Camira Fabric’s Australian arm is continuing to innovate its bus fabric technology as the global body celebrates its 200th anniversary
At Camira Fabric’s Expo display site, Australian sales and marketing manager Rodney Peterson says the growth of Camira’s products means he’ll have to book a larger space for the next Expo.
“Next time we’re going to need a bigger site,” Peterson told ABC. “We keep churning out new patterns, ranges and products – for instance, we have 200 patterns in just the one range to celebrate our 200-year anniversary.”
As the leading fabrics provider for seats in the Australian bus and coach industry, Camira is constantly evolving its range. Peterson says the company’s 200th anniversary has spurred Camira to showcase its capabilities to the local transport industry. This includes providing fabrics that meet the high level of safety required in public transport networks.
“Looking around our site, we have the standardised fabric for Transport for NSW that is their design and meets their specifications around flammability,” Peterson says. “Then we also have our print fabric, which is a new technology that involves printing onto an undyed fabric. This opens the possibilities of unlimited colour palette and design, whereas traditional weaving methods do have pattern restrictions.
“This Print technology means we now have the capability to repeat a lot of our older fabrics that we had for more than 30 years. It’s a very good option for older buses that are being restored or need to be refurbished back to their original fabric.”
Peterson says the company is still solely focused on implementing the latest textile technology to continually improve the quality of seating fabrics. This includes introducing the optional ‘Staysafe’ anti-COVID treatment fabric that actively destroys the virus, preventing the transmission of COVID-19 via seat fabric contact and eliminating the need for additional chemical disinfection treatments. Camira also has the Defender anti-stain fabric protection.
“Included in our continual evolution of our technology is prioritising safety,” Peterson says. “We do this especially in New South Wales, where the state has a higher flammability protection rating for seats.
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“The fabric that meets the rating is a high wool moquette that charrs and doesn’t readily burn, which then decreases the effects of smoke and toxicity.”
Peterson says Camira is also displaying various ranges to provide a top-to-bottom assortment of fabrics required for buses and coaches. This ranges from curtains and leather to vinyl and exciting flat woven fabrics.
The Expo is the first major event Camira has been able to physically attend since COVID-19 hit Australia. Peterson says the event provides a valuable opportunity for Camira to build momentum and capitalise on current industry developments.
“There’s so much new technology around, especially in the non-emission sector, giving us new industry partners to talk to and discuss this new industry chapter with,” Peterson says. “Even though we’re 200 years old, we’re reminding customers that we still meet design and capability needs.”
While the brand will finish celebrating its anniversary by the end of 2022, Peterson says Camira Australia will use the milestone to show the importance of the company to the local market.
“Our continued support over time shows in that we’re pretty much the only fabric supplier showing at the Expo,” Peterson says. “This underlines our dedication to the bus industry and our support for it. We’re committed to the industry and will continue to do so, well into the future.”