08232016 Christopher Knight Collection Debuts with Rugs at United Weavers

LAS VEGAS -- The summer market launch of a new lifestyle brand, Christopher Knight Collection, brings with it a proven name in the home sector and a debut featuring a 12-rug collection by United Weavers of America. 

In an exclusive interview, Knight, the actor who played Peter Brady in the 1970s TV series The Brady Bunch and subsequently spent 20 years as a Silicon Valley business exec, gives RugNews.com the scoop on the meteoric e-commerce success of furniture bearing his name, brand-building strategies for the rugs and future products to be marketed under the new Christopher Knight Collection targeting brick and mortar stores -- and the debuting rug collection, which has already been snapped up by some Top 100 furniture retailers.

We are literally building the Christopher Knight Collection from the ground up -- starting with rugs with United Weavers. We've named our first collection Mirage because of the effects created with color shading and the textured look achieved by combining shrink polyester with olefin -- which adds value for the machine made rug consumer. The rugs are very plush and very tightly woven. 

A big point of difference is that the designs are all asymmetric -- whether they are Persian or abstract patterns. But unlike the typical Persian reproductions, for example, the colorway shifts from light to dark across the width of the rug, and the patterns bleed to the top and bottom without a border. 

We are taking a transitional spin, maybe a contemporary spin, on traditional patterns, if you will. The whole idea of the asymmetry is because we wanted to achieve the look of weathering. It hasn't weathered yet, so we give asymmetry through the coloring of the pattern. That to me is something that adds to the comfort of a home. 

You don't have to say, 'don't walk on it; don't spill anything on it.' It's not rumpled per se, but it's a little more lived in. The designs are all luminous and they all have movement and shading.

What is the retail, and what is next on the drawing board for rugs?

Christopher Knight Home furniture is very successful -- how did it come to be? 

A friend and business partner I had worked with in the high-tech space was hired as a consultant when an L.A. area furniture manufacturer and importer decided the future of the furniture business -- or at least a good part of it -- was in online sales. Instead of trying to build a legacy brand, and brick and mortar relationships, they wanted to camp out in the online space and dedicate their operation to dot-com. My former partner was retained to figure out how that gets done. 

Most of that technology is owned by the Overstocks and Amazons of the world, not by their vendors. But it's important to have someone who speaks their language and knows marketing and the important ingredients a manufacturer has to dedicate to becoming successful in e-commerce. Shipping is a big problem for online, for example. A big jump comes by focusing on logistics for furniture.

When my former partner and lifelong friend came to me with the idea of building a Christopher Knight Home brand, I asked, 'what are you doing in the furniture business?' He's a physicist who went from the aerospace industry, to the computer industry, to furniture. 

Why do you think Christopher Knight Home is so powerful online?

The idea was that because of The Brady Bunch, I had remarkably lasting and evergreen recognition. In a way I feel that through the show, I have lived with everybody in America: I'm everybody's brother. That has a certain weight and a certain trust value, because the Bradys have that going for them, too.

Online you don't get to touch the furniture you're buying, or sit in it. And you wonder, 'what am I getting here'? So trust becomes very important. The brand stories you get from Overstock and Amazon are very good, but you don't really know what you are getting. Christopher Knight Home gives just a little bit of security because there's a name on top of it and a face associated with it. If there's a face associated with the product that they think they know, they will push the button and actually make a purchase. 

And it worked. It starts with the success of Christopher Knight Home at Overstock, which is almost a captive brand. The brand did remarkably well and continues to do remarkably well: it almost doubles year over year, and it creates its own energy and its own success

What convinced you that licensing your name was the way to go?

I came out of high tech, leaving it behind in 2003. For 20 years I worked up in the Silicon Valley area in the heyday of personal computers, and  I commuted from the southern California area, pretty much putting my artistic life on hold. 

I had a penchant for business, but I wanted to take some time off, move back to southern California, and reinvigorate my creative career. I was hoping to find a way to have it and a business together. Not that one would be completely subordinated by the other but there was no ability when I was running companies to have a creative career.

When all the social media stuff began to come into play -- and technology was in everybody's pocket with cell phones, there were opportunities to explore to expand 'self into product'. 

The idea of a furniture line made sense. My mom is an artist, my dad made all of our furniture because he was studying architecture at school at Catholic -- and they were building all the sets for the theatrical department. That's when he learned about actors: he saw they got more attention than the guys building the sets, so he switched from being an architect to being an actor. That's where the acting thing comes together. My grandfather was an old world craftsman; a major shoemaker and cobbler who at one time made all the shoes for the Ziegfeld follies. And my other grandfather was in the schmata business. I looked back and found, this is sort of in my blood anyway. And I thought, 'why don't I run with it?'

What's the difference between Christopher Knight Collection and Christopher Knight Home?

On the Christopher Knight Home side I don't get a whole lot of opportunity to inject myself into a philosophy or a style. It's taken off on its own.

Christopher Knight Collection is my approach in the marketplace away from Christopher Knight Home, in a non-competitive way to Christopher Knight Home. Where you find Christopher Knight Home you won't find Christopher Knight Collection. 

Christopher Knight Collection starts with rugs and I am excited about the opportunity to take in other products. It's a lifestyle. It's sort of shabby chic, it's California American. It's about living full and living sharp. Living your way comfortably and without having to spend a fortune for it. There's always a value proposition involved. And it's about presenting wholesomeness: Wholesome energy and individuality.

Christopher Knight Collection is intended to be at brick and mortar. That's where it is going. Our rug opportunity is nowhere where Christopher Knight Home is (because they sell rugs), and Christopher Knight Home pretty much dominates in the online arena. At Target for example, we are not in the stores, but we are online with Christopher Knight Home. So Christopher Knight Collection will avoid Target. It is really important to know that they are two different managed efforts.

But if we are successful with Home Depot or with Lowe's or anyone that has a store presence they are going to be welcome to have Christopher Knight Collection in their online space as well.

How would you define the personality of the Christopher Knight Collection brand?

It's not a three-piece suit: it's a jacket and jeans. That's what it is. I'm about looking sharp and looking right. We're not pants on the ground, you know, but there's a comfort to it. Maybe it's shabby chic; maybe it's California. Maybe it's just a universal style that we can all relate to, but it's where we are comfortable in our own skin, and we are comfortable in our own home. Christopher Knight Collection is going to be more of a lifestyle collection, typical of what other lifestyle brands do. 

What's next on the agenda for Christopher Knight Collection?

 I have the opportunity here to manage my sense of style and put my taste into the collection. There's also a tremendous opportunity to be successful. I might as well leverage it. Christopher Knight Collection will be unique and different kinds of stuff. I can sell bags as I see it. And I might do some watches. Just some cool stuff that goes with the vibe I feel that I live by.