Aussino expanding, breaks into majors

By Michele SanFilippo -- Home Textiles Today, 3/29/2004 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

Aussino USA is expanding its juvenile program under the Aussino Kids logo, its embellished towels and ceramic bath accessories and moving into casual bedding.

Aussino's juvenile program, which is being displayed in the showroom for the first time at the New York Home Textiles Market, features embroidered and appliqued looks. "It's not a printed look, but all about the surface interest," said Steven Lewis, Aussino USA president.

The program includes bath towels, mats, duvet covers, comforters, printed sheets and window. Sheeting and comforters are poly cotton, while duvet covers can also come in an all-cotton 200-count construction.

New patterns this market include: Fun on the Farm, Beach Monkey, Beautiful Day, His Ambition, Her Ambition, Hollywood Starlet, Break Cool, Route 88 and Transport.

New casual bedding patterns include: Sedona, a patched embossed microsuede look available in 26 colors; Pleats, which has a pleated diamond effect and box embroidery; Eden, a microsuede look with double swirl tonal embroidery; Martinez; Linear; Loft; and Prestige, a cotton yarn dye with a plaid center and pinstripe borders.

In addition, the company has added a new chevron cotton throw in eight colors to its lineup.

The embellished-towel program features 20 new designs, some of which coordinate back to beds, while others are freestanding. The fancy towels use the same jacquard hems as in bedding, plus special fringes and trims. In solid-color towels, Aussino has added three new colors (rust, crimson and thyme) to its 16-pound ring-spun cotton towel, which now has a palette of 18 colors.

In bath accessories, Aussino is offering five new designs, including ceramic bath sets in two colorways, which feature a pump, toothbrush holder and cup on a wooden plank for $25. The company will start matching bath accessories to its fancy towel line by next market.

"Our biggest satisfaction in the last six months is that our customer base has grown into the majors, which we are really happy about," added Lewis. "We have continued to expand our product categories in a very controlled manner."