Robert Allen will preview colorful Sargent fabric line
By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, April 7, 2002
NEW YORK — "Aren't they fun?" That's Susan Sargent's assessment of her first decorative fabrics collection for Robert Allen @Home.
The fabrics will have a sneak preview at Lexington Furniture on covers for the Susan Sargent upholstery and case goods collection that debuts at the April High Point market. The full fabric line's official launch will be at Showtime in High Point in July, said Andy Pacuk, senior vice president of Robert Allen@Home.
Sargent said the fabrics "kind of evolved from where we started out — sketches for other products that we put into digital format as archives."
Sargent, who has been producing high-end rugs and hand-painted bedding ensembles, said her color palette attracted the Robert Allen folks.
"We spent a whole day looking at their line and nothing of mine duplicated what they do," she said. As the project evolved, she said, "We adjusted some colors to reflect home decorating, and one of the interesting things is that we were able to use digital technology as a tool and then create hand-done art."
Sargent said the collection is a result "of my color and design sense pairing with their industry knowledge…. There are 12 colors we worked with and we see these colors in the various fabrics."
She worked in Sweden for some time, and said the new collection draws from what she learned there.
"I'm trying to change American design ideas by marrying the bold Scandinavian look with color and furniture that works here," she said.
Calling the collection "colorful and focused," Pacuk sees it as "a new American approach to contemporary — fun and easy. She's first and foremost about color."
The Lexington collection expresses this attitude, Sargent said. At first, she said, "I looked at all the olive and beige and said, 'You don't need me.' There are so many men in the furniture business who are fixated on furniture but not furniture design."
But after working with Lexington, she said, "I'm very happy with the furniture."
| Robert Allen@Home's Andy Pacuk looks through samples from a new fabric line by designer Susan Sargent, shown in inset with a blue pattern. |
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