DEDON Lookbook Contract

DEDON FIBER: A ‘LIVING’ MATERIAL

Interview with Nils Kettering, Fiber Division Director July 2020

Unique within the outdoor industry, DEDON owns and operates both its furniture and its fiber production. This allows us to bring our fiber specialists and world-class designers together to develop innovative new fiber colors, profiles, textures and effects. More than just a material, DEDON Fiber becomes the expression of a collection’s soul. Overseeing this process is the ultimate fiber expert, Nils Kettering. DEDON’s Fiber Division Director, Nils has been with the company for more than 15 years.

After such a long time, what still fascinates you about working on DEDON Fiber? Actually, my job only gets more fascinating. I collaborate with leading international designers on every new fiber. I work on bold innovations such as our new EcoCycle Fiber. I oversee a state-of-the-art production facility that produces zero waste. But what fascinates me most is the sheer variety of design options—shapes, structures, colors, haptics—my team and I develop. Fibers with metallic shimmers; fibers with a velvety-soft touch, like those of our RILLY collection; fibers that imitate natural materials in their beautiful imperfection—the list goes on. The development and testing process for each new fiber takes 12 to 18 months, but it’s always worth it to see our ideas become reality and end up in the most beautiful gardens in the world!

What is your development credo for DEDON Fiber? For me, DEDON Fiber is a ‘living’ material. Even if the raw material is synthetic, the final result should always look and feel vibrant. We achieve this, in part, by carefully controlling 95% of each production run while allowing 5% to be random. This means every strand of fiber is truly unique, with subtle optical and haptical differences both within the fiber and between fibers from different runs. It takes a lot of work and know-how to achieve this, but we have always insisted on it. Along with our unri- valed quality standards, it’s what differentiates DEDON Fiber from the rest. Looking into the future, how is DEDON Fiber developing? In 2021, we launch our new EcoCycle Fiber, which is made with renewable raw material derived from sugar- cane. DEDON is the first in the industry to create such a fiber, and this is just the beginning. I won’t say more, except that you can expect new looks, textures, haptics and effects, along with the unrivaled strength and weath- erability for which DEDON has always been known.

NILS KETTERING DEDON’s Fiber Division Director

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