Veratex Teams with Jennifer Gucci

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM

Panorama City, Calif. —

Jennifer Gucci, a former member of the Gucci family renowned for their leather goods and accessories, has signed a licensing agreement with Veratex to produce a home furnishings collection.

"I'm basically starting from scratch, and it will be Englishy in feeling," Gucci explained. "I love the '30s with the clean lines; and I adore flowers, so both elements will be involved," she related. Overall, she noted, the collection will lean toward feminine looks, "but I wont discriminate toward men."

Discussing her home fashions favorites, Gucci said, "My favorite colors are yellows. My house in Marbella, Spain is all in yellow — it's so warm and sunny." In contrast she noted, "My ex-husband — the late Paolo Gucci — loved purple." Polka dots are one of her favorites and "I don't like the super chic and modern."

Gucci, who will be at market this week in the Veratex New York showroom, said that she picked the home arena over apparel "because fashion is flooded now." She added, "I want to do something in the middle [of price points] and things that are easy to put together. I'm a great believer in coordination."

Veratex has the master license for home with the complete textiles segment, including bed, bath, rugs, window, and bath accessories — as the first objective. "Soft home is the primary area "to begin with" said Ed Litwak, Gucci's licensing manager. "We will start talking with furniture companies, and Veratex has the option to develop silverware and dinnerware."

Veratex is developing the bedding, window, rugs, towels, and bath accessories, said Avi Cohen, company ceo. "We also are talking with other textiles companies in specialty areas like pillows, comforters, and down."

Distribution, Cohen said, "will be wide — specialty stores, department stores, big boxes — virtually all retail channels."

While the license is global, "We will design everything here for global distribution," Cohen said. The first collection, Litwak added, "will have a classic look — not wild or specifically young or old in feeling — English with an Italian flair. We will bring in a design specialist for the program." And he added, "It will have a Gucci-esque look with some horse themes."

Veratex expects product to be market-ready three months after this week's market, with fall launches at retail. Price points are expected to be $199 to $249 for a queen bed.

Gucci is currently doing the soundtrack for a movie, using her operatic training. There is a TV mini-series in the works on the Gucci empire, Litwak added.