Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering is the largest supplier of contract textiles and wallcoverings to the commercial interiors industry. At NeoCon it demonstrated its strength and leadership in ways both subtle and not so subtle. The fact of its vast showroom quietly whispered, “We are big and we are strong.” Its extensive and impressive display of new products loudly declared, “We are not resting on our laurels; we intend to lead from the front!”
As I entered the showroom a crowd of mostly young women gathered around a table where textile design-legend, Sina Pearson, was presenting a new product and discussing her process. The product was the Unexpected Collection, her 12th collection for Momentum comprising three textile lines and a total of 26 colorways. Her process, as always, starts with selecting or developing the right yarn for the desired outcome, then moving to weave, texture, pattern, and color. Apparently, she felt the outcome of the development of these three textiles was quite unexpected, hence the name for the collection.
The scene felt entirely familiar for a textile company – a world class textile designer extolling the virtues of her latest textile collection in a NeoCon showroom. But that wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg! Leaving it there would have meant missing an amazing amount of product development in wallcoverings and Momentum’s entry into the acoustic treatment space, with rigid PET for wall application.
In January, Paul Cleary joined Momentum as its new President and CEO. He’s an experienced CEO from the closely related domain of flooring; most recently he had held senior management positions at the Mohawk Group. Now at Momentum he intends to bolster the company’s long-standing commitment to product and operational innovation, sustainability, and collaboration.
In an interview after NeoCon I asked Mr. Cleary about the flurry of activity in the wallcovering area. He said, “Momentum had identified wallcoverings as a potential area of growth, outside textiles per se, but related to its textile business. So it acquired D.L. Couch, Eykon and Tri|kes, three, more or less, regional wallcovering companies, with the goal of integrating them into Momentum and becoming a significant national player in the wallcoverings business. The plan to exploit that growth potential was interrupted by the pandemic, but we never lost sight of the goal.”
They surely didn’t. Looking back to January 2023 and looking forward into the pipeline for launches scheduled before the end of the year, Momentum has launched or will have launched 29 collections with a total of 163 new products comprising upholstery, wallcovering rolled goods, and acoustic surfaces.
Perhaps what’s most notable in terms of meeting its goals for wallcovering is the breadth of range it has already achieved. From handcrafted feature-wall solutions like Amari/Amari Stripe to sustainable options such as Woven Silica wallcovering, derived from silica sand and a bio-based coating, to PVC-free Olefin-based Type II wallcoverings such as pattern Englewood, Momentum is launching new products at a feverish pace.
But what I found most interesting when I toured the NeoCon showroom was Momentum’s entry into the rigid PET acoustic treatment market – primarily as a wallcovering, or at least mounted to walls; often in concert with traditional wallcoverings.
Pindrop is the name Momentum has chosen for its entry into rigid acoustics for wall application and it’s the collection umbrella under which all the acoustic products fall. What better name for a collection of acoustic products than playing off the old saying, ‘You could hear a pin drop.’ Currently the Pindrop Collection consists of four product lines, organized around application types. They are Shapes and Tiles, Panels, Architectural Layers and Rolled Goods.
With six shapes, and etched, printed and solid color tiles, Shapes and Tiles are building blocks designers can use to enhance a humdrum space while adding acoustic properties.
Panels are just that – large rectangular panels for wall mounting that are available in solid colors, textured colors and etched or printed ‘Statement Patterns’. One of my favorite installations at NeoCon was a private office with Clara Silk acoustic panels covering one wall while the opposite wall was covered with a traditional wallcovering that had been printed with the Clara Silk pattern and colorway.
Architectural Layers are vertical or horizontal slats or overlapping PET-cladding shapes that can be used alone or combined to create depth and complexity at any scale.
Rolled Goods in the Pinpoint Collection are traditional wallcoverings with noise reduction properties. Designed to cover wall to wall and floor to ceiling, rolled acoustic solutions include 100% recycled polyester felt and natural sisal that’s sustainably harvested from agave plants. They can be used on any vertical surface in virtually any setting where sound control is important.
For an initial offering, this comprehensive collection of acoustic products is really impressive. So comprehensive, in fact, it’s impossible to present the full breadth of Pinpoint here. I highly recommend that you check out Momentum’s ‘Making Space for Sound’ for a more in-depth look at the full offering.
If they’d done nothing more than launch Pinpoint, Momentum could have considered NeoCon a success. However, that was not the case. Paul Cleary said, “We’re active in all the vertical markets of the industry. Whereas workplace has some challenges right now we’re seeing a lot of activity in hospitality. So, we’ve been working hard to address the particular and somewhat unique needs of hospitality in both textiles and wallcoverings.”
Designed with the hospitality market in mind, Amari Stipe is a dramatic, feature-wall type wallcovering with a 3-D handcrafted look inspired by the work of fashion designer Iris van Herpen and developed to sing in harmony with Amari; a beautiful pattern based on a leaf motif.
Kaali is another striking new feature-wall product with the Gingko leaf as the primary visual. It has a hospitality or even a healthcare feel given the psychological link between the Gingko leaf and health and longevity (fossils of Gingko leaves date to 270 million years ago).
Vivant is an upholstery collection of five textiles designed to meet the requirements and price points of the hospitality market. The collection’s namesake pattern uses a special printing technique to transform the velvet structure of the textile into a vibrant piece of artwork with a painterly, watercolor aesthetic. Added layers of organic shapes and translucent colors complement the luxurious high-sheen construction, making this a truly opulent statement piece that amplifies the entire collection.
Luxique elevates any space to high opulence. A rich velvet with high sheen and a wet looking appearance, it just drips with decadence, but at a non-decadent price point. A simple organic texture that incorporates a bright shiny yarn, Razzle is bedazzled with beautifully subdued colors from nature, with a bit of glitz when hit by light. A lofty chenille texture, Rocca is accentuated by shimmering metallic accents with small-scale patterning that resembles worn rock facades or ancient crumbling granite. Enzo, a chenille that is 100% polyester, channels the power of a solid color but with a soft texture. It is the collection’s high-performance workhorse that is a perfect go-to fabric for sofa upholstery in any hotel guest room.
To borrow a phrase, these are a few of my favorite things. There are hundreds more to explore, so if you missed NeoCon call your Momentum rep and get your hands on some of them!