Vale de Kvadrat

Frans Dijkmeijer has crafted an upholstery collection for Kvadrat consisting of 3 innovative designs that can be described as ‘textile art’: Vale, Ripple and Colline. All combine precise, richly detailed 3D structures with a simple, elegant expression. In doing so, they add a sense of warmth, tactility and comfort to any interior.

All the fabrics in the collection are primarily made from wool, which is systematically anchored in several places onto a base layer of acrylic. Reflecting the trademark technical excellence of Frans Dijkmeijer, each one has a unique structure that stands out as a relief on the surface of the textile. These innovative constructions reflect the designer’s years of experimentation with different materials and weaving structures.

The intricate 3D structures that characterise the designs in the collection are created using an innovative process whereby the acrylic shrinks, but the wool does not. This causes the wool yarns, where not anchored to the acrylic base layer, to rise up from the surface of the textiles, giving them pronounced depth and volume.

The colour-scales in the collection are sophisticated and subtle, and have been crafted to complement the fabric’s complex structures: soft, natural shades such as wheat, cream and coal predominate alongside a few subdued highlight colours, like warm red and purple. The 3 designs, together with the refined upholstery fabric Perla 2.2, which features an updated colour scale, combine well as they share many of the same colour nuances.

Thanks to their inviting expressions and versatile palettes, the fabrics in the collection are especially well suited to use in private homes and hospitality venues.

Acclaimed Frans Dijkmeijer (1936 – 2011) was best known for designing precise, innovative textiles that are complex to create, yet look very simple. An expert in weaving, he created fabrics for Kvadrat from 1992 to 2011.
For Frans Dijkmeijer, the materials, colours and textures should always be treated as parts of an organic whole: the creation of harmony by balancing the different elements of a design was a theme central to his work.

The designer’s innovative work reflects the fact that he consistently experimented with different types of yarn and weaving in his studio. In 2000, he received the ‘Profiel’-prize for his versatility as a textile designer. In recognition of this achievement, the prestigious Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam displayed a retro-spective exhibition of his textiles.

62% wool, 31% acrylic, 7% nylon
10 colours
140 cm wide

Vale has an organic structured pattern, suggestive of mountain ranges and valleys seen from above. This highly detailed design gives the fabric great depth and a very vibrant look.
Vale is available in 10 colourways: an off-white unicoloured version and 9 colourways featuring deep black combined with another colour from the palette, ranging from grace-ful dark shades, such as anthracite grey, deep brown and purple to natural colours, like wheat and off white. These hues combine to elegant effect: the black coloured yarn appears as organically scattered dots in the ‘valleys’ of the pattern.