DWR Q&A: Sandy Chilewich.

During the month of August DWR is celebrating women in design.  Sandy Chilewich is one of our favorites. Her company, Chilewich, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.  Sandy recently chatted with me about her brand, her new designs and the female designers she most admires.

We’ve launched your new woodgrain lines and they’re really beautiful.  How did they come about and what is different about this manufacturing process?
Woodgrain was more of an experiment to see how far we could push the envelope weaving with unique and challenging vinyl yarns. I wanted to see if we could create the shading and dimension of a woodgrain with a simple jacquard.

Are there other natural patterns that you’d like to replicate using manmade materials?
Yes, the success of the woodgrain from both a design perspective and from the great response we have had, has led to much experimentation. Not just wood, but it’s a secret.

When we met you spoke about a few collaborations you’re currently involved in. Can you share with our readers these stories?
I am working with Luisa Cevese, an Italian designer, who is known for her proprietary process of encasing textile remnants in polyurethane. It is absolutely gorgeous. She is now incorporating some of our “waste,” the selvage (the irregular edges that are cut off) from our spun vinyl products. Her process, which requires heat, melts our material in different degrees and it looks very different than the other materials she has used. She will be making table mats and bags. I am also intrigued with introducing wire into our products and have been working with a British designer who is an expert in weaving with metal. This is already very challenging but still promising.


Design Within Reach is celebrating women designers in the month of August and you’re definitely one of our favorites.  What women designers have inspired you in the past?
My all time favorite female designer is Lucienne Day, who I imagine will forever continue to inspire me. She just has it all —  such a tremendous graphic range and not a “one note” designer who’s imagery or some version of it is repeated over and over. She was constantly exploring, but her work is unified by a consistent personal aesthetic.

Design Within Reach customers may only be familiar with our floor coverings, but Chilewich also makes an extensive collection of bags and table top items.  What products came first and are there new categories you intend to launch?
In 1997 when I launched the Raybowls™ they were my first foray into the home accessories market and, happily, they met with success. They had a simple and inventive mechanism for making fabric concave, with covers made from stretch netting usually found in lingerie. In a quest to source other suitable fabrics to incorporate into the Raybowl, I discovered woven vinyl. It didn’t work for the bowls, but where others saw an industrial material, I saw placemats, flooring, bags and more. The durability of the yarn, its tremendous design versatility and the fact that it is washable continues to inspire me.

Your products are all made in the United States. Do you do this intentionally?
It is great to be manufacturing in the States for many reasons. Most important is the ability to hop on a plane to do some R&D or solve a problem at the mills. Working on my home turf and speaking the same language (however I am not sure if our southern suppliers would say we speak the same language) just makes the design process, sampling, lead times, etc., easier. It is also very gratifying that I am supporting American production.

Chilewich’s color palette is very sophisticated. Have you or will you ever experiment with floor coverings or table tops in brighter colors?
I don’t know why people assume that bright colors are less sophisticated. It’s the particular tone which is decided upon from an infinite number of possibilities as well as the relationship to the other colors surrounding it. That determines sophistication. It’s true that I have focused on grays and browns in the past but this fall you will see indigo and next spring lemon and coral. I think they are thoughtful colors, which is for me what makes things sophisticated. It takes hours and hours of work to attain a color and palette that satisfies one’s imagination.

You’ve designed jewelry, launched a hosiery brand and now Chilewich.  Any plans to venture into uncharted professional/design territories?
We are launching window treatments with the Shade Store shortly. This is our first licensing arrangement. I will be introducing napkins next season - my first venture with natural fibers, which is funny. There is much on the horizon that I am contemplating, but it takes a lot just to keep up with the growth of the business that I am in now.

Sunday in the park with Robert Royston.

