Down Inc. adds Hathaway bedding

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 1/21/2002 12:00:00 AM

GRAND RAPIDS, MI —

Down Inc. has recently signed a licensing deal with artist Anne Hathaway for a bedding line that will feature her designs.

The line was officially unveiled during the recent Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market at a party hosted by Down Inc. The Hathaway line represents the company's first foray into the licensing arena as well as its initial venture into the world of luxury basic bedding.

According to Brian O'Connor, account executive for Down Inc., the company expects to begin shipping the line by mid-March, and it will also be displayed during the April Home Textiles Market.

"We realized we couldn't compete in the business anymore without a luxury line," O'Connor told HTT. "This is a good way to enter that aspect of the basic bedding business."

The initial product introduction will include comforters and pillows, available in three different fills and the usual range of sizes. The company is also debating whether to offer a California king comforter.

Retailers will have a choice of Hungarian white goose down, premium white goose down and domestic white down in both the comforters and pillows in a good, better, best pricing strategy. Final prices have not yet been determined. Made from 360-count, 100 percent cotton with a woven jacquard construction, the comforters will feature Hathaway's signature bumblebee motif evenly spaced on the face and back of the comforter in a white-on-white design. The comforter will also be offered in a variety of fill weights.