Rare Earth Collection
Rare Earth Collection
May 2021
Rare Earth is a collection of four upholstery and multipurpose textiles by Suzanne Tick that celebrate nature’s color and texture. Using recycled, renewable, local and biodegradable fiber technology, Rare Earth displays a new way forward with a lighter footprint.
As we recalibrate to new ways of working, living and communicating, we observe the importance of nature in our everyday lives. Moreover, we reflect on the physical impact humans have made on the environment from overconsumption, and the physical impact the changing environment has on us in return in the form of climate change.
In the collection, we explore shapes that mirror migration maps, agricultural outlines and geological boundaries stemming from human activity. Bright synthetics and natural hues work together, embodying the balance of nature and technology working together. Textures resemble patina, symbolizing movement and the passage of time. Bold colors derived from nature sparkle like raw minerals in the sunshine and soft hues glow like the moon.
Mitered
Inspired by the linear shapes of modern agriculture and the bright colors of algae and sediment from San Francisco’s salt flats, Mitered’s multi-color motifs recall classic wools with a contemporary twist. Using bright and rich color combinations, Mitered’s materiality shifts our perspective toward sustainable and local materials through the use of two unique yarns. Each melange wool yarn contains up to six colors of North American wool, while upcycled cotton from the textile industry is combined with polyester for added performance. Mitered’s handcrafted sensibility emulates the analog and counteracts the digital, providing a large scale pattern that is suitable for collaborative, breakout lounges and task seating.
Ecotone
Though Ecotone’s classic twill structure references traditional wools with its deep colors and matte appearance, its recycled, biodegradable polyester fiber technology and brilliant color range makes it strikingly contemporary. Joining Grid State, Ecotone is the second recycled, biodegradable polyester textile in the Luum line, providing more design solutions with its bleach-cleanable and multipurpose-use properties. Ecotone’s delustered, solution dyed fibers give its surface a wool-like quality while its color range—dually influenced by nature’s palette and the synthetic brights seen in active wear—demonstrates a range of options for use on screens, panels, wrapped walls and upholstery alike.
Photogram
Beneath a rich boucle yarn, Photogram reveals a highly textural surface with an underlying large-scale motif. Inspired by patterns of scattered human movement, Photogram’s design changed hands within Tick Studio—from initial concept to pattern development, to color selection—in a collaboration that embodies a sense of overlapping and emerging gestures. Photogram’s three-color construction provides a tactile and chromatic experience with the benefits of performance using its recycled and bleach cleanable yarns.
Haptic
Haptic’s granular surface is inspired by natural tones and earthen mineral textures. Material and color intertwine in a deceptively simple and balanced structure, creating a multi-color texture with an enhanced visual effect. Combining brights and neutrals, as well as analogous color shifts to create depth, mineral hues such as ochre, quartz and emerald work with complex neutrals and cozy, wool whites. Haptic complements large scale patterns, bringing in a natural material sensibility using boucle yarns with bleach-cleanable performance.