| MODERN CLASSICS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT DESIGN MAGNATE ERINN VALENCICH'S RUGS FOR CREATIVE TOUCH  A-list designer Erinn Valencich brings her elegant "modern classic" aesthetic to a licensed rug collection for Creative Touch which will be on view at the upcoming The Rug Show New York. |
NEW YORK -- The Erinn V. Collection for Creative Touch -- one of the top licensed designer area rug collections to emerge in 2018 -- will make its Rug Show New York debut at the Jacob Javits Convention Center opening Saturday, August 25.
The collection is marketed under Hollywood interior designer Erinn Valencich's multi-million dollar Erinn V. label, which encompasses her own furniture line, a burgeoning licensing empire, and interior design for Hollywood A-listers from Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher to Jaime Pressly and Gordon Ramsay.
Creative Touch introduced the Erinn V. Collection with three wool and silk designs -- Ion, Moda and Brita -- at High Point Market in April, and then built on the buzz in the design community at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in May. At last month's Atlanta International Area Rug Market new colorways premiered. And the collection grows with Terra and Twilight -- two brand-new abstract patterns in the Erinn V modern classic aesthetic to be unveiled at the Rug Show New York, along with a line of decorative pillows.
Moda by Erinn V for Creative Touch is hand-knotted of wool and silk in a new palette debuting at the Rug Show New York.
The award-winning Valencich has received accolades for her licensed line for Baldwin Hardware, which launched this year at the Architectural Design Home Show, and for her own bespoke line of bench made furniture which is represented at important showrooms nationally.
What's more, Valencich was just this week named a
2019 Arts Awards finalist in the product design category, on the heels of receiving prestigious Arts Awards for interior design in 2018 and 2016.
Debuting this week at the Rug Show NY, Terra by Erinn V. exemplifies the glamorous contemporary style of designer Erinn Valencich.
In this exclusive interview, RugNews.com talks with Valencich about her new rug collection, and the benefits interior designer licensing programs bring to manufacturers and consumers.
What products are created under the Erinn V label?
EV: I've had a furniture line for 15 years. I have a 90 piece furniture collection that I produce in Los Angeles. I also have a line with Baldwin Hardware -- I'm their first licensed collection. As a designer, we've created and woven custom rugs for different projects. We've done custom lighting as well. We've started a collection of fine art lamps. I love product design.
So you're expanding your licensing portfolio?
EV: I am. That's always been a goal. I've always loved making things. I grew up in my grandfather's woodshop in Northern California. I was literally making Barbie sofas out of scrap wood when I was a kid. No bird houses for me. It was all interior stuff. I'm an artist. I draw and I paint, and that lends itself very nicely to textiles and rugs.
Creative Touch introduces the Twilight design by Erinn V. in a sophisticated gray and taupe colorway.
As an interior designer, where do rugs fit into your decorating schemes?
EV: Obviously, the rug is the foundation. Right? It's a really big statement in the space. As an interior designer, we go about it both ways. Sometimes you have a piece that is the corner stone, and that's what you start with. Other times we will do the scheme first with fabrics and wallpapers, and then go out and find the perfect rug that works with those colors. It comes from the overall sense of the space -- the feeling that you want to portray with the rugs.
What would you say was the inspiration for your rug designs?
EV: The collection is predominately inspired by intellectual moments. So, one of the rugs, Brita, is actually an outdoor space and a walkway. I sketched it from pictures I've taken from my travels. I really like black and white textural photographs, and we translate them into beautiful colored pieces. The rest of the rugs are taken from abstract art. I'll paint and then Photoshop those pieces to twist around in that really fun kaleidoscope pattern, which is where two of the designs, Moda and Ion, came from.
Are your pillows with Creative Touch coordinated to your rugs?
EV: Some are taken directly from the rugs, with four or five other unique designs just for pillows on linen and velvet.
Brita from the Creative Rugs licensing collaboration with Erinn V is now offered in the new soft palette above as well as brighter colorways.
Tell us more about your furniture -- is it contemporary in design?
EV: I'd say it fits more into the modern-classic feel. There are some Art Deco influences, some glamorous mirror elements, but overall the lines are clean. It's all made in Los Angeles: Handmade bespoke case goods and upholstery. There are 90 pieces in the collection.
Is it available nationally?
EV: It's carried at the Zoffany showroom at the D&D Building in New York. We're in seven other showrooms across the States: Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco.
Where do you think the rug collection will go from here? Are you going to expand it?
EV: We are. We did about 15 or 20 designs initially. We picked out favorites to start with. We produced three, and now we have another three. What I think is fun about a project like this is you're creating a product that designers can buy, but they also have the ability to re-color and blow up the patterns.
So Creative Touch is offering custom color options?
EV: Yes, so that's the nice thing about working with Creative Touch. They stock goods, so if you need something immediately you can get it -- but you can also customize the designs.
Tones of blue, gray and white define the contemporary motif of the Erinn V Ion design for Creative Touch Rugs on display at ICFF in 2018.
A closeup of the Ion design by Erinn V illustrates the weaving expertise of Creative Touch in interpreting painterly stippling effects through color and texture.