35 Years of Textiles

Founded in 1987 SMD is a family owned company, based just over the border from Prodoto in Lancashire; the heart of the cotton textile industry since the Industrial Revolution.

Created by Salvador Monllor Domenech, hence SMD, the company is now owned by husband and wife team Jason and Heidi Kenworthy, following Salvador's return to his native Spain in 1999.

The ILIV brand was launched in 2013 and immediately became the UK's fastest growing premium interior fabric brand, producing ranges of textiles for residential and commercial sectors.

Prodoto have been proud to supply ILIV imagery from the very beginning. With residential collection launches every 6 months and contract fabrics refreshed on a 12 week cycle, the teams at SMD, and therefore Prodoto, are kept on their toes!

Design Influence

Global influences and historical movements inspire the ILIV design team, who create collections combining woven jacquards, woollens, velvets, voiles and printed cottons, making a rich tapestry of fabrics for their customers to choose from.

The four Spring/Summer 2022 Collections were Geometrica, influenced by the bold patterns of the Bauhaus movement. Water Meadow with delicate hand-painted floral landscapes; Enchanted Garden, a riot of maximalist botanical gardens, and Portland with its classical woven stripes and New England charm.

The Brief

The team at SMD create a specific and detailed brief for each colourway, in each collection. This means that the Prodoto set build and stylist teams only need to work on the technical design for each set.

Providing accurate dimensions for windows and features is vital so that SMD's team of makers can start producing the bespoke curtains, blinds, cushions and upholstery needed in time for the shoot.

For each of the 4 collections a set of images was required that would work across many channels. The ILIV website, their social media channels and lookbooks, as well as cover images for the physical swatch books all mean that the images need to be versatile.

We were also asked to create a video for one colourway of each collection as an additional marketing asset.

"When creating the set build drawings for SMD it is important we take into consideration not just the visual look of the set, but also the requirements of the photography team. We need to ensure both stills and video can be successfully shot in the space."

Lee Copping, Set Build Manager

Teamwork

With 6 or 7 sets built in the studio at any point throughout the shoot, the pressure is on the Set Build team to keep up with photography. Sets need to be dropped as soon as they have been shot to make way for the next in the running order, it really is a case of one in, one out.

Meanwhile the team are also on hand to help swap flooring, put up curtain poles, light fittings and anything else needed by our stylists, to keep the shoot running smoothly.

Photography work closely with the original briefs to ensure the mood on set matches the requirements, and lighting is natural so that the end result has the realistic feel SMD are looking for.

The final step in the journey is for Post Production to give the images a little polish, colour match fabrics to the physical samples and drop in appropriate window views. Only then is the magic complete.

"Having worked with Prodoto many times in the past, we knew we were in safe hands when shooting our Spring/Summer '22 collections. The service was excellent, they were totally in control and with their creative, experienced stylists and organised designated account manager, it really does help take any stress away. Last minute tweaks were dealt with efficiently and no requests were too much trouble. All shots were completed to a high standard, thank you for the professional and friendly service."

Laura Taylor, SMD Marketing Assistant

And that's a wrap!

Below are a selection of the final images from this brilliant shoot, but the full collection can be seen now on the ILIV website along with all their other beautiful ranges.