Croscill slips into furniture covers

By Marvin Lazaro -- Home Textiles Today, 4/23/2001 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK — Croscill Home's latest licensing agreement extends the company's brand franchise into furniture slipcovers.

The high-end home textiles manufacturer, based here, has entered into a licensing agreement with Classic Slipcovers Inc. (CSI), based in Vernon, CA. CSI will produce and market furniture slipcovers bearing the Croscill name.

Croscill also currently licenses its name to a window hardware manufacturer.

"We're using a whole array of fabrics that are more fashion forward and not your basic twill or canvas fabrics," Michael Painter, president, CSI, told Home Textiles Today. "We are honestly dedicated to putting out a high-quality, fashion-forward product."

The association with Croscill, Painter said, began after CSI concluded it needed to expand its product or customer base. CSI decided to get into the retail market, since its present customer base was mainly mail order. The company approached Croscill during the summer of 2000, and the license was finalized just prior to spring market.

Sueded cotton, cotton/ polyester matelasses, washed damasks, boucles, crushed chenilles, cotton/polyester jacquards, rayon/cotton satin and velvets will be used as well as a selection of cotton prints in floral patterns. They will be imported from an array of countries, including China, Pakistan, Korea and Taiwan.

"We're really going after the slipcover as a fashion statement," Painter said. "That's what separates us from the competition."

Painter added that CSI is concentrating the design elements of the covers on a softer look, generated from the fabrics and colors.

In addition to slipcovers for sofas, CSI will also manufacture covers for the dining room, decorative pillows and soft window fashions. Marketing strategies will include merchandising the slipcovers in conjunction with soft window coverings and the pillows. Retail price points for a sofa slipcover will range from $100 to $350. Orders for the products from specialty and department stores are already being taken, Painter said, with the first shipment expected to hit the retail shelves by early June.