COOMERA, QUEENSLAND – Every Riviera and Belize in our current collections features comfortable and sophisticated exterior lounges to enhance the alfresco motor yacht experience.
The fabrics we utilise are expected to withstand the extreme marine environment over many years as well as being easy to maintain.
Riviera has recently chosen a range of Sunbrella fabrics for all exterior soft furnishings and is also using selected fabrics for interior furnishings, including lounges, bed covers and scatter cushions in our exciting new 395 SUV that had her World Premiere at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.
Riviera Decor and Interiors Consultant Sarah Mathias said the company has selected Sunbrella because of its performance in the marine environment as well as the wide range of colours and designs on offer to our owners.
Riviera’s Sunbrella range was on display throughout the recent Festival of Boating.
Sunbrella’s Executive Design Director, Greg Voorhis, said the key to Sunbrella performance is that the robust fabrics are made with pigmented fibres, not dyed.
“The standard for colouring fabric is dye which leaves the colour only on the surface of the fibre,” he said. “That is why you should never use bleach on dyed fabrics. The bleach neutralises the colour. The Sunbrella yarn, and therefore our fabrics, will not be damaged because the fibres are saturated with highly UV-stable pigments.
“An analogy is a carrot and a radish. Cut thought a carrot and it displays its orange colour right through – pigment. Cut a radish and we see that the colour is only skin deep; equivalent to a dyed fibre.”
Pigmented fibres come together to create Sunbrella fabrics.
“We begin with liquid pigment. The pigment is extruded into the fibre at the very beginning of the manufacturing process. When you walk through our plants, you will see bales of coloured yarn ready to go into production, not white yarn that will need to be dyed.”
Greg explained that, as a result, Sunbrella fabrics will withstand almost any on-board mishap.
“Spill food or even red wine on our fabrics and the mess can usually be cleaned up with a simple wipe. A serious stain can be cleared with chemicals, including bleach! Even mould or mildew wipes away easily.”
Sunbrella fabrics withstand on-board accidents with ease.
Sunbrella, a brand of parent company Glen Raven founded in 1881, began in 1961 with the challenge of creating an awning canvas with a substantially longer lifespan than cotton, a fabric that could last season after season in the weather without fading.
“It was so durable, in fact, that the product was presented to the market with a world-first five-year warranty,” said Greg.
The US flag planted on the Moon by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 was made by Glen Raven.
Today Sunbrella is widely adopted for shade structures, marine canvas and upholstery fabric for both outdoor and indoor applications.
From basic canvas fabrics to designer upholstery fabrics like intricate jacquards, Sunbrella has thousands of quality upholstery fabrics to choose.
Sunbrella International Marketing Manager, Alice Ballenger said: “These fabrics stand up to life on the water with a luxuriously soft touch that’s fade-resistant and easy to clean even the toughest stains on the water like mould, mildew and salt residue. Sunbrella upholstery fabrics are ideal for many boat upholstery applications, from berth covers to decorative pillows.”
Riviera’s Sarah Mathias said: “We currently have 18 Sunbrella exterior upholstery options in our standard range. We are introducing five new complete soft furnishing collections, each made up of between five and seven Sunbrella fabrics.
“This allows us to introduce the beautiful patterned and striped Sunbrella fabrics.”
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