In 1987 at the age of 27 managing director Michael Fitzsimons started the company from scratch and today Instyle has established itself as one of the leading interior textile suppliers in Australia and overseas.

The success of this internationally-renowned company with over 50 staff is due to many factors, including Fitzsimons’ passion for growing the business, his integrity and staying true to his heart. “I always believed that in business you should treat people the way you’d like to be treated yourself,” says Fitzsimons.

Design has always been a critical factor in Instyle’s success. In the early years Instyle invested in an in-house design studio to develop its own unique textiles that were manufactured by local textile mills, which Fitzsimons has always been keen to support. Today Instyle continues to build on its design resources employing an in-house team of 3 qualified textile designers and using a number of designers located in Australia, USA, UK and Hong Kong.

PHOENIX and VERONA from Contemporary Leathers

The use of local mills and resources is an integral part of Instyle’s ‘whole of company’ approach to sustainability, which began in 2002. After 2 years of research and development Instyle released LIFE Textiles®, becoming the first Australian textile collection to address the entire lifecycle.

Instyle’s approach was totally different to what other textile companies were doing, who were importing fabrics made from plastic bottle waste which still contained hazardous substances and were not recyclable. As a result, LIFE Textiles® has become Instyle’s most successful product range.

This success did not deter Instyle from lifting the benchmark even higher. Since developing LIFE Textiles, Instyle has connected directly with many wool growers and has seen further potential in reducing the impact of wool growing. Instyle wanted to assist in improving animal welfare, human health and environmental care so it began sourcing EthEco® wool from non-mulesed sheep raised on holistically-managed farms.

Wovin Wall – ISquare

Fitzsimons believes that EthEco® wool growers are the true environmentalists. “I am extremely proud of our role in working with wool growers and local textile manufacturers to deliver real and practical benefits to the environment,” he says. Consequently, Instyle has won numerous major environmental awards such as the United Nations’ World Environment Day Awards and the NSW Government Green Globe Awards.

As an innovative company, Instyle has grown and expanded its range of interior products as well as export markets to include the USA, Canada, Asia and New Zealand.

As a natural progression the company has also expanded to include additional interior finishes. In 2000 Fitzsimons and David Gourlay joined forces to establish Contemporary Leathers and in 2006 Fitzsimons established another joint venture with creative Box & Dice team, to take Wovin Wall to the world. In 2010 Instyle introduced wallcoverings into its collection.

While it has been an eventful 25 years Fitzsimons is enthusiastic about the future. “I am extremely positive about our future and want to acknowledge and thank the fantastic Instyle team and our partners who have made this possible.”

Metalessence Cork wallcoverings

Instyle
Instyle