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Classic feminine looks sweeten youth offerings

By Jane Kitchen -- Furniture Today, March 23, 2003

High Point — Feminine looks for youth bedroom are sure to be in the spotlight at the April market, based on previews of major new collections conducted at this month's premarket here.

While the October market saw cottage as the predominant look in youth, this spring several manufacturers will be showing girls' groups with unmistakably sweet, girlish touches like ribbons and roses, in a return to classic feminine looks. Styles range from Victorian to traditional European, with some new cottage designs thrown in for good measure.

At premarket, Stanley showed its Isabella collection, a more formal European traditional-styled group featuring a soft white finish with subtle winter-white striping for depth, and a hint of distressing.

Glenn Prillaman, vice president of product development for Stanley's Young America, said that around half of the SKUs for the Isabella collection are different from those in a normal Young America group — pieces that highlight the collection's femininity.

The Isabella collection is most definitely a girls' group, with unique touches like blue toile fabric panels on the signature bed, rose appliqués dusted in winter white and sheer toile curtains that surround the poster bed.

The 30-piece collection is made from selected hardwoods, and beds feature either underbed storage or a trundle, practical elements that are still important in a girls' group.

At Powell, retailers shopping premarket saw select pieces from the company's new girls' collection, Emily, a white-painted Victorian group featuring hand-woven wicker accents. The 20-piece collection, made of MDF and maple, features 20-inch-deep cases.

Powell's Emily collection also will feature unique items like a sleigh captain's bed and a dressing chest with a make-up mirror, as well as a loft bed and panel bed.

Lea Inds., which has had much success with its Jessica McClintock-licensed girls furniture, previewed its new McKenzie Park collection at premarket. A crossbreed of lifestyle and shabby chic for girls, McKenzie Park features a vanilla finish and rose appliqués with a distressed look. The collection also incorporates blue gingham fabric for a casual look on the desk chair and glass-doored armoire.

Lea also is showcasing retail-friendly attention-grabbers in its new youth collections this market, such as a secret jewelry drawer in the McKenzie Park nine-drawer dresser, designed to appeal to little girls' senses of whimsy. These bonus features will be highlighted at retail with hangtags proclaiming, "I have a secret! Want to know what it is?" Lea hopes items like these will win over the customer at retail, marking its collections as different.

Vaughan-Bassett showed a new group at premarket dubbed Emily's Cottage, featuring a bunk, sleigh and poster panel bed. The collection is in off-white, done in a flatline finishing process that uses rub-through. Most beds are imported, allowing Vaughan-Bassett to achieve sharp price points — between $399 and $559 for the beds.

The white bunk in Emily's Cottage provides a feminine alternative for little girls, with beadboard headboards and footboards, and the sleigh bed provides a simple, classic feminine look.

Little girls should have plenty to choose from as these and other new collections hit retail, from romantic suites made for little princesses to soft, feminine versions of their brothers' bunk beds. Details help give each collection its own style — from secret drawers to subtle appliqués and hand carving — but all are decidedly feminine.

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