In the early 1990s, Designtex was looking to develop more environmentally friendly fabrics and began to investigate the possibilities for a compostable upholstery. By collaborating with architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart and following their design principle of “waste=food,” Designtex set the goal for a fabric that was capable of breaking down and returning safely to the earth after its useful life was over. Designtex and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) worked with the Swiss mill Rohner to bring the upholstery, called Climatex® Lifecycle™, to market in 1995. Simultaneously, Designtex established a new product category, Sustainable Initiatives, to signal its seriousness in continuing to develop sustainable products.

Since that time, Designtex has been dedicated to addressing the market’s most challenging concerns while continuing to design environmental intelligence into its product offering:

1995

-The first William McDonough Collection of Climatex® Lifecycle™ upholsteries is introduced

-Sustainable Initiatives product category is launched by Designtex

-Climatex® Lifecycle™ wins a Gold Award, Best of Neocon

1996

-Climatex® Lifecycle™ awarded ID Design Distinction Award for Furniture in ID Design contest

1997

-Terratex® recycled polyester is introduced as upholstery and panel fabric

1998

-Terratex® recycled solution-dyed polyester launches

-Duraprene™ alternative to PVC wallcovering debuts

2000

-Climatex® Lifecycle™ awarded First Place Design Sense Award from the Design Museum, London

2001

-Terratex® recycled polyester and Climatex® Lifecycle™ both win an Ecology Design Award at the Industrie Forum conference in Hannover, Germany

-Designtex wins a Sustainable Achievement award at GreenWorld

2003

-Designtex is first to market with Eco-Intelligent™ polyester made with an antimony-free catalyst for panel and upholstery

2005

-Designtex reclaimable nylon offers a take-back program to recycle used fabrics

-Nano-tex™ Resists Spills becomes the performance finish of choice because it does not interfere with recyclability

-Ingeo™ previews at Neocon and brings home a Silver Award in the panel fabrics category

2006

-180 Walls™, a self-adhesive recycled polyester wallcovering debuts. The adhesive eliminates the use of paste, and allows for easy replacement

-Ingeo™, the world’s first biopolymer, made from corn, is introduced by Designtex as biodegradable drapery and panel fabric

-Crypton® Green upholsteries are introduced. They are the first performance fabrics to be C2C certified.

      - 180 Walls™ awarded a Silver for wall treatments in

       Best of Neocon

2007

-Designtex is first to market with 100% post-consumer recycled polyester upholstery made from bottles

-Designtex named a Sustainable Innovator by Metropolis Magazine

2008

-Greenwear®, an alternative to PVC wallcovering, is introduced. This innovation updates Designtex’s Hardwear collection, maintaining the same performance qualities of durability and cleanability, without the chemistry of PVC

-Sustainable Initiatives category evolves to Environmental Design, a methodology for assessing our products’ environmental qualities along their life cycles.

-Designtex named one of the Low-Carbon 20 brands by Domino Magazine.

-Environmental Design recieves a Green Star from Interior Design Magazine at NeoCon 2008.