Equinox – Woven at the Mill
19.01.2017 § Leave a comment
I recently visited the mill where Brentano’s pattern Equinox is woven. Accompanying me during the visit was Senior Designer Aaron Mensik and National Sales Manager Jeff Frank. Located in a rural city of New Jersey, it was drizzling and damp when we arrived at the entrance of the warehouse style building. At the opposite side of the doors – a forest stood tall – damp with sparse yellow and orange leaves still dangling on branches. The fall color of the foliage brightened the grey sky and the metal siding.
To much surprise, when we walked in a pleasant display of Brentano fabrics greeted us. We later found out that one employee in particular prepared the fabric display for our arrival. I very much appreciated the Mills effort to make us feel welcomed.
We first visited the Jacquard weaving room. Within the one room, approximately 60 looms were weaving at the same time. We could hardly hear our guide explaining the weaving procedures. We saw many beautiful fabrics being woven, including one of Brentano’s best sellers, Equinox. Equinox is woven on a very fine, dense, nylon warp. Fine for the purpose of color clarity , dense for the purpose of defined rendering, and nylon for performance level abrasion.
It was such a joy to see our fabric being woven on the loom. As you can tell from our facial expressions in the photos – pure happiness.
The trip was educational, so besides observing the fabrics on the loom, we toured all departments such as design, CAD for weaving, yarn control, winding, warping, final inspection of the goods, etc.
It was near 2:00 pm when we finished the tour and said our goodbyes. While we were waiting for our ride, I noticed in the vestibule window a beautiful pattern forming from the condensation. Maybe it will one day become a fabric pattern.
Cityscape
07.09.2016 § Leave a comment
I have always admired the serenity and pureness of nature. As soon as my husband and I were finished with our schooling, we immediately moved to the quiet, spacious suburbia; never understanding ones desire to move to the big city. Many years and experiences later, my perception of city life began to shift and eventually (to my surprise) began to influence my work as a designer.
On one particular sales trip to Manhattan, I walked…a lot. While traveling amongst the noisy hustle and bustle of traffic, I stumbled upon a little wild flower rooted next to a wrought iron gate. The graceful flower was rising from a crack in the concrete, pushing its way toward the clear blue sky. The juxtaposition of the cement, the wrought iron and the plant created a texture that brought a smile to my face for the rest of the day. The peaceful experience made the echoes from city streets dissipate; leaving only the beautiful composition in my memory. From that day forward, I gained a different perspective of the urban environment and the magnificence held within it.
Then I began to travel. I was able to travel longer and more freely after my obligations of parenthood and elderly care were fulfilled. I discovered the joy of experiencing different cities, architecture, bridges, public transportation, vegetation, people, as well as cultures from around the world. I took photos, doodled, sketched, took notes, and made plans to enjoy outings with friends from different cities. I now fully understand the attraction society has to live within a metropolis.
Drawing inspiration from the energy and graphics of the urban landscape, the 18 new patterns in the fall 2016 Cityscape collection depict my experiences from the eccentric life of the big city.
Metropolis 4569 – Cityscape 4564 – Boulevard 4568
Boomtown 4564 – Metropolis 4569
Junction 6531 – Lexingtion 4221 – Lumen 1305 – Essanay 8220 – Selfridge 8940
A True Cornerstone
04.02.2016 § Leave a comment
The spring 2016 Cornerstone collection, originally named to follow our 25th anniversary, turned out to have much more significance. The past fiscal year our business grew in great strides while we continuously create a name for ourselves in the industry. The moral of the entire company is unfolding a promising future in both business strategy and performance.
For the first time in Brentano’s history we are introducing a catalog of our new fabric Gem, showcasing all 39 designer colorways. Gem is a velvet I am particularly proud of in the spring collection; proud of its luxurious colors, wonderful qualities and reasonable price point. 
Gem 4250
Alongside Gem, the Cornerstone collection holds a wide variety of unique fabrics. The assortment includes several sophisticated techniques (Intaglio and Jasper), many bright playful patterns (Keys and Tombolo), extraordinarily colorful stripes (Regalia), and an indescribable embroidered drapery (Willow). The variety of textiles within the collection demonstrates our continuous dedication to producing products that inspire our clients’ creativity and imagination.
