sake, but style and substance with new high impact images.

If we first review the roller shade collection, the first inside page on opening highlights the great use of colour that is seen within the book – a blend of vivid blues and used in a bedroom setting. For the first time Louvolite has included details of the Perfect Fit roller shade options with copy and examples of how this can be used to enhance the consumer experience. Louvolite also dedicates a page to the energy saving rating of its fabrics and uses thermal imagery to illustrate the effectiveness of its products.

After these pages, it is all business with the glorious new finishing touches section. Open this out to reveal actual samples of the new braids and finishes that allow consumers the ability to personalise their blind fabric choice. New wide braid additions such as “Chords” and the fabulous “Mohair” vie for you attention in the Mother of Pearl braid combination. Add to this the new interchangeable pole and finial sets and clear cylinder pulls and you begin to get the picture.   However perhaps the ‘piece de resistance’ are the Corsages. These flower head creations in four colour options can be attached to the customer blind in a variety of configurations to fantastic effect, stunning and yet great fun.

In order to simplify the operation of the book, the Finishing Touches card can be left opened to reveal the new braids and trims, poles and tassels, at the same time as the fabric is being viewed. This allows the consumer to view all the possible options available with colours and styles in full view. This clever piece of ‘book engineering’ allows the consumer a much better idea of how to make their blind special to them.

Louvolite has moved its “Gallery” section to the front of the book in response to customer demand and this section is preceded by a collection of thumbnail images that preview the fabrics to follow; and what great fabrics. The first fabric you come to is Decadence and it is truly stunning. A really good damask design foil printed onto a complimentary base cloth to fabulous effect. In two variations, a luxurious cream version named Gold Dust and a silver foil on black called Silver Shimmer.

Moving on through this section you are struck by the number of new designs each hitting different notes to allow the maximum number of options available for the demanding consumer.

Differing base cloths are used to provide a huge choice in window furnishing options; these include a selection of blackout prints to re-enforce selection available to meet the demand for this style of product. Totally contrary to this is the additional burnout design “Ravel”; delightfully created to bring a subtle yet modern twist to this popular style of fabric. Deco design brings the necessary retro print to the collection which remains extremely commercial and is not overly fussy and Carnation offers a calming design that will be well received whatever the age group.

All in all, the new designs seriously enhance the gallery section of this collection and will no doubt be hugely successful.

The evergreen plain fabric Carnival is then displayed in its entirety to allow the consumer to view the comprehensive colour palette available in this massively popular range. Carnival is also flame retardent, treated with Ultrafresh and available in two fabric widths.

Louvolite has then cleverly changed tack from previous books and offers the bulk of its textured plain and plain fabrics in a colour spectrum format rather than a typical fabric-by-fabric method. This system has been used by Louvolite in vertical fabric presentations since 1988 and the application of this to the roller programme has to be seen to be believed. It just works and the fabrics look great.

It’s also much easier for the consumer to use and of course the person presenting the book can immediately refer to the colour spectrum that has been requested. Within the various colour sections, the new fabrics feature strongly and the cohesion of the new collection becomes more and more apparent. It has to be stated that a number of the new designs really stand out with Savanna, Alaska and Papaya coming immediately to mind.

The last section of the book contains additional dedicated blackout fabrics. Louvolite has introduced an additional collection to satisfy the need for blackout blinds for nurseries, kindergartens and bedrooms. The Slumber range features soft colours such as Candyfloss Pink, Sky Blue and Sherbet Lemon. These colours will help parents satisfy the need for an appropriate coloured blackout blind for baby’s room without clashing with the preferred wallpaper print. In addition, as Slumber is flame retardant it can be used for work in local hospitals, children’s wards or primary schools.

Louvolite has not forgotten its vertical programme – far from it. Firstly, its new book features the same evolutionary modifications as the roller book. One major difference, however, is when you open the book the fabric is presented to you in the correct position. Previously you had to turn the book through 90 degrees in order to see the fabric as it would hang.
 Once inside, the new book introduction includes a section on thermal efficiency and of course child safety information which is vitally important and a great opportunity for those offering window shades to make their customers aware of the child safety options available to them.

The Gallery section in the vertical collection presents the new fabrics in range format with, once again, excellent illustrations. This enables the consumers to fully explore those fabrics which are deemed to be at the forefront of fashion and function.
 After the Gallery section it is straight into the colour spectrum with White being the first colourway depicted. The new Riveria and Alaska are immediately apparent, but so too is Image – a vertical louvre fabric that provides a 3 per cent openness by virtue of a design of holes punched through the opaque fabric.

On into Cream colourways and the Sequins jacquard design sits proudly on top of one of the sections, whilst Regency SPC (this is what Louvolite calls a ‘Trio’ product as it is available as a roller, vertical and pleated fabric) is to be found in the central section.

The Natural colourways spring to life with Savanna and the fashionable Saville Row design really catching the eye.  The Caramel colourway section is very impressive and reflects the popularity with the warm browns and cappuccino colour palettes often seen in home decorator concepts.

Peaches and yellows merge to become a warm and vibrant colourway section where the new Tropic jacquard illustrates how yarns featuring a delicate shade can combine with Ecru to enhance a classical design whilst another SPC Trio fabric “Glaze” is featured.

Reds and Lilacs come alive with the Alaska Berry, and instant classic status is assured for Riviera as it is seen in a deep Cranberry shade. Lilac and blue yarns combine to great effect in the subtle yet spectacular Tropic Lagoon.

The Blues and Greens carry on this successful story with old and new fabrics vying to attract the eye of the discerning consumer looking for that perfect match or ideal contrast.  The Greys section, so often presented by others as an array of contract qualities, receives the treatment it deserves as an important fashion shade to blend with the many metal and granite surfaces currently in vogue.

The new Marle fabric features a luxurious weave effect in conjunction with catatonic dyed yarns to highlight shades of luster within the yarn. This is joined by a new black colour option for Pinstripe and the all important Montana faux suede fabric.
A number of manufacturing customers have requested that Louvolite applies price group information to its labels to assist third party retailers in pricing fabrics with consumers.  Typically Louvolite has never applied price grouping information to fabrics as each customer is unique and has their own overheads and marketing strategy to consider. To satisfy both opinions Louvolite has included a price group card which, if maintained within the book, will allow third party retailers to have visual access to this card at the time of viewing fabrics. For those companies not requiring this service the card would simply be discarded.

• Louvolite