Artists, Designers Lure Licensees at Surtex

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/5/2006 12:00:00 AM

New York —

New color waves, new patterns, and new takes on traditional subjects were found in abundance at the 20th annual Surtex show here. Nearly 400 exhibitors from the United States and 14 other countries showed art and designs ready for licensing applications in a broad range of potential product categories.

News from a sampling of the more unique, market-directed exhibitors:

• Paul Brent (Panama City, Fla.) said Kohl's plans to offer two boxed sets for holiday 2006 after a successful debut of his Coastal Christmas patterns on ceramic dinnerware at the retailer last year. Each four-piece set, one of dessert plates and one of mugs, will feature four separate Coastal Christmas themes. Brent's colorful, painting-based work is also featured in shower curtains and bath coordinates by Ex-Cell Home Fashions. He is currently seeking a new wall coverings licensee.

• Robin Zingone (Chester, Conn.), whose lounge-style designs update 1950s and 1960s pop art themes for modern tastes, has had her artwork made into shower curtains by Saturday Knight, which have made their way to shelves in some of the more trend-forward mass market stores. Now, Zingone is opening up her oeuvre to interested manufacturers across all home textiles categories.

• Dawn Zero Erickson (Red Wing, Minn.), whose hand-crafted patterns have been featured on bedding at cataloguers Garnet Hill and The Company Store, is offering a wealth of woodblock print, textural painting and collage designs to manufacturers to interpret for the full range of home textiles categories. Among her other honors, Erickson once served as artist-in-residence for the town of Quzhou, China.

• Nanc Gordon (Waban, Mass.), a former exhibition graphics designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, leads with color in clean, organic patterns inspired both by nature and by textiles design. As a decorative painter, Gordon has created limited lines of furniture, giftware and floor cloths; she now offers her designs for textiles products for every room in the house.