We have vowed in our design studio, not only to be the best at creating color, we challenge ourselves to lead the industry in design, both in textile technology and surface design.
Ambrosia 3005
Willow 4266
Keys 1202 & Tombolo 8135
Nova 4566
Zigrino 3007
Waseda University
11.08.2014 § Leave a comment
My first week at Waseda University for a short-term, intensive summer Japanese class started with a bit of heat shock. The classroom is different every day, and the teacher is different for almost every class even when the subject is the same. Despite the heat, students are encouraged to climb the stairs to any classroom below the fifth floor. The professors are not very happy if you are late for class, so I have been running to look for classes every day in this blazing hot sun.
Still, I have had time to explore and found some great Japanese textiles, museum collections and books from their library. I’ve always found the manhole covers in Japan fascinating too, so I couldn’t help but take pictures of the ones I’ve found so far on the university campus.
Kimono Collection, Tokyo National Museum
Discovery Collection Inspiration
30.01.2014 § Leave a comment
I keep a loose diary on where I go and what I see, but the things that impress me the most usually become burned in my mind. Those are the ones that spark design ideas and eventually become patterns for Brentano products. « Read the rest of this entry »
Sustainability Consciousness
18.10.2013 § Leave a comment
Sustainability awareness has prevailed for the last decade. Although actual results are hard to see and many people are still indifferent to the movement, people in general are behaving more carefully and improvements are being made. Agriculture’s IPM systems are one example of the shift.
In our textile industry’s new eco standard, the Sustainability Assessment for Commercial Furnishings Fabric (NSF/ANSI 336), natural fibers grown using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems can earn extra points. « Read the rest of this entry »
Maple Key Design
19.10.2012 § Leave a comment
I designed a maple key pattern about ten years ago, but it was not successful as a fabric and I never introduced it. I am making the attempt again and making some studies. Maybe it will become a Brentano fabric design one day.
Bathtubs and Robes
12.07.2012 § Leave a comment
A Cultural Difference
| I got into the habit of taking hot baths after experiencing the hot spring bath culture in Japan, and I started to notice the difference between the hotels in Japan and the US. First, the bathtubs in Japan are shorter but deeper so the water covers a person up to her neck. By contrast, the hotel tubs in the US are longer but shallower. If a person wants to warm up her knees and shoulders at the same time it is a bit hard. One has to sit up straight to soak her knees or lie down completely and bend her knees to soak her shoulders in hot water. | 
 Atami Hot Springs |
I also noticed that the hotels in Japan always prepare you with a toothbrush and toothpaste and a pair of disposable slippers. None of these could be found at the Minneapolis Hilton I checked into when I visited our representative in Minnesota. « Read the rest of this entry »
All-Purpose Cleaners for Our PU
14.06.2012 § 1 Comment
Would you dry clean your sofa?
For our polyurethane product, we typically recommend that clients clean it with soap and water. In a tough stain situation, the “solvent resistant finish” on our polyurethane means that rubbing alcohol or a solution of 1:5 diluted household bleach to water is also safe to use. All of these cleaning agents have been tested at Brentano and in our mill’s lab along with Windex, Murphy’s oil soap, and Formula 409.
That’s not an exhaustive list because clients often have specific cleaners they want to use. Recently I was asked about using dry cleaning chemicals, namely Perc and hydrocarbon solvents. According to our mill, there are many kinds of hydrocarbon solvent products. The exact chemical formulas are usually trade secrets, so it is difficult to find out exactly what is in a particular solvent, and the only way to find out what kind of effect it will have is to test it. « Read the rest of this entry »
NFPA 701: How to Read the Test Results
26.03.2012 § Leave a comment
(No. 3 of 3) It is very common for people to request copies of our test results, especially fire test results, for their records. I imagine they are usually just looking for the note at the bottom that says that the fabric “complies” or “meets the requirements.” When a fabric doesn’t pass the test, that’s when we start looking at the other numbers. So what do all of those numbers mean, anyway? « Read the rest of this entry »
Woven-Words 