New Work: Fortuny

Following the launch of the Fortuny Collezione 2010, the latest collection of fabrics from the high-end Italian textile manufacturer, Luke Hayman and his team designed a printed catalog and… an iPhone application. The app is a striking contrast, a place where hand-crafted tradition and modern convenience merge; where a touch screen interface navigates the catalogue of a company with a rich legacy spanning more than a century. This fusion is particularly fitting for Fortuny, whose company founder, Mariano Fortuny, “Magician of Venice,” was an inventor always interested in employing new technology. Were he alive today, Fortuny would no doubt be delighted to see his fabrics scroll across the screen of an iPhone.

Created foremost as an aid for interior designers, the app allows the user to browse the Fortuny collection, select a textile design and choose a specific colorway, and then zoom in for exquisite detail. Fortuny swatches can now be viewed and compared within an interior, right from the iPhone. With just a couple of clicks, product specifications and a detailed description of each textile can be retrieved. Three buttons across the bottom of the screen provide useful shortcuts including a button to return to the Fortuny collection; a tool to add selected textiles to a folder called “My Swatches” for easy organization; and an interface to instantly order fabric cuttings. The Fortuny app is a compelling new resource for the design community.

Download the Fortuny app for free here.

Project Team: Luke Hayman, partner-in-charge and designer; Shigeto Akiyama, designer; Steven Baughman, iPhone app developer.