Camira has a storied history when it comes to seat fabric manufacturing. During its 200-year anniversary, Camira is determined to remain at the cutting edge of fabric technology.
For Camira’s 200-year anniversary, it focused on the latest evolution of its products. The fabric manufacturer could’ve been forgiven for reflecting on its storied past that began in northern England under the name of John Holdsworth & Co. Instead, Camira is continuing to prove why it is a global force in textiles for public transport networks.
In this year alone, Camira is releasing many developments and improvements that keep with both the company’s heritage and the modern age.
Camira Australia area business manager Rodney Peterson says the Aura range is one such improvement that showcases the timeless quality of Camira’s fabrics.
“The Aura wool moquette has been expanded to a selection of 200 patterns, in commemoration of wool-rich moquette as the core of Camira’s 200-year celebration,” Peterson told ABC.
“The fabric blends the rich heritage of Camira’s transport journey with the modern and geometric-inspired patterns in the collection that is suited to the new era of hybrid and zero-emission buses.”
Customers can now use Camira’s new 3D configurator to choose fabric, including options for fabric type and additional trim. The new-age configurator includes the incredible augmented reality function that, when used with a mobile phone, overlays the 3D seat to the screen, giving a lifelike view of how the seat and fabric combinations look in a bus or coach.
Keeping with global current events, Camira is also promoting its anti-COVID-19 StaySafe range and its anti-stain and anti-bacteria Defender product.
StaySafe is an advanced textile treatments that reduces the potential for viral transmission in bus and coach interiors. The treatment contains silver ions that attract virus particles and bind to them, immobilising and deactivating the virus. This technology then targets the outer coat of the virus, destroying the membrane and keeping the textile surface hygienic.
“When applied to a fabric, this textile technology destroys viruses and kills bacteria,” Peterson says.
“This ensures upholstery doesn’t act as a potential source of transmission.
“StaySafe means less time and associated costs spent on disinfecting seat materials, resulting in lower usages of harsh chemicals so that Staysafe can create a continuously effective anti-COVID-19 protection compared to daily or weekly disinfecting.”
An example of Camira’s recent high-tech breakthroughs is Camira’s in-house capability to print on moquette. Peterson says Camira has spent years researching and developing the optimal print capability. He says the final product in Camira Print realises the untapped potential of transport textiles.
“It’s flexible, fast and free from the design restrictions of traditional weaving,” Peterson says.
“This means the benefits are tangible and the possibilities are limitless. These centuries of experience provide a wealth of knowledge and capability when it comes to producing fabrics that are fit for purpose, durable, safe and trendsetting. It’s what makes us the natural choice for fabric and textiles solutions globally.”
Camira’s story started in 1822, when cloth manufacturer John Holdsworth founded a worsted spinning mill called Holdsworth in Halifax in the north of England. Two-hundred years later, the head office and core manufacturing facility remain in Yorkshire, close to where Holdsworth first began, but extends far wider.
Nowadays, Camira’s reach continues to be global. In addition to the various mills and processing plants in Yorkshire, it has a manufacturing plant in Lithuania and warehouse and distribution facilities in the US, China and Australia, alongside distributors in New Zealand (Reid & Twiname), the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific.
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Through this time, Camira has invested in being vertically integrated to now do it all. From spinning and dyeing yarns to weaving and finishing them, Camira has forged a reputation as one of the world’s best textile manufacturers for public transport networks.
Peterson says a key part of Camira’s enduring success is its ability to produce safe and durable fabrics.
“We predominately use wool, which has inherent attributes of low flame, smoke and toxicity,” Peterson says.
“In Australia, we’re seeing increased safety ratings in the bus and coach industry when it comes to flame, smoke and toxicity, which is more in alignment with those of the rail sector.
“Camira is playing its part in continually developing and improving on a variety of fire-retardant processes to further enhance seating fabric
fire safety ratings.”
With all of this going on, Peterson says the 200-year anniversary will be a whirlwind for the company. He says the manufacturer will use the milestone to expand its reputation as a trusted and innovative fabric provider for buses and coaches and the broader public transport industry.
“Camira will continue giving local and personalised service, as well as ongoing support, to our customers,” Peterson says.
“Our customers in Australia include levels involved in the public transport industry, from government departments to industrial designers, bus and coach seat builders, fleet operators and the single bus operators.”
Peterson says the fabric company is intent on remaining young at heart by continually providing new innovations in fabric, treatments, and textures. At this year’s Australasian Bus & Coach Expo, Camira is looking forward to showing its blend of experience and youth to the industry.
“This is what makes us the natural choice for fabric and textiles solutions globally,” Peterson says.
“We can’t wait to show this off to the industry at the Expo.”