emma gardner design,
llc
CONTACT: Harrison
Fonteyne Communications
860-413-9703 or 617-868-6838
els@harrisonfonteyne.com
susan@harrisonfonteyne.com
OR
Karen Davino
emma gardner
design, llc
860-567-5201
press@emmagardnerdesign.com
EMMA GARDNER DESIGN RELEASES ELEFUNK
FIRST LICENSED FABRIC DESIGN
Six To Eight Designs To Be Released Each
Year Under New Relationship
Litchfield, Conn.
(April 2007) – emma gardner design, llc, makers of contemporary heirloom
quality rugs, has announced its first licensed fabric, Elefunk. Licensor Imagine
Adventures Inc. will work with emma gardner
design to bring the
fabric to market as part of a larger collection. Imagine will broker contracts
with top furniture manufacturers, fabric retailers and furniture
retailers. Elefunk will be offered in eight color ways and was introduced at
the High Point Furniture Market in December 2006. Product Lounge, a branding,
merchandising and licensing agency brokered this first announced program.
“Emma Gardner’s designs are edgy and
have unusual, eye-catching mixes of color,” explains Imagine Adventures, Inc.
owner Mike Farrell. “We knew right away
that we wanted to work with Emma because her work has an element of humor that
appeals to design styles across the board, from traditional to retro. The whimsy found in Elefunk says a lot about why we chose to work with Emma.”
To date, Imagine Adventures, Inc., a
design, resource, and marketing consulting group for companies in the furniture
industry, has engineered several contracts to bring Elefunk to market in the United States. Furniture manufacturer Palliser Furniture,
Ltd. will use the fabric to produce pieces for its EQ3 furniture line using two
different color ways. Paliser plans to
use Elefunk in an oversized chair and
ottoman design as well as for decorative pillows. The furniture will be sold to major national
home design retailers in the United
States and will be available this summer.
"I've been interested in
designing textiles for a little while now, and having the opportunity to work
with someone as creative and open to new, fun ideas as Mike is a real treat,”
said Emma Gardner, of working with Imagine Adventures, Inc. “This kind of design presents the chance to
think about color and style in a way quite different from the way I approach
rugs and I'm really excited to see what develops."
--more—
In addition to working
with furniture makers, Imagine Adventures, Inc. will explore opportunities to
work directly with high end furniture retailers and fabric retailers. The latter include High Fashion Home in Houston, Texas and Britex
in San Francisco, California who will include Elefunk into
their product offerings.
“Emma Gardner’s design sensibility
translates extremely well into many different home design applications, and her
success in the rug category had our retailers and customers asking for more,”
said Patrick McDarrah, president of emma gardner design.
“We’ve just started developing our licensed product category and the
process has been energizing. Elefunk was a huge success at the High Point show and with
this initial launch underway, we will develop additional designs for 2007 in
fabrics and other categories to be announced.”
emma gardner design and Imagine Adventure are working with the Adesal fabric
mills in Argentina
to produce Elefunk. “Sell through has been great for a launch of
this scale,” adds Farrell. “We are very
happy with the results and expect to do a lot more with emma gardner design in the coming months.”
emma gardner design, llc is a boutique design and development
company that produces fine contemporary interior products for use in
residential, office and hospitality spaces. Chief designer Emma C.
Gardner was the winner of a 2006 Best of Year award from Interior Design
for her Joy rug. Based in Litchfield, Connecticut,
the company offers its products through select showrooms and is a proud
member of the RUGMARK Foundation, a global non-profit organization working to
end child labor. For more information please visit www.emmagardnerdesign.com.
Elefunk in multiple colorways