INGELMUNSTER, Belgium — By streamlining the trimming production and putting it under one roof with coordinated linen lines, Deltracon principal Rudy Delchambre can now deliver both collections at the same time.

Deltracon has made trimming lines for 15 years through an outside supplier but two years ago, Deltracon bought the supplier, machinery and all and put it along side its linen lines. “Customers can now see how to use trim with fabric. We use the same lines for both products and by doing it ourselves, we have been able to make more sophisticated trimmings,” he said.

For MoOD, Deltracon is capitalizing on the famous artists theme; specifically Deltracon is developing collections along the lines of Flanders’ artists like Permele, a Flemish artist of the 1800’s.  For Proposte, Deltracon had a major introduction for the high end editeurs but for MoOD it will take a more mass market approach in sheers, upholstery and drapery, including digital printing on linen for the first time in stripes and floral designs. This includes 15 designs in 30 colors each emphasizing darks with trimmings and tiebacks to match. Rudy Delchambre

Deltracon also built a new factory two years ago and consolidated its production with two mills at two different locations into the one new mill.  “It doesn’t make sense for us to compete with the Chinese and Indian mills so we traded up all of our products. We were able to fill part of that void with new customers in Europe and America. When a South African trimming supplier went bankrupt, it gave us the opportunity to fill the void that was created.”

Delchambre said that 2008/09 was tough years but 2010 and 2011 were a lot better. However, the market continues to be spotty. “We can’t run our looms for three to four months and expect to be successful. Our customers want new products. We have to invest in new collections and that means we need to have some longevity in the collection to get a return.”

In general, Delchambre said the business has become less profitable and that longevity for collections is way below what it used to be. “Reorders are just not frequent enough. The wholesaler bought basic products in 2008/09 but the market was not enthusiastic about them. The customer wanted more innovative things. The market doesn’t want basic.”

“It used to be a guarantee that when an important European editeur bought your collection it would mean at least a five year run but now all bets are off. It’s better to do new things. People don’t want the industrial look.”

Deltracon introduced an artisanal hand dyed look with light to dark colorations in each piece; white to light blue to dark blue; something new but an old hand dyeing technique. Every lot is different. Two editeurs in Europe bought it from Deltracon but the U.S. is more conservative so we try sophisticated plains for that market.

The artisanal dyed look is 30 Euros per meter in wide width and 25 Euros for heavy weight linen in 140 cm. width.   F&FI