ADI teams with Raymond Waites

LOS ANGELES —Luxury home furnishings designer Raymond Waites has again paired up with a home textiles supplier, American Down Inc., this time to produce an upscale line of decorative pillows.

American Down, the bath towel, printed kitchen towel and decorative pillow importer, will produce three collections of luxury decorative pillows that either coordinate with existing bedding lines by Waites or stand alone, Michael Greenberg, marketing manager for imports, American Down, told Home Textiles Today.

For the initial launch of the line, scheduled during the upcoming New York Home Textiles market this month, American Down will produce three collections within Waites' design styles:

• The Print Collection, which coordinates directly with the Waites bedding collection by importer Next Creations Inc., New York, will comprise about seven pieced-pillow offerings made of 100 percent cotton and featuring heavy embellishments such as animal prints, velvets, fringes and cords;
• The Dupioni Silk Collection, made of 100 percent dupioni silk and beaded trims;
• The Animal Collection, panel pillows made of 100 percent poly-cotton mixed with rayon and embellished with cords and tassels.

For American Down, the partnership with Waites represents the company's second license in its 27-year existence. A little more than two years ago, the company was the decorative pillow licensee for Nick & Nora, producing goods in the Shady Characters design for specialty stores.

But more importantly for American Down, the Waites line marks the company's expansion into luxury goods.

"This is really our first full-blown attempt to upgrade our line, and we felt Raymond Waites would be the best person to align ourselves with, due to his terrific collections," Greenberg said. "Already, the response we've gotten from the majors has been beyond our expectations. We're very happy."

Greenberg said the collection "points to an upscale customer — department and specialty stores and upscale catalogs."

Whereas American Down's typical price point runs from $14.95 to $29.95, the company's Raymond Waites offerings will retail for $35 for a small 10" x 10" to $100 for a large 27-inch square pillow.

Aside from Next Creations for bedding, Waites' other home textiles licensees include Dalton, GA-based Oriental Weavers of America for machine woven area rugs; Dalton, GA-based Beaulieu Rugs for decorative rugs; Cleveland-based Imperial Home Decor Group for wallcoverings; Thief River Falls, MN-based Thief River Linen Inc. for Connoisseur decorative pillows; Freeport, IL-based Kirsch Inc. for window treatments and accessories; Abbeyville, SC-based Rug Barn for decorative throws and pillows; and New York-based Swavelle/Mill Creek (a division of Associated Textile Converters) for decorative fabrics.

In other related American Down news, the company has expanded its New York showroom to almost double its original size. The showroom is located at 303 Fifth Ave. in suite 207. Of the 1,800 square feet of space, roughly one-third will be dedicated to showing the new Raymond Waites collection, Greenberg said.

"We needed the larger space to showcase our better product and also create an environment that shows we're serious about approaching the better retail market," he added.