Canadian brand EQ3 launches ecological and durable fabrics
Winnipeg brand EQ3 has been designing and manufacturing furniture and home goods that appeal to fans of modern, clean design since 2001 but has just released its first line of sustainably minded, high-performance fabrics.
This line includes three collections made from 26 fabrics, such as wool, twill, chenille and bouclé, sourced from Italy, China and the United States, and manufactured in Canada. These fabrics are durable, stain-resistant, and stand up to everyday wear and tear, but the chemicals used to achieve this protection are soft on the environment, says EQ3'S chief design officer Enri Tielmann.
When EQ3 started researching high-performance fabrics, it found that the upholstery options available for products like sofas contained harsh chemicals known to pollute the environment and can sometimes pose a risk to people's health over time.
Rather than accept this, EQ3 searched for an alternative, says Tielmann. “A product is only as good as the quality of materials that it is made of,” he says. Many high-performance fabrics on the market contain PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) or PFCS (perfluorochemicals), which contain toxins known to be disruptive to our health and environment.
Tielmann says: “These chemicals are bioaccumulative, which means they build up over time, amplifying their adverse effects by polluting waterways, damaging plant life, and contributing to declining nutrient density in areas near manufacturing facilities.”
EQ3 came up with a stain-resistant finish for its fabrics without harsh chemicals, explains Tielmann. The fabric collections include Onno (almost 50 per cent natural wool), Maria (a chenille fabric with heavy multi yarn construction), Bouclé (a blend of wool, linen, cotton, viscose and acrylic), Arctic (a twill recognized for its diagonal structure) and Cedar (a chenille). Each of the fabrics is available in a range of colours and tones.
EQ3 is constantly looking for ways to be more environmentally conscious. Over the last few years, it has introduced a packaging engineer to learn how to reduce waste, expanded its product offerings that feature environmentally sensitive water-based finish and have continued to invest in local manufacturing to minimize its carbon footprint.
He says “while we're proud of what we've accomplished so far, we're even more excited about what's yet to come.”