By
Alex Smith |
Established in 1904 and now owned by the fifth generation of the family, Testori Textiles first began working with interior design Petra Ryberg during her time as head of design at P&O Cruises Australia, when it created custom fabrics for the cruise line’s ships.
“Trust and relationships can be very powerful for driving success, especially in a huge industry like cruise,” says Giacomo Villa, chief operating officer and head of sales at Testori.
Several years later, and with Ryberg now at the head of her own firm Design Studio Berg+, the partnership has entered a new chapter with the creation of the Palazzo Collection. Designed by Ryberg and produced by Testori, the collection of International Maritime Organization-certified fabrics can be used for various applications onboard passenger vessels. According to Ryberg, inspiration for the patterns and colours came from Testori’s Italian heritage.
“Testori’s story was one of my starting points in designing the collection,” she says. “We spent hours digging through archives and visiting historical villas throughout Italy to find references we could use in the design, examining everything from doors to windows or ceiling structures. That’s where all the patterns came from.”
Ryberg evaluates fabrics with Giacomo Villa (second left) and the Testori team
Both Ryberg and Testori were focused on creating environmentally sustainable fabrics, which are made with recycled polyester yarns. They also explored options to optimise the fabrics at the end of their first lifecycle.
“The idea we are developing is to collect the fabrics and carry out thermo-mechanical recycling,” says Villa. “This will allow us to recycle and repurpose the fabrics for uses such as padding. We also now make all our product packaging out of renewable polyethylene from sugar beets, and we’re developing vegetable-fibre yarns that would be feasible for use with the patterns Petra has created.”
Another concept the partners have discussed could make it easier for materials to be collected for recycling. “We’ve been talking about including a QR code on the back of products,” says Ryberg. “This would provide all the information about what’s in the fabric and where it should be sent to be recycled.”
With interest from several shipowners before its launch, Villa is confident the Palazzo Collection will have an enduring appeal.
“We really trust this collection, and we know that shipowners trust Petra,” says Villa. “Her design and technical background, combined with her experience at P&O Cruises and our own work in the cruise industry, gives us the confidence that this will be a collection used by shipowners in the long term.”
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