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wire servicesThe furniture industry's hip fall offerings include a Todd Oldham-designed line for the stodgy recliner manufacturer.
HIGH POINT, N.C. - An optimistic furniture industry unveiled its newest lines at the annual fall market last month, and for once, there really was something new.
Vitality. New creations in bright, livable colors. Prices consumers can afford. Styles that express individuality over brand-name recognition.
Take La-Z-Boy, the comfortable but, let's face it, stodgy manufacturer of recliners. Not any more. Todd Oldham, the fashion designer who shook things up for Target last year, introduced his line of furniture for La-Z-Boy. It bore the same resemblance to your grandfather's recliner that the Miata does to Grandpa's Buick.
Oldham's collection, exuberant designs in Crayola colors that he said targeted "young, hip women," captured a creative and fun spirit, showing at the same time just how versatile La-Z-Boy can be.
In what was seen as a major pitch to the 20- to 35-year-old age group, La-Z-Boy offered Oldham's Snap sofa, a convertible sofa ($699 to $999) whose removable back and arms allow it to morph into a bench, an armless sofa, a chaise. Inspired by traditional Japanese design with clean lines and minimalist stylings, Snap's two handles make changing its profile easy.
Oldham said the inspiration behind his collection is "to give people the tools and confidence to cultivate their own individual style."
Here's what else had people sitting up and taking notice at High Point. These pieces will come into the retail market next spring.
* Move from snore to chore without getting out of bed. The "Office-In-Bed" from French Heritage isn't for everyone - suggested retail is $9,600 - but almost everyone will want it.
A desk surface spans the bed and slides on rails mounted on the bed's sideboards. When it's not in use, you slide it to the foot of the bed. To read or work, you slide it up toward the headboard. The surface flips up at an angle for reading, or folds out flat for more serious work.
Gooseneck lighting is built into the headboard. The face of the headboard opens like a roll-top desk to reveal storage space. A hidden bookcase (or bedside table) pulls out of the end of the headboard.
* If you liked the J. Peterman character on Seinfeld, stay tuned. The real John Peterman has teamed with John O'Hurley, the actor on Seinfeld who portrayed J. Peterman, to create a collection from Jeffco inspired by world travels. There's a narrow dining table, a wine-tasting table, a stand-up desk, and a "Barcelona easel" for displaying framed pictures, "one of those really useful things in the home you can never find," said Peterman, the Kentucky entrepreneur whose marketing material describes him as a "merchant-adventurer." The collection is aimed at the "upper-middle market." The most expensive piece, a Tuscan sideboard, is $6,000. The furniture reflects no particular period or place.
* National Geographic magazine unveiled two lines of furniture and accessories that celebrate diverse cultures. The two furniture collections from Lane are "West Indies" and "Tropic Winds." The first reflects the influence of early French, English and Dutch designs. The second features light-colored woods, along with wicker and woven sea grass.
An armoire door was inspired by a picture taken in 1912 in Angkor Wat. A floor lamp was inspired by, appropriately, a camera tripod. Other items were shaped by influences from North and East Africa.
* Martha Stewart is back with a new collection called Turkey Hill. It's inspired by her 1805 farmhouse in Westport, Conn., which has been her home for more than 30 years. This 115-piece collection includes two bedroom, two dining room and 10 home-office pieces. The Irvington, a nickel-plated bed ($1,280 for queen size), has a mercury-glass shine. It reflects the colors of the room and was shown with a mahogany dresser and chests, making for an attractive and inspiring study in contrasts.
It's home design business as usual for the Stewart team despite Stewart's personal legal problems. She was indicted in a stock-trading scandal in the summer and faces a trial early next year. Her furniture still is drawing buyers and consumers and her first collection is a success for Bernhardt.
Furniture industry executives would like to take heart from economic news that showed the annual rate of consumer spending on furniture up 3.3 percent in August over the same month last year. "Part of the problem is that we're working off of some pretty low numbers from previous years," said Ken Smith, the national director of furniture industry services at the accounting firm BDO Seidman.
Home Furnishings News, a trade publication, reported last month that sales growth among furniture retailers from January through August fell behind that of retailers generally. "The furniture industry is notorious for having a great Tuesday followed by a bad Wednesday," said Warren Shoulberg, its editor.
The International Home Furnishings Market draws some 82,000 manufacturers, wholesale buyers and others to High Point twice a year, in April and October.