Il Fiore takes a walk on the wild side

By Andrea Lillo -- Home Textiles Today, 6/9/2003 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

Il Fiore has expanded its license with wildlife artist Lynn Chase, known for her fine china and figurines.

The company will introduce Monkey Garden, a collection of handpainted pillow designs that have been created to coordinate with Chase's fine china patterns.

Initially consisting of four designs, more will be added, as will a collection based on Chase's Monkey Business patterns.

Made in the U.S., the pillows are individually painted on black silk dupioni by New York area artists, and each one is then signed. Backed in black silk, the pillows measure a total of 20 inches square and are trimmed in a tassel fringe of pistachio, pine green and banana colors. The pillows wholesale at a cost of $135 each.

This is the third Lynn Chase collection with Il Fiore; the other two are Jaguar Jungle and Parrots of Paradise. Each of the Chase collections coordinates with her fine china patterns.

Il Fiore pillows have a three- to six-week lead time.