Torcello to produce Designers Guild line
By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 3/26/2004
NEW YORK — Torcello LLC has been formed as a joint venture between Legacy Linens of Chantilly, Va., and Libretto Holdings here to manufacture and market the Designers Guild bedding line in the United States.
Libretto, owned by Thomas Cushing, obtained the Designers Guild license for stationary and paper goods in the United States, and expanded that business to include fashion accessories for adults and children.
The Designers Guild bedding created by Tricia Guild will be manufactured by Legacy using designs "that are the same in principle as the European styles," Guild explained. "We are adapting some things, and we're open to doing special colors," she added.
The American collection features eight printed beds, four or five embroideries and two wovens. There also is a collection of nine kids' beds.
The embroideries are done in China and the prints and wovens are Italian-made.
Price points are $115 for the twin prints; and $135 for the twin embroideries and wovens, Guild said.
Torcello will act as the brand manager for the collection, Cushing related. Currently, there is a 1,500-square-foot home textiles shop in the flagship Marshall Field's on State Street in Chicago that is leased, as well as a 150-square-foot shop featuring about 10 of the company's decorative fabrics in the furniture department, he said.
The new collection, Guild said "reflects the same aspiration as the European. It's quality product, informal but quite sophisticated and with plenty of texture. It's contemporary, even if the designs are inspired by old documents." Design inspirations include "flower patterns with a slight Oriental flavor and quite graphic."
Guild, who is noted for her acute color sense, sees the palette as being "fresh, not over-bold, with clear reds, pale golds, sienna, aquas and pale limes" as pace setters.
Discussing the company's American relationships, Guild said, "It's like a marriage. I think we have the right partners. Thomas understands who we are and where we should be. Now, with what we believe to be the correct components (Libretto and Legacy), we look forward to further broadening the reach of the brand."
