Jonathan Adler opening London store

Susan Dickenson -- Home Textiles Today, 8/25/2011 11:42:22 AM

London--Jonathan Adler is opening a store here this fall, his 15th freestanding and first international boutique.

The 3,000-square-foot two-level Brompton Cross shop will carry a specially curated assortment of Adler's designs for Londoners and the UK, featuring decorative objects, tablebtop, bedding, bath accessories, candles, furniture, rugs, pillows and lighting.

Jonathan Adler London will open in early October at 60 Sloane Avenue, London SW3.

Last weekend in Sag Harbor, N.Y., Adler previewed his upcoming designs for Lacoste's Holiday Collector's Series, which include a limited-edition run of polo shirts that reflect contemporary twists on traditional needlepoint techniques, one of the crafts he often incorporates into his design work.

"My grandmother used to needlepoint and, as a child, I was always fascinated by the bold and geometric pillows she made," Adler said. "Needlepoint has a great history and a country club chic feeling. Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, needlepoint has been kind of boring. It used to be about bold patterns and colors, but it's become about boring beige pillows depicting cocker spaniels. So, I decided to go back to the groovy roots of needlepoint."

The Special Edition Polo is packaged in a needlepoint pillowcase with a large white crocodile against blue and navy diagonal stripes.

A Limited Edition needlepointed Polo is limited to 1212 pieces for each gender, all packaged in color-coordinated tennis racquet covers with a needlepointed crocodile head and Adler motif.

Twelve Super Limited Edition needlepoint polo shirts have been commissioned from Catholic nuns in a convent near Lyon, France. Each shirt, which will take the nuns over 400 hours to complete, will be packaged and presented in a ceramic crocodile-shaped box. Adler created a one-off brass version of the crocodile box to be added to the LACOSTE archives.

Known for a design aesthetic that pairs modernist forms with bold colors and groovy graphics, Adler's company motto is "If your heirs won't fight over it, we won't make it." Jonathan Adler's U.S. shops are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newport Beach, Philadelphia, Santa Monica, San Francisco, and five locations in New York City.