When my wife and I bought our Eichler home six years ago, we never knew it would lead us to a game of petanque at the home of the world-renowned landscape architect Robert Royston. This past Sunday it all came to be. After discovering the original plans for our garden in our kitchen cabinets, my wife Iris tracked them down to the offices of Royston, Hanamoto, Alley and Abey. Robert Royston, along with Thomas Church and Garrett Eckbo, was one of the most influential landscape architects in America during the ’50s and ’60s (see the September 2007 issue of Dwell magazine for more on these legends). As it turns out, RHAA is still a functioning landscape architecture and urban planning firm with headquarters in Mill Valley, California, and, along with senior partner J.C. Miller, we have been working with them to restore our garden back to its original glory. During this time we’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Robert Royston on a number of occasions, who is still practicing landscape design at the young age of 80+ years. Still full of life and sharp as a tack, he plays a mean game of petanque and certainly gave our team a run for it’s money.

Learn more about Robert Royston in the recently released book, Modern Public Gardens: Robert Royston and the Suburban Park.

Posted by Micheal Sainato, DWR Art Director.

Celebrating the acrylic maestro.

Charles Hollis Jones’ revolutionary use of acrylic has brought him to the attention of some of the 20th century’s most important architects and designers – including Paul Laszlo, John Lautner, Arthur Elrod, Hal Broderick, Stephen Chase and John Woolf. His list of clients includes a host of Hollywood celebrities: Lucille Ball, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sly Stallone, Tom Ford and countless others. The Los Angeles Times refers to Hollis Jones’ as a “pioneer in acrylic design”. On July 19th, the Beverly Boulevard Studio hosted a one-night retrospective of CHJ’s work. Two hundred of Charles’ die-hard fans were in effect. The admiration for this man and his work is undeniable. A few of the items on display included Charles’ Twisted Four Poster Acrylic Bed (designed for Dean Martin), the Wisteria Chair (named by Tennessee Williams)  and the well known Sling Chair. People lined up to have Charles sign his recently published book, Charles Hollis Jones, and his “100 Chairs” poster. The evening ended with the crowd singing Happy Birthday to Mr. Jones and everyone noshing on cake from Sweet Lady Jane.

Numerous pieces of Hollis Jones’ designs will be available this October through the Wright Auction House.

Posted by Susie Cordes,Proprietor-DWR Beverly Blvd.

Eero Saarinen revealed.

Heading on the road this fall is the first-ever international retrospective of the work of Eero Saarinen. Given Saarinen’s legendary status, it’s hard to believe that there’s never been a survey of his career, but this one promises to be worth the wait. Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future was organized by institutions both here and in Finland and includes a six-stop tour of the U.S., as well as an exhibition book by the same name and a documentary film. Learn all about it, including the tour stops, here.

Linda and Marge in Paris.

Glenda Bailey’s Harper’s Bazaar, in my opinion the best fashion magazine in America, isn’t afraid to take itself less than seriously. This is precisely why the easy-to-read and unstuffy Bazaar made the perfect choice for a new editorial spread featuring supermodel (and DWR fan) Linda Evangelista, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld and the Simpsons.

Marge Simpson finally lets her hair down as she sits with Donatella Versace and Homer gives Lagerfeld a run for his money in dark glasses and gloves. Maggie ends up in Jean Paul Gaultier’s Hermes bag and Bart’s made the front row for Louis Vuitton. Bazaar’s spread is a throw-back to the day when new fashions debuted in fashion magazines as illustrations and not photographs. It is also a nod to the fact that fashion design has become a part of mainstream pop culture. I only hope that more people in the fashion press took these risks. Besides, Lagerfeld and Gaultier have been caricatures for years. This just cements that fact.

Emeco or bust.

Emeco is consistently named a favorite manufacturer amongst DWR employees (see the 1006 Navy, Hudson and 1951 collections, just to name few). Maybe it is the small-town roots of the company. Perhaps it is their reinvention courtesy Philippe Starck and Norman Foster.  It could be the fact that the company uses 80% recycled aluminum in their seating. No matter whom you ask at DWR, you’ll always get the same response: We love Emeco. My personal favorite piece of Emeco trivia is the fact that their iconic Navy chair uses the butt mold of Betty Grable. Chairs don’t get better than that.

