Berkus Joins Springs Stable with New Line

Jennifer Marks -- Home Textiles Today, 8/2/2011 5:41:43 AM

NEW YORK - Designer and television personality Nate Berkus is bounding back into the broader retail market with a massive line of soft and hard home merchandise developed by Springs Global - the third such comprehensive line from the manufacturer.
"He's a solution-based brand, but he's also a person with a point of view and a certain aesthetic, so he's also a lifestyle brand." -JOE GRANGER, Springs Global
     Berkus, host of an eponymous television show, has a line with consumer-direct retailer HSN. His last multi-category home program was exclusive to Linens 'N Things.
     "He's a solution-based brand, but he's also a person with a pont of view and a certain aesthetic, so he's also a lifestyle brand," said Joe Granger, president of Springs Global.
     Retailers have been reviewing the program in recent weeks, and the line is slated to debut at retail in fall 2012. The positioning is "aspirational but, equally important, attainable," said Granger.
     Its roughly 400 skus encompass fashion bedding, sheets, blankets and color multipler accessories such as dec pillows and throws as well as bath towels and accessories, soft window, window hardware, table linens, table top, rugs, lighting, décor pieces, frames, head- boards and select pieces of occasional furniture.
     Many of the décor pieces are being sold as what Springs refers to as "tablescapes," sets of three to six coordinating items. The number one comment Berkus gets is "Why doesn't my table look like that?" according to Edward Cardimona, Springs' chief global creative officer and svp.
     "These are pre-decorating solutions," he said.
     The collections fall into one of three design silos: classic American style; curator - "because he loves flea markets," said Cardimona - and glamour informed by old Hollywood.
      Berkus joins a stable of other recent brand development projects for Springs, including Diane Von Furstenberg, Sami Hayek, and Paula Deen.
     "It should be very clear now that we're unique in that [each project] start with the barnd for us and then the product from a design perspective rather than the price," said Granger. "We are putting a lot of energy and vitality into that effort."