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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - With lockdowns having restricted people's movement and travelling, people have sought to bring nature indoors.
This seems to be the case in terms of choice of designs and colours in home and corporate decorating.
Peter van Vuuren and Christof van Tonder co-own a manufacturing decor business in Mossel Bay, supplying clients throughout the country.
Van Vuuren says fabric designs with botanicals, leaves and florals are in vogue currently, as are natural colours and textures.
Animal prints are sought after, as are African prints.
Linen, hessian-looking cloths and natural fibres are popular.
On the other hand, metallics are still in fashion, such as shiny golds, bronzes and silvers, so there seems to be a juxtaposition of natural and high-end, shiny glamour.
Van Vuuren said he has found that the wealthy, who have had to curtail their international travel because of uncertainty over lockdown rules, have invested the money they would usually spend on travelling, in their homes.
Pieter van Vuuren
'Spending more time at home'
He says: "They're spending more time at home, so want their homes to be comfortable. Also, every week, I get people coming to me who have semigrated from upcountry to Mossel Bay and they want to decorate their new homes here.
"They are moving here because more and more, people are able to work remotely. They want to create a comfortable work space in their homes."
Van Vuuren and Van Tonder employ 15 people in their Voorbaai-based factory. Much of their trade comes from the hospitality industry - hotels and restaurants. But, they have not been affected badly by Covid-19 because trade in the domestic market has picked up for them.
Van Vuuren says easy care, environmentally friendly fabrics are the rage. They are friendly to people and animals. He says that whereas fabrics used to be treated to deflect marks and protect them from stains after manufacturing, now, in the manufacturing process, Fibre Guard is used.
He says wine stains, for example, can be removed simply with soap and water. The hospitality industry and private clients love these fabrics.
Christof van Tonder. Photos: Linda Sparg
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