Baltic Linen enters licensing arena

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. —Baltic Linen recently acquired the Claire Murray license for coordinated bedding, bath and window depicting her New England-inspired casual elegant lifestyle centered around gardens, seascapes and botanicals.

The new brand is Baltic Linen's first foray into the licensing arena and extends the bedding and bath manufacturer into higher price points.

Products in bedding will be sold as comforter sets for $249.99 to $299.99 queen and 300-count cotton sheet sets for $129.99.

Bath towels will retail for $14.99 on sculpted solids in seven colors and $19.99 for embellished towels.

Bath accessories — which are done in ceramics and resin mixed with wood, wire or wicker in an array of finishes — will retail for $12.99 to $39.99 for various pieces.

Bath mats will retail for $29.99, shower curtains range from $49.99 to $59.99, and window panel pairs will retail for $99.99 to $159.99.

Some of the line's distinguishing factors include reversible comforters with high-quality fabric on top and reverse for two built-in patterns, decorator details and dressmaker accents throughout, shower curtains made from the same material as bedding and elegant designer bed skirts.

"Claire has a following of people nationwide who buy her rugs and other items for home, who would be interested in these bedding designs," said Megin Santos, design director for licensed products at Baltic Linen. "We got a great response to the attention to detail and dressmaker details found throughout the new product line."

The six new patterns are Paradise Palm, Vintage Floral, Annabelle, Nantucket Toile, Beach Rose and Summer Floral.

Paradise Palm is a tapestry jacquard with a tropical tree motif in seaglass, sand and soft sage on a linen ground.

Vintage Floral has antique bouquets on an ivy ground set on a mini basketweave fabric that reverses to a white floral toss design on antique green.

Annabelle is an all-over textural jacquard in denim blue and white with a raised embroidery effect that reverses to a jewel-toned yarn-dyed buffalo check.

Nantucket Toile, inspired by the island's history, is set on textured cotton and reverses to ticking/floral stripes.

Beach Rose is a cotton slub duck with vines of roses and an eyelet accent that reverses to an awning stripe.

Summer Floral is a botanical print on a fresh yellow ground with a border of green gingham rushing, mini flower embroidery and a purple crochet trim. It reverses to the solid-green gingham.

Baltic Linen has expanded its luxury comforter set assortment ($199.99 for a queen) to six beds, which now feature more embellishment, yarn-dyed fabrics and pieced constructions.

Additionally, Baltic expanded its opening-price-point assortment on six more beds to include pieced-dyed jacquards and more upscale prints. This group retails at $99.99 to $129.99 for bed-in-a-bag sets. Each pattern has coordinating window and at least five decorative pillows.

The company also added a few innovative bath towels retailing for $14.99.

Among the best received is Mandalay, a bamboo fiber towel with a 60/40 bamboo-combed cotton mix available in four colors. Also new is Bond Street, a yarn-dyed horizontally ribbed sculpted Turkish towel with a sheered border and monochromatic look that comes in six colors.

The company has launched a bamboo-inspired collection that features four coordinating towels. The group includes Serengeti Stripe; Rattan, a solid-color sculpted towel; Bamboo Trees, a decorative yarn-dyed towel; and Bamboo Embroidery with its embroidered bamboo motif on an ivory ground.

In other news, five designers have joined the company in the last year. They include Santos, who previously worked at Ex-Cell Home Fashions; Nicole Westra, bedding designer; Elizabeth Wagner, who was promoted to bath designer from design coordinator; Amy Balassone, jacquard designer, who came from Burlington; and Sheila Neilinger, design consultant for towels, who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil.