Known for his furniture and fabric collections that emphasize the luxury resort lifestyle and experience, award-winning designer Richard Frinier drew inspiration for his latest collection of Sunbrella® fabrics from an extended stay in Morocco. The Caravan Collection is comprised of an assortment of rich, textural constructions and authentically styled and colored patterns reminiscent of vintage Moroccan rugs.

“I have traveled to more than 40 countries spanning five continents and by far my most memorable and impressionable adventure was my time in Morocco,” said Frinier, who has spent more than 30 years in design of high-end furniture and fabrics.  “The country is filled with a wealth of inspiration, from iconic architecture and private gardens to the walled pathways of Fez, Marrakech and Tangiers, which lead to souk marketplaces full of colorful merchants, exotic foods, spices and aromatic teas, and the most extraordinary rugs and textiles. All of these things translate beautifully into an array of Sunbrella fabrics.”

The iconic designs represented in Moroccan rugs were of particular inspiration to Frinier, who discovered many were vintage creations originally woven by the Beni Ourain tribes in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco dating back several centuries. The designer captured the neutral hues and unexpected accent colors into his new Caravan Collection, taking special care to incorporate the original shades of sand, camel, brown, black, indigo and henna that reflect the region and its culture.

“Many of the ancient rug designs have been passed down through generations of weavers and were popularized by Le Corbusier during the mid-century modern movement,” Frinier said. “Today, architects and designers the world over use these inspired patterns of Moroccan rugs to bring artistry and an exotic touch to interior and exterior environments.”

Frinier’s impressions and memories from Morocco are clearly woven into the Caravan Collection, including textural constructions and body cloths, authentic patterns and color work.

The fabrics are easy to incorporate into modern, transitional and traditionally styled living spaces as well as residential or hospitality environments.

Caravan includes two new base cloth constructions (Sahara, Desert) and five decorative and coordinating patterns (Casbah, Bazaar, Berber, Medina, Nomadic), each presented in authentic color palettes to create distinctive living spaces.

Base Cloth Introductions

The light structure of Sahara carries all the characteristics of vintage, hand-woven textiles with a perfectly imperfect surface texture. The fabric is available in Sand, Dune, Hemp, Caftan, Café, Carbon, Ivory and Salt.  Desert features a richly textured construction with the subtle tones of desert sands defined by a simple stitch detail. Color offerings include Sand, Dune Hemp, Caftan, Camel, Café, Carbon, Mirage, Indigo and Henna.

Decorative and Coordinating Patterns

Casbah, woven using the Desert construction, features a primitive ethnic stitch pattern giving it a vintage appearance. Playing up the tribal Moroccan influence is Bazaar, a lattice pattern designed using abstract geometric shapes.  Berber is best described as a distressed small-scale diamond pattern. The uniquely woven Medina was inspired by original, handmade Moroccan stripes. Nomadic, the final fabric in the collection, features a classic, Moroccan wave diamond pattern most often seen in decorative flat weaves and rugs. All of the decorative fabrics in the Caravan Collection are available in the colorways of Carbon, Camel, Caftan, Café, Indigo and Henna.

The Caravan Collection by Richard Frinier for Sunbrella is available to the manufacturing trade only. High resolution images are available in the Sunbrella Press Room.

About Richard Frinier  

For over 30 years, Richard Frinier has been an award-winning furniture and textile designer with an emphasis on resort-at-home and ultraluxe resort environments. Originally a sculptor and lighting designer, he holds a Master of Arts degree and has traveled to more than 40 countries across five continents serving as inspiration for his authentic and memorable designs.

Today, Richard Frinier licenses his exclusive and co-branded designs to lifestyle and legacy brands and manufacturers, including Glen Raven/Sunbrella, Brown Jordan, Century Furniture and Dedon. His body of work at large encompasses hundreds of collections and thousands of individual product designs ranging from soft modern and contemporary to transitional and traditional.

Due to his extraordinary passion for and dedication to his work, he has garnered over 80 design and career excellence awards, including honors from ASID, IDSA, IIDA, ICFA, ADEX, ASFD, reddot museum, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design's Good Design Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Casual Furnishings Association, a division of the American Home Furnishings Alliance.

Designs by Richard Frinier have been specified for the Vatican, royal palaces, resorts, spas and private residences around the world and they have been exhibited and published extensively and internationally. He is committed to supporting students of design by sponsoring various trade scholarship programs. Learn more at richardfrinier.com.

About Sunbrella Fabrics

Introduced in 1961, Sunbrella revolutionized the way the world thinks about how beautiful fabrics look, feel and perform. The Sunbrella brand is the leading premium fabric choice for awning, marine and furniture manufacturers, offering legendary durability, fade resistance and ease of cleaning.

Upholstery fabrics from Sunbrella are continually advancing in design sophistication and comfort, resulting in applications both outside and inside the home for coordinated décor. Sunbrella fabrics have achieved GREENGUARD GOLD certification as contributing to healthy indoor air quality by being a very low emitting interior product.

Sunbrella fabrics are manufactured and marketed by Glen Raven, a 134-year-old family-owned company based in North Carolina with operations worldwide. For more information on the Sunbrella brand, including fabric resources, visit sunbrella.com.