Simmons adds fashion flair to new Beautyrest model
David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2010
Simmons’ new Haute Couture bed features upholstery fabric treatments. A production version of this prototype is expected to debut early next year.
ATLANTA - Simmons wanted to break out of the box with its new Haute Couture Beautyrest Black model.
Mission accomplished.
The bedding maker previewed its stylish, $10,000 sleep set at this month's Las Vegas Market, where it drew gasps from retailers, officials said. Was it the pink and green picture frame look surrounding the panel? Was it the vertical silk stripes on the side of the sleep set? Or was it the upholstery-grade silk on the sleep surface?
Maybe it was all of the above.
Tim Oakhill, executive vice president of marketing, described the dealer reaction with one word: "Wow." Pressed for more comment, he added: "Dealers want something they can display that offers that ‘wow' experience." And that's what Simmons delivered, he said.
Simmons’ Tim Oakhill shows off the silk panel on top of the high-end Haute Couture sleep set prototype.
The sleep set looks like something crafted in a Parisian dress shop, which is appropriate, since haute couture is French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking." Simmons displayed a prototype of the bed in a private nook at the back of its Beautyrest Black showroom in Las Vegas.
Haute Couture Beautyrest Black will take retails for the high-end Beautyrest Black line, launched in Las Vegas, up by several notches.
The new Beautyrest Black line retails from $1,799 to $3,299, with three special Beautyrest Black Beyond models retailing from $3,499 to $4,999. At an estimated retail of $10,000 in queen, the Haute Couture model takes Simmons deeper into the luxury bedding market.
Simmons displayed the bed in a setting that looked like it was right out of a dressmaking studio, with easels and clothing displays.
"We wanted to go out and do something the industry has never seen," said Oakhill.
Simmons displayed its Haute Couture bed behind curtains in a corner of the Beautyrest Black showroom area in Las Vegas.
The bed's combination of high fashion and bright colors is distinctive. Suede panels of pink and green - colors rarely, if ever, seen on a sleep set - frame the sleep surface. Colorful silk stripes on the borders make bold statements, while a rich silk fabric covers the surface of the bed. The box spring is covered in suede and silk fabrics.
It is unusual for bedding majors to display prototype models like this at market. Such beds are usually kept in back rooms at a research and development center and shown to select groups of retailers.
Simmons elected to bring this prototype of the Haute Couture Beautyrest Black bed to market to give dealers an idea of the fashion direction it is pursuing.
Asked if the final version of the bed will closely resemble the prototype displayed in Las Vegas, Oakhill responded: "This DNA will be in there."
The final version is expected to be ready for launch early next year.
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Simmons adds fashion flair to new Beautyrest model
Aug 24, 2010
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