Kravet studio tour // Blogfest 2013 part 5

Aerin Lauder introducing her new collection of fabrics for Kravet.

On our last day of Blogfest 2013, we had the opportunity to visit the design studios of Kravet, Lee Jofa, and Brunschwig and Fils, which are all under the same roof in New York’s Flatiron district. One of our stops on the tour was a visit with the inherently stylish Aerin Lauder – granddaughter of Estee Lauder – who showed us her new collection of fabrics designed for Lee Jofa. Aerin is known for her lifestyle brand that includes beauty, fashion accessories, and home decor, all infused with her signature, effortless style.

“Estee was an incredible role model. She taught me the importance of passion, style, hard work, family and, of course, all things beautiful. Her dream to make women feel beautiful and special still lives on today. My vision is to create a beauty and lifestyle brand shaped for my generation and those to follow.” – Aerin Lauder

Aerin’s fabrics are a combination of stately traditional and modern playful, with an elegant look, sumptuous feel, and tell-tale gold thread running through most. I think they would be perfect for an historical estate make-over project that I am working on ... will keep you posted ...

Gold threads add a hint of Lauder glimmer to Aerin’s collection.

There are numerous interior design stars that have textile collections with the Kravet brand. Thom Filicia, Candice Olson, Alexa Hampton, Ralph Lauren, Barbara Barry, Barclay Butera, and many more. Why does a well established fabric house partner with interior designers? The answer is simple. When you think of these designers, each has a specific point of view and that is what you will find in their collections, which makes it easier for other designers and home owners to make decisions based on what they know they like.

Thom Filica for Kravet

Ralph Lauren imagery, mood boards, and fabrics

Coming soon to the Kravet label is Canadian designer and HGTV star Sarah Richardson. Look for her softly-colored fabric collections this fall.

Kravet offers classic furniture pieces that may be customized with their fabrics. I loved this work-in-progress pinboard featuring floor plan selections for a contract interior. 

current fabric trends and colorways

The history of fabric design as an artform goes back for centuries. David Toback, Director of Design at Brunschwig and Fils, shared with us the story of a particular archive-quality pattern that had been reinterpreted over the years in many different ways. A pattern may be translated on linen, cotton, silk, wallpaper ... with each differing slightly in appearance, but telling a similar story. If you love a particular pattern, it’s very possible to find just the right application of it to suit your needs.

from the archives to fabrics to wallpaper

The carpet studio at Lee Jofa was very interesting. The possibilities are seemingly endless on ways to customize a carpet, from color choices to scale of pattern to combination of materials from silk to wool to blends. The designers who work the pattern magic had me fascinated with their stylus, tablet and super size Macs. I could see myself doing this kind of work ...

pattern check on a large ink jet printer

Behind all the pattern making, there are traditional artists who actually hand paint some of the images that get translated onto fabrics and wall coverings. Such amazing talent!

The contract work that Kravet handles ranges from edgy rocker hotel suites to gracious table linens for the First Lady and so much more. If you have visited Disney World lately, chances are you have seen their work. Look at any pattern in a Disney resort and you will see a Mickey Mouse logo embedded in the design thanks to the art directors at Kravet.

a table linen fabric designed for a White House event

More highlights from the studio tour:

On the board at Lee Jofa: Fornasetti fish wallpaper

seen at Kips Bay Showhouse (shown here in blue)

Trims and window hardware: Kravet has it all.

bloggers recording the latest trims offered from Kravet

current trends in window fashions

The last stop on our very informative Blogfest 2013 Kravet studio tour was a glimpse at their couture line which is actually manufactured right here in Massachusetts. These fabrics are their most exclusive collections, influenced by the world of haute couture fashion, translating luxe runway looks into home decor ready materials. They were fabulous!

Thank you, Kravet and Blogfest 2013 organizers for showing us such a wonderful time in New York this spring and for providing a veritable month’s worth of blogging content! I will follow up later with a post on trends that I saw at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. For now, here is a sneak peek of a recently completed client project of mine that included a gorgeous Kravet silk fabric used for the floor to ceiling window treatments. I was really happy with how they came out. 

Stay tuned for additional pictures of this living room and adjoining dining room redesign ... I plan to show more photos of my work as soon as I finish up my spaces at the York Decorator Show House which opens on July 13th. This summer show house nestled in a picturesque cove located in Kittery, Maine, is definitely worth fitting into your travel plans. Watching the other designers transform their spaces over the last couple of months, while I have been working on my own, has been such a fun experience. If you love on-trend design, beautiful textiles, and ocean-inspired color palettes, then you will not be disappointed! Let me know if you plan to attend – I’d love to see you on a day that I am there. Click here for tickets and show schedule.

Cyber Shopping Shout-Out

Ame and Lulu is one of my go-to favorites for functional pieces that are perfectly on trend. They always have what I am looking for whether I am styling a room or looking for a special gift that stands out from the crowd. Do your cyber shopping with them today and get 30% OFF your entire order!

