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Design

CB2 Introduces the Kara Mann Collection with an Irreverent New Take on '80s Style.

The resurgence of the 1980s on fashion runways inspired a collection that is clean lined and brimming with personality.

8/27/2020
A cream and black living rom with mirrored accent tables
Kara Mann's Feather Dot Shag rug ($799 in 6'X9' ) anchors a room furnished in her CB2 collection's subtle nod to the '80s

CHICAGO -- CB2 has launched a 30+ piece collection of furniture, accents, lighting, rugs and bedding by Chicago designer Kara Mann.

Described as irreverent, and a study in contrasts, the CB2 Kara Mann Collection reinvents the style of the 1980s, a decade that people tend to have strong opinions about. Though Mann take on the decade reworks the era's bold contrasts offering a softer tonal color palette.



Designer Kara Mann introduces her new CB2 collection, inspired by the 1980s.

Her new CB2 collection  draws on the collaborative spirit imbued in her interiors, inviting people to have fun incorporating the designs into their homes.


Kara Mann updates the traditional Soumak weave in jute rug with a sophisticated braided stripe pattern.

For her collaboration with CB2, Kara's designed furniture and decor explores contrast through new lenses: tough yet romantic, hard and soft, masculine and feminine. Her clean-lined sectional sofas are unpretentious and full of personality, embodying a luxurious nonchalance.

 "I always love mixing disparate things together. It creates a really cool energy," Mann says. "Masculine and feminine, things that feel sort of hard-edged with something that feels very soft and lush - it creates a moment of balance."


Minimalist and whimsical, the Feather Dot Shag rug gets a plush feel from hand-knotted pure New Zealand wool.

Mann's preferred color schemes, which, like so much of her work, feel easy and simple at first but reveal careful consideration upon closer inspection. "Black and white are polarizing in a way, but when you hit it with a little bit of softness, they feel just right together," she explains. "To make a black and white palette feel really rich, you have to tone both colors in a certain way."



The Winged Soumak Stripe Rug By Kara Mann for CB2 ($599 in 6x9) is handwoven in India of jute with a braided surface on cut pile.

Mann's use of color may be sparse, but it's specific. The whites are warm and soft: "We always call it oyster because there’s a sort of luminosity to it, while the blacks are more muted. I always like to add a little dirt to all my colors," Mann says, using what she calls "dirty pink" throughout her range.

Designer Kara Mann has spent a decade and a half designing residential and commercial interiors with her signature irreverent style that showcases contrast and ebraces an aesthetic that's classic yet innovative.
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