One fabric brand, specified across two countries
01 — The brief
Relaunch a 40 year old brand under new owners
Unique Fabrics was founded by Carol and Laurie Fry in 1986. In 2026 it passed to the Rysenbry family, who now sell the Unique Fabrics brand on its own rather than a stable of imported labels.
That meant one catalogue serving two markets, with no showrooms: the website is now where designers in New Zealand and Australia browse the range, check specifications and request cuttings.
The brief was a site that carries the new owners' story, presents every design with the detail a specifier needs, and gets a sample or cutting request to the right person without a phone call.
Collections first Each of the 46 collections has its own page with every design and colourway in a scrolling strip, so a designer can see the whole range in one place before opening a single swatch.
By the numbers
A specification catalogue, not a brochure
Feature
Specifiers rarely browse fabric by name. They start with where it is going and how hard it will be used, so the catalogue filters the same way and every design page answers the technical questions up front.
- Usage filter from decorative domestic to heavy contract upholstery
- Colour, style and composition filters across the whole range
- Martindale rub test, lightfastness and pilling on every design
- Care codes linked from each fabric
- Cutting requests built like a cart
- Enquire about this fabric on every design page
Two markets, one catalogue
New Zealand and Australia from the same records
One set of product data, two sets of buyers.
Every design, specification and colourway is maintained once and served to both markets, so the team never updates two catalogues or two price lists.
With no showrooms, the website does the job a showroom used to: every enquiry and cutting request comes in tied to a specific fabric and colourway, from either country.
02 — The process
How we got there
- 01
Reinstating the site
The existing Oncord build was brought back online so the brand kept its search presence and its trade audience through the change of ownership.
- 02
Refocusing on one brand
The catalogue was narrowed to the Unique Fabrics collections, with the navigation, collections menu and homepage rebuilt around the brand's own range.
- 03
A new owner's story
The About page now carries both chapters: the Fry family's 1986 founding and the Rysenbry family's seven decades in textiles.
- 04
Specification and search
Every design carries its technical data, and usage, colour, style and composition filters make the range searchable by brief rather than by name.
- 05
Enquiries without a showroom
Cutting requests and fabric enquiries go straight to the Unique Fabrics team, so trade, bulk order and shipping questions from either country reach the right person without a showroom visit.
Imagery that sells the cloth Collections are presented in room settings first and swatches second, so a designer sees how a fabric reads on a sofa or a window before checking its rub test.
03 — The outcome
A heritage brand, back online and refocused
The new owners took over a 40 year old name and a working catalogue on day one.
Designers in both countries can shortlist, specify and request cuttings at any hour, and enquiries arrive already tied to a specific fabric and colourway.
The team adds new collections and news themselves, so the site keeps pace with the range as the new chapter unfolds.
Ready for a website like this?
Let's build the next one together
Design, build, content and search, handled by one Auckland team.