My friend Eric Lee and I took a scenic road trip through New York, Pennsylvania, Marylandand D.C. last week.  One of our stops was Emeco’s headquarters in Hanover, Pennsylvania. It was a short, but memorable, experience. The Emeco plant seems almost untouched since the 1950s. The windows are mirrored, and the factory is small, uncluttered and full of chairs. I got to tour their “museum,” an interactive display and work room full of prototypes and one-offs. If only the powder-coated pink Navy chair had seen the light of day.  Julian Schnabel would surely snap some up.

McDonald's goes fully licensed classic.

I’ve clearly taken large swigs of the DWR Kool-Aid. Let me explain: I was in London to see my fiancé perform with his band. I was walking through Camden on my way to the gig, when I spotted what I believed to be Egg chairs. I looked up to see the name of the establishment, because I thought to myself, “Who’s bold enough to put a bunch of fake Egg chairs in the window like that?”

Much to my surprise, I was looking right at the Golden Arches. McDonald’s! McDonald’s using Egg chairs? How could this be? Later that evening, I dragged my fiancé to the restaurant and we stood at the door like some kind of knock-off crusaders. What exactly would we do if we found out they were fakes? Would we call Ronald directly and complain? We marched in armed with a camera phone to take a photo of the “evidence.”

I was shocked to find that not only did all the seats have tiny red Fritz Hansen tags woven right into the seam but there were also authentic Series 7 and Swan chairs all throughout the dining room too!  I was tempted to put the Series 7 upside down and jump on it to prove its remarkable contract quality, but I was looking crazy enough jumping from chair to chair screaming, “It’s real! It’s real!” So I tried to leave more quietly than I arrived.

Posted by Melissa Howard, Studio Account Executive-DWR Rosyln.

Eames House Industries.

 

Our pals over at House Industries, the great design shop/type foundry responsible for those Girard blocks, just let us know about an upcoming lecture at the Eames Office given by Andy Cruz. Andy will be giving a look at how House Industries operates and he’ll also discuss their work with Neutra, the Saarinen project for Dulles Airport and the upcoming Alexander Girard font collection. He’ll also be breaking the news on the House Industries Eames project.

Seats are limited and registration ends this Friday so you should sign up ASAP.  The Eames Office is in Santa Monica and we’re being told that those in attendance may be lucky enough to walk away with some limited edition schwag. They won’t tell us what that is but if House Industries, the Eames Office and AIGA are involved we’re pretty sure that it will be worth admission alone.

Posted by Bradford Shellhammer, Proprietor-DWR NYC Columbus Avenue

A 50-year-old Tulip.

Speaking of Knoll, everyone at DWR is extremely excited about the launch of the 50th anniversary edition of Eero Saarinen's iconic Tulip Chair. Much like the reinvention of Herman Miller’s 50th anniversary edition Eames Lounge Chair in santos palisander, the Saarinen chairs, for a limited time, will be made in a platinum finish. True to the space-age stylings of the chair's design, the new finish is straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It would have been a perfect fit in Warhol’s factory. If platinum pedestal chairs aren’t your thing, don’t fret. Knoll is also reintroducing Saarinen’s Pedestal Tables in rosewood. They’ll be available, in stock, from DWR in August.

What is space?

The Design Within Reach Studios were all sent out a great book this week. Published by Knoll, What is space? is obviously a sales tool. It is a catalog of room photographs featuring Knoll’s classic designs, mixed with their more contemporary pieces. Normally a catalog would not merit a blog post, but I cannot seem to put the thing down. It is so very inspiring. Some assume Knoll’s products are more suited for office settings.  These photographs show how effectively Knoll, and all modern design, work in residential settings.

Even if you’re not going to spring for a Womb Chair any time soon, the book may give you an idea about colors, art or organization. Pop into a DWR Studio to check it out, or you can browse the book virtually on the What is space? link on the front page of Knoll’s website.