By David Gill
This week, the home-textiles industry will present its version of a stimulus package—in the form of the new products that will be seen during the New York Home Fashions Market Week.
While this stimulus from market week doesn’t involve billions and trillions of dollars, the industry is hoping that it could lead to a turnaround for a down market.
Traditionally, the theory has been that in a difficult economy consumers will seek out home fashions that will cheer them up. Therefore, some manufacturers of fashion bedding will be introducing looks that incorporate bold colorations and designs.
One example is Revman Industries. Among the line extensions in the company’s wide variety of designer licenses, the plenty home by Tracy Reese program (launched at last September’s market) welcomes two new ensembles, Fairy Tale and Folk Song, that offer bright colors and designs that take chances. Fairy Tale is inspired by the story of Scheherazade and the 1,001 Arabian Nights, while Folk Song recalls the almost psychedelic color palettes that were popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Folk Song offers a look that is “glamorous and innocent, feminine and bold,” said Diane Piemonte, Revman’s vice president of creative services. “This ensemble appeals to someone young at heart with the confidence to show their true colors.”
Bold colors can also be found on a new ensemble, Metropolitan, from Sferra Bros. This new bed includes aquamarine colorways combined with white, and a design that combines birds and palm fronds with embroidery and cotton piping.
Peking Handicraft is offering a group of bed ensembles around the theme Clean Boheme, according to Carol Antone, creative director. Antone described this look as “a break with the Bohemian looks of the past, which borrowed from designs from eastern India.” The new look is “a cleaner version” of the Bohemian look, with “lots of richer colors and colors that are young and fun.”
Bowing to the realities of the current market, Antone added that Peking Handicraft is offering designs at sharper price points. “We’re designing with an eye toward streamlining,” she said. “There are lots of details but more concern at offering sharper price points.”
Traditional designs will be represented at this week’s market as well. Springs Global has five new ensembles in its Court of Versailles licensed grouping that remain faithful to the brand’s long-standing orientation.
“The new offerings reflect the increasing impact of outside influences on the royal courts of France as a result of the broadening of its world view, gathered from visits by and exchanges with other world leaders, both political and cultural,” said Hermine Mariaux, president of the licensing firm that bears her name that handles the license.
Another traditional design will be on view at United Feather & Down, which has extended its licensed Eileen West collection with Belvedere Scroll, a traditional scroll look on a printed comforter and embroidered sheet. The coloration includes blue and tan, and the new ensemble includes a floral stripe embroidered on the hem of the flat sheet and pillowcases.
Among other vendors, Ashley McBride is expanding its Contemporary Design collection with Zambia, an animal print in an African motif, colored in cream tones and black. Zambia will be available in both four-piece sets (comforter, two shams and bedskirt) and seven-piece sets (comforter, two shams, bedskirt and three decorative pillows).
The introductions on view at the basic-bedding showrooms this week include the expansion of a key licensed program. Louisville Bedding, which has held the Simmons license for a number of years, has extended this program with the ComforPedic by Simmons line of pillows, mattress pads and comforters, using the same ComforPedic by Simmons next-generation memory foam that is used on that company’s mattresses. This foam, made with a patented process, reduces and relieves pressure points for less tossing and turning, according to Mandy Talbert, product development manager for Louisville Bedding.
The StayFluff trademarked collection of all-down pillows will be on display at Pacific Coast Feather’s showroom. The pillows are made with trademarked StayFluff Gathers, which create ripples of space on both sides of the pillows, making for a puffier look and added resilience.
Hollander is expanding three of its collections—Comfort Quarters, Natural Elements and Fun Basics. The new Comfort Quarters pillows, which are latex-quilted, incorporate different polyester and natural fills to provide a variety of densities with different constructions. The Natural Elements additions involve multiple thread counts, multifunctional earth-friendly bags and a new Dacron EcoPuff patented fill from Invista. The new Fun Basics pillows and cuddle rolls come with different fabrics, a variety of colors and new shapes.