COSTAMASNAGA, Italy — Limonta Interior Coverings expects to broadly diversify its upholstery and drapery fabric lines in 2015 to offset a decline in the overall fabrics business and the resulting smaller orders according to Luisa Arrigoni, Export Area Manager.  (Her boss, Sales Manager, Davide Malagutti was on the road during this interview.)

As part of this plan, Limonta will introduce a new collection of luxurious yarns for the high end market, together with a contract collection based on natural yarns that will change completely the contract market. 

Previously, Limonta produces flame retardant vinyl and fabrics. For the past three years, Limonta has expanded also its outdoor fabric collection with polypropylene yarns and this will continue.

These new products, as many as 300 sku’s, will be shown at Proposte April 27/29. “That’s the only fair utilized by Limonta. We work with our customers individually all year long,” she said. (Knowledge sharing among all divisions of Limonta is encouraged and results in some pretty innovative developments according to to Limonta’s corporate brochure.)

“With 70 percent of our business geared to export today, more significant financial resources are being put into the Interior division in an effort to continue its growth of three to five percent in export” Arrigoni pointed out. Limonta sells products all over the World  from a total of 70 production looms in two to three shifts. We deliver 90 percent on time,” she added. Europe is the largest market for Limonta; Italy, Germany and England are still growing with the USA in second place but the company also sells to Russia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan offering exclusivity in designs and colors to its customers.

“We edit and adopt fabric lines according to the needs of our customers.”

The financial figures are private for Limonta but it ranks in the Top 20 fabric suppliers in the world, according to Fabrics & Furnishings International research.

Limonta is also leading the list of the top five interior suppliers in sales in Italy. Limonta is becoming more vocal, more marketing and presentation oriented and expects to build its first showroom ever in its main office in Costamasnaga. In short, Limonta expects to be more aggressive and more open with the marketplace than ever before while the Italian competition stays in the background, Arrigoni explained “By offering more product categories like outdoor and contract with many more sku’s in each category, we expect to increase our share of a declining fabrics market worldwide,” she said. Limonta has 15 looms dedicated to producing nothing but samples for its customers and this will continue with an ever more diversified line. Limonta, now with eight divisions in the group, was founded in 1893 and is on its fourth generation of management.

Limonta is one of the largest industrial companies in Italy with 1,360 employees in ten factories. 

The Interior division dyes yarn for yarn dyed collections, and piece dyes greige for its line of jacquards and dobbies. It produces its own designs on six CAD stations; has a vast digital archive of all of its designs going back 122 years and finishes its products internally.  Limonta fabrics and Coatings Division produces a line of synthetic leathers for fashion as well as a line for interiors. Artificial leather is a growing business in interiors as well as fashion for Limonta, Arrigoni said. 

Davide Malagutti is the Sales Manager and Luisa Arrigoni together with Giusy Marelli are export area managers working with Malagutti on the interior Coverings Division of  Limonta Group.