Hurry, cyber sale ends at midnight!

Rugs as art + Saturday yard sale

A carpet covered trunk from Landry & Acari


During the North Shore Design Show held at the Wenham Museum in May, I was able to sit in on a number of design lectures that were scheduled over the course of the week. While in attendance, I took lots of notes (along with many snapshots) knowing that I would share what I learned with my blog readers at a later date. Today I will discuss some
really large works of art ...

A loom was brought into the museum to
demonstrate the art of carpet weaving.

Jerry Acari holds a Chinese Art Deco carpet designed
with what looks like a Guardian Lion or Foo dog.

Many varieties of rugs were displayed from Landry & Acari’s oriental rug gallery. Jerry Acari, who has been in the rug business for over 40 years, is a noted expert on oriental rugs and often lectures on the who, what, when, where and how behind these functional works of art. Each piece is representative of quite likely a year or two of concentrated human effort, in which teams of weavers combine their heart, soul and spirit to create their textile masterpieces. It really is amazing how much cultural information can be found in each of these carpets, especially if you know what to look for ...

I like how this Sardis carpet from India and the
old-fashioned jar of marbles on a sill in the
lecture room shared the same colorways.

Persian Sarouk,
circa 1915

In general, carpets that are produced by hand are often more visually interesting than those produced to the exact standards and measurements of a machine. Sometimes there will be a change in thread color (the weaver ran out of the original choice), or different types of wool may be used depending on market availability at the time, and some carpet ends may even stop short pattern-wise because the rug makers were ready to call it a day! Modern carpet makers, like Karastan, often try to emulate these unplanned –
yet distinctive – pattern variations.


This Art Deco carpet from Turkey
dates back to around 1925

In the photo above, the rug in the center, with its symmetrical and curvilinear pattern, is called a “city” rug. City rugs are created in heavily populated areas that are exposed to the influence of a
variety of world markets.

A “tribal” rug is often asymmetrical in pattern, with a wool foundation, done in a wide variety of colors. This type of carpet, like the Karabagh from Azerbejan above, is more representative of family or tribal influences over outside markets.

This wool and silk Suzani tapestry was created by a tribe in Turkmenistan and features fine needlework and brilliant colors. Bold geometric patterns like this are a popular trend in design right now.

A bridal spread (used for a newly married couples bed) is created by village women combining pieces cut from their embroidered shawls, stitching them
together with golden threads.

Rugs often have different looks from one end to the other. On the one above, you can see how the color of the flowers in the center rectangle are lighter at the bottom, with more pinks and whites, while the top has more navy and scarlet blossoms. When you lay a carpet in your space, walk around it and take a good look from each angle before deciding upon final placement. The effect of light and dark can be dramatically different! Inquire about taking a carpet home to see how it looks in your home before purchasing ... it is the best way to know for sure if a rug will work with your design plan.

An interesting story: Synthetic red dye was often applied by hand and paint brush to the tips of each carpet strand of a multitude of imported rust colored Sarouk rugs over a period of twenty years that were originally ordered to be an oriental red (the rose colored strands unexpectedly changed to rust as a result of alkaline in the finishing process). Then in the 1990’s, these same rugs were often stripped back to their original rust colorings by a company that is still based in Poughkeepsie, NY. Trends come and go, but it seems a well-made oriental will last forever!

This carpet was custom-designed by Landry & Acari to coordinate with the colors and design of an oriental pattern. This is a good way to add a
modern look to a traditionally-styled room.

Today’s technology of communicating via the internet has considerably decreased the production time of carpets made over seas, not to mention it is easier to achieve the desired end result when images can be sent back and forth with the click of a mouse! It is not unusual to see a tent on-site with a computer set up so that the rug foreman can relay design and pattern information to the talented team of weavers. If you were to order a custom rug today, you are likely to receive it in 4 to 5 months instead of having to wait years for your work of art to arrive.
Think of the design possibilities!


To read more about Landry & Acari and their
commitment to their community, click here.




For information about the Good Weave campaign that works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and the companies that support the mission of
the Good Weave program, click here.

To donate to Barakatworld, an organization working in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Boston to support the education of children and women of carpet-weaving communities by building schools and providing free education, visit Barakatworld.org

And don’t forget, carpets
aren’t just for floors!

Kilim Footstool from Landry & Acari

For ten tips on choosing
the right carpet, click here.

If you are local and in the market for a new rug, head over to the one-day yard sale that Landry & Acari is participating in at the Beverly Depot parking lot (Saturday, June 19th only). Maybe you will find the perfect combination of pattern and color that you have been looking for? You will surely find some beautiful carpets worth a closer look. Also at the sale: Circle Furniture, Designer Bath, and Moynihan Lumber. I just might have to head over myself since our kitchen and bath are still gutted without anything to put in them! Click here for photos from last years sale.
Happy hunting!