Cameron Warwick, Partner Warwick in conversation with Ar. Kritika Juneja, Editor ArchValor
- To begin with, please tell us about your early brush with Warwick Fabrics? How has your journey been so far?
My journey with Warwick has been great. I started there when I was in my early 20s, I moved to advertising and marketing after finishing university. In my first role, I helped coordinate the development of Warwick in the UK when I was just 23 years old. For me, living in the UK for nine years was a great experience because that gave me the chance to cut my teeth and learn more about the industry in a very traditional textile region.
In my early 30s, I moved back to Australia from the UK. At that time, Warwick Australia operated on a two-dimensional model. The business was solely focused on selling fabrics to the upholstery and furniture manufacturing industries. My belief was to develop new sectors. First, we developed drapery, then we moved into the commercial and contract sector and developed that. Once that was working successfully, we focused on export categories. So, I suppose what I’ve contributed to over the years is more about bringing different dimensions to the business, which has in turn made it more sustainable and broader, and also strengthened its market position.
- I imagine taking the family business to a global level must have been quite challenging. What strategy did you adopt to achieve this goal?
To start with, I had no set strategy. I was simply getting out and building relationships in your markets. By attending the national trade shows and building relationships, we have been able to expand the export business. And these have been a wonderful opportunity for us to build connections all across the globe.
So, I leveraged those relationships and focused on exports out of Australia. Our UK business always had a strong export focus. My first focus was South-east Asia.
We then investigated markets such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. In recent years, we developed a relationship with Maldives and started committing work to India. It’s just evolved over time, really. Now we have fully designated showrooms in Dubai, Delhi, Shanghai, and distributors that work for us in smaller markets.
Our showrooms look and feel exactly like those you’d find in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, London, or Dubai. So we really want the experience to be consistent.
Cam Warwick
- A deeper look into the manufacturing process of Warwick fabrics would be of interest to me. Could you take me through that?
We don’t have our own manufacturing processes. We subcontract mills and we have supply lines across three main supply regions. We buy a lot of goods from Turkey, India and China. Most of our commercial fabrics come from China because they are high performance and well priced. Our natural fibre blends and products are mostly sourced from India.
- How do you maintain design and quality across all the Warwick country branches while ensuring efficiency?
Our Melbourne office has a full-fledged design studio with seven designers working for us full-time. Additionally, we have two other brands dealing in natural fibres, cushions and rugs etc.
- Can you tell us something about the design of this experience centre? Whether you hired a specific architect for the project or took it on in-house.
This was an in-house effort. It’s basically a showroom concept that we use throughout all of our showrooms.As with our showrooms in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, London, and Dubai, there is no difference in the look or feel. We want the experience to be consistent. Moreover, the design is minimalist, clean emphasising the fabric. It puts the focus directly there.
- Could you tell us more about Warwick’s outdoor fabrics? How is it made to withstand the extreme temperatures, dust, and heat outdoors?
Well, I think if you could ever be confident with an outdoor fabric, it would probably come from an Australian distributor, right? Australian weather conditions aren’t as fierce as those here in India, but they are comparable.
In Australia, we face high UV levels because the ozone hole laps over southern parts of the country. As a result, the UV levels in Australia are vastly different from those in India or the Mediterranean.In response to your question, we manufacture outdoor products using very high performance yarn. The fabrics are also treated with anti-mold and mildew finishes. This ensures that they will not get mold in humid climates.
