Designer lines set to go: Barbara Barry to launch at Henredon, Bloomie's
By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, March 13, 2005
New York — With two furniture and home furnishings collections set to launch — this week at Bloomingdale's in New York and next month at Henredon in High Point — California designer Barbara Barry has room to express her philosophy.
She sees her home products as offering "true luxury that is not about opulence or great expense. It is a pleasure of using one's best things — even if quite simple — everyday."
Bloomingdale's exclusive Oval Collection by Barry includes furniture for the bedroom, dining room and living room. She also has developed a range of rugs and accessories, wall art, throws and decorative pillows, said Joe Laneve, senior vice president, home at the department store.
The full Barbara Barry Realized by Henredon collection, which the manufacturer will preview in sketch form at premarket in High Point this week, is a co-branded program, with the major launch set for the April market, said Henredon President Steve McKee. It will include an array of 87 furniture SKUs and 132 accent items.
"We're launching a brand, not a collection," McKee said. "It's a very focused style and a point of view for interior design — clean interiors, not overembellished."
He said Barry has "a very feminine point of view with a lot of shapes, a lot of mix of materials creating a mood that is soft, elegant, gracious."
To show the line in its High Point building, Henredon is creating a 7,500-square-foot, two-story showroom emulating a luxury retailer.
Products in the program will include rugs by Karastan, lamps from Visual Comforts, accessories from Global Views, art from Sacher Marian, throws from Textillery and bed and bath textiles from DWI Holdings.
Barry expects to add tabletop later this year.
McKee said the furniture line will have selective retail distribution with exclusivity an important element. Henredon interior designer showrooms will carry the line, in most cases or in adjacent or separate Barbara Barry showrooms.
The furniture is scheduled to ship this summer and be floored by Sept. 1. McKee said there will be significant national advertising.
Barry is expected to make personal appearances across the country to introduce the line, beginning with the High Point launch.
