Rowe Furniture partners with fashion designer Vivienne Tam

Line will debut at Las Vegas, High Point markets

Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 11, 2009

Vivenne Tam’s new upholstery line from Rowe will be the fashion designer’s first home furnishings collection.

MCLEAN, Va. — Manufacturer Rowe Furniture has partnered with renowned fashion designer Vivienne Tam to create a collection of upholstered furniture that will be introduced in a few weeks.

It will include multiple sofa groupings and accent pieces and will feature exclusive fabrics by Tam, who has translated her apparel approach for the home. Fabrics will include her iconic "Mao" designs, as well as symbolic botanicals, geometrics and herringbone.

The collection will be unveiled at the Las Vegas Market in September and at the High Point Market in October. It will start shipping at the beginning of next year.

Rowe did not disclose the pricing, but said it would be competitive with other designer lines.

"We are thrilled to have found a designer who appeals to the modern woman of all ages and ethnicities," said Stefanie Lucas, Rowe president and CEO. "Vivienne's fashion aesthetic is both sophisticated and unique - not a traditional East meets West, but rather a design used to create a harmonious line of furniture with just a hint of Asian mystique."

Tam is known for her runway fashions and for her East Wind Code shops in New York, Los Angeles, Japan and Hong Kong. She has a long list of fashion industry honors, including Elle's Style Award in 2008.

Tam also is a favorite designer among celebrities and has dressed Julia Roberts, Madonna, Goldie Hawn, Jennifer Aniston and Ashley Judd. Most recently, she was a guest judge on the Bravo channel's "The Fashion Show."

Her celebrated and controversial Mao collection in 1995 pictured the former Chinese head of state with either a bee on his nose or in pigtails - a twist of cultural humor that appeared on T-shirts, jackets and dresses.

"That collection allowed me to cross over from the fashion world to the art world; pieces from it have been included in several museum collections around the world, including the Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Lighthouse Museum in Glasgow and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London," Tam said in her book, China Chic, published in 2000.

The Rowe line will be Tam's first venture into home furnishings.

"Designing furniture is such a natural extension and passion for me," she said. "I have been thinking about this and collecting archives for years. I want to bring beautifully designed prints, fabrics, colors and textures to create a truly unique line with subtle and sophisticated pieces inspired by my Chinese roots."