Allen Swers, a leader in the casualfurniture industry who played a major role in the development of the Sunbrella®brand more than 30 years ago, died in January, at the age of 93. Swers was credited with more than two decades of innovation at Glen Raven Custom Fabrics.

Allen E. Gant Jr., chair and CEO of Glen Raven Inc., has commented online on the loss. “Allen was pivotal in the history of Glen Raven and the progress of an entire market segment,” he says. “It was his vision that led Glen Raven to create the Sunbrella furniture fabric business, which became one of our most important markets and helped transform the entire casual furniture category.”

Swers loved to tell the story of how he and his wife, Renee, designed stripes to correlate with Glen Raven solids at the 1983 Casual Market. At the market, he and his son, Arthur, dressed in suits made from Sunbrella—yet the fabric was smeared with condiments (to show how easily it could be cleaned). He also placed fabric in a jar of Clorox bleach to prove that it would not fade. Swers retired in May 2004, at the age of 82, but was honored in 2006 with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Casual Furniture Retailers Association and the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association.