Chinese new year promises a new “fleece” of life.
It’s the year of the sheep – and to mark the occasion, Huddersfield textile manufacturer Camira linked up with the Campaign for Wool and London- based Chinese dim sum teahouse Yauatcha.
The restaurant interior was given a makeover using specially-selected Camira wool upholstery to tansform it into an unusual sheep-themed art gallery.
In keeping with Chinese tradition, where eight is a lucky number and the colour red symbolises good fortune, Camira re-upholstered eight dining chairs and decorated the restaurant pillars using a lavish red wool felt fabric.
The finishing touches were provided by cushions and upholstered bar stools and felted wool cut-out sheep for the uniforms of waiting staff.
Camira marketing director Ian Burn said: “We’ve supported the Campaign for Wool since its launch on Savile Row nearly five years ago, so the latest collaboration is a perfect fit to do something fun, promote wool and showcase the gorgeous interior of the Yauatcha restaurant.
“We’re great advocates of using natural fibres and are leading the industry in blending wool with fibres such as nettles, flax and hemp.”
Camira has its head office in Mirfield, spinning in Birkby and weaving in Meltham. It designs and makes about 8m metres of upholstery fabric a year which is sold in 80 countries for use in offices, hotels, government buildings, hospitals and clinics as well as theatres.
The company was founded in 1974 as Camborne Fabrics and was acquired by US flooring company Interface Inc in 1997 before Camira was born out of a management buy-out in 2006. It employs about 650 staff and has turnover of about £65m.
Camira has gained Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in Innovation and Sustainable Development.
