Mascioni Enters Finished Bedding

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 3/20/2006 12:00:00 AM

New York —

Mascioni, the Italian company noted for its high quality printing and finishing of decorative and bedding fabrics, has entered into a new business: private label finished bedding.

“We are able to deliver a turnkey product with no excessive layers of supply. In fact, we are pretty aggressive about eliminating layers in the supply chain,” explained Alberto Mascioni, company ceo. “Our direct link in fabrics helps tremendously to speed up the process.” He emphasized that the company “is an interpreter of design as well as a manufacturer. We are not just executors of product.” A supplier to many of the top home textile designer collections, he notes, “today retailers own their own brands as well.”

Ludovica Bonetti has joined the company here as head of private label development. Most recently with Italian luxury bedding maker Bellora, Bonetti is working with retailers such as Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Design Within Reach and Cuddledown.

“We are 100% Italian-made unless some pieces of a bed are outsourced by the retailer,” Bonetti said. Mascioni works only in terms of whole bed ensembles, not sheets or comforters alone.

There are minimums, she said: 5,000 yards for an opening order, 1,000 yards for reorders. While the program is still developing, with a goal of up to 20 customers, “we are looking into developing a bath program at our customers' request, using our experience from the hospitality business.” she added.

The company continues to emphasize its core fabric business as well as its three-year-old hospitality business.