[ABOVE: Sidney Locke, Sage Automotive Interiors’ director of strategic marketing and communication, talks about how lifestyle trends, both long-term and short-term, impact the design process.]
Whether the color of a woman’s fingernail polish blends or contrasts strikingly with her clothing – an indication of her generation – is the sort of minute detail designers at Upstate-based Sage Automotive Interiors automatically ponder.
This level of analysis goes into the process for creating the seating fabrics, door panels and headliners that Sage manufactures for automobile interiors used worldwide.
Durability could be the watchword for auto cloth design. While wear is a consideration, business manager Sidney Locke says Sage also analyzes emerging trends in products, consumers and markets ranging from less than one year to 30 years. Consumer and trend analysis combine with the need for a cloth to withstand spills and resist water along with safety, weight, sustainability and cost, he said.
As vehicles become more autonomous, the interior becomes “more of an entertainment area than a cockpit,” Locke said.
The company draws on more than 50 years in fabric production as the former Milliken & Company’s automotive body cloth division, founded in 1948, that spun off on its own in 2009. The company now has 16 manufacturing facilities in 11 countries, including plants in nearby Abbeville and Spartanburg.
The team is currently working to win business for the 2018-19 model year. Technology, the economy and major global shifts are all design influencers, said Sage design manager Julie Jacobs [right], noting that “one drives the other, but it’s also not linear.”
Just as the iPhone was transformational technology, “We want to create those revolutionary technologies that really affect how people are living in their cars,” she said. In addition to monitoring consumers and trends, Sage designers talk with auto manufacturer customers to determine commonality.
“We can experiment with some things that are not market-ready and ask our customers what they think – and if we get agreement and consensus with certain OEMs, we go back and fund that project with all we have and make it reality,” Jacobs said.
The advantage of having manufacturing facilities nearby is that plant engineers can utilize labs to make sure a fabric’s looks will hold up to use and abuse, she said. She can also request “something lighter or something softer” and the engineers can make it, she said.
Inspiration for innovation
Instead of plunging into designing a product right off, the team conducts research and can then provide data and proof of a trend, Jacobs said. “What does the consumer think and want, and what’s important in their life and how are they living?” A client’s product planners, marketing and engineering have to buy into the concept presented because the product is so highly engineered, she said. “Good design starts more like a research paper.”
When it comes to discerning what drives consumers, the team identified that adventure, leisure and fantasy are all connected via escapism, said Jacobs. Designers work in Brazil, Europe, Japan and China, and are familiar with local trends, she said. “We do regional vetting and determine global similarities.”
Inspiration for a cutting-edge product can come from anywhere, Jacobs said. “Everything doesn’t have to be reinvented, you can look to history to inform you.” She cites Nike using a 200-year old weaving technique for a new shoe upper. Current fashion is also influential, she said. “There’s nothing better than going into a Prada store.”
Stitching it all together
A wall in one area of Sage’s offices at CU-ICAR is covered with photos of American trucks (one of Sage’s large markets), that also features pictures of potential users: farmer, contractor, outdoor enthusiast and weekend recreational driver. Alongside them are photos of textures and colors that could serve as inspiration for the truck’s fabrics.
Designers also must think about a user’s entire lifestyle, Jacobs said, pointing out a “mood box” [above left] similar to a bookshelf filled with sports equipment, clothes, books and photos: inspirational items about the user of their products.
Products from other industries can also inform design: A pair of lacrosse gloves is similar to Sage’s products in that they must be functional, durable and look good, Jacobs said. “There are certain things that never go away…in automotive there will always be these currents. There’s always going to be sporty, luxury, practical. The specific subtleties of those general areas change over time.”
As Sage continues to grow, customers want to see more, she said. “They want total interior coordination. We used to just design beautiful fabrics. Now our designers must think more holistically about their design.”
Locke agreed, noting one customer requested a “European menswear look” to their product.
Putting all the pieces together is becoming increasingly important, said Jacobs, holding up a mini seat that shows how the fabric wraps around the distinctive shape and complements other parts of a vehicle’s interior.
“I’ve been doing this almost 25 years and I’m not bored,” Jacobs said. The work is sometimes like predicting the future, she said. “Then how do you take it all the way down to the yarn?”
