“Showtime” (the twice yearly Fabric Show in High Point North Carolina), is always one of the most exciting times for a dedicated “fabricholic”. Even the weather cooperated for this year’s show.
It was great to see the town of High Point beginning to bloom again after the Recession.
Our first stop is always the PK Lifestyles Showroom. Largely because of their five pieces of Chameleon Fine Furniture™ adorning their space all dressed in their latest fabrics.
The Jessica Sofa was particularly stunning in the Black & White geometric print. We sent along a set of Matte Black Pear legs to add to the contemporary feel. I love how they have made the ultimate recyclable showroom – very eco-friendly. They send us the new fabrics, we make up the new covers and send in a small box (approximately $40 to ship), and they send us back last season’s covers in the very same box to display in our store. How cool is that?
Kate Winton, the designer of the showroom makes beautiful story boards too displaying the newest fabrics.
My most fun visit in PK Lifestyles was meeting Kim Cornetet, co-owner of Greenhouse Fabrics. We are expanding our business with Greenhouse because they have such outstanding customer service and are among the quickest shippers yet.
Pam Greenwood of Décor 124 in Angola Indiana visited the Show together with us. She and her husband, Ron, opened a “Chameleon-like” store a year ago and sell Chameleon Fine Furniture™ in the Mid-West! Here’s Pam admiring new fabrics in the Robert Allen Showroom…
One of my favorite showrooms is Golding Fabrics. I have known Graham and Linda Buckner since I opened Chameleon almost 18 years ago! They were among the first to display their fabrics (new and old) in an “open forum setting”. Pictured below is Steve Rexford in The Golding Showroom. Lots of new fun samples will be arriving soon.
Valdese Weavers, one of the few remaining American mills, always has great displays, great fabrics and really great food! This display of their colorful woven solids is definitely inspiring. Lindsay of Valdese Weavers showed us around the beautiful Valdese Weavers displays.
We enjoyed our visit to Crypton. Their fabric protection is now licensed to many fabricators. Jack Eger, VP of Sales gave us a hands-on demonstration of the stain repellant qualities. Kimberle Frost, a fabric consultant with Crypton took the time to learn about Chameleon Style’s “Bridge Color™” concept. She will be incorporating a few of our Bridge Colors into Crypton’s line, particulary “Mouse”. (We have over 150 fabrics that coordinate well with Mouse and that means if you upholster or use Mouse for your Bridge Color™ you will always be able to change things up later on… but I digress…
Finally, some new kids on the block. We met the three women of 14Karat Home. I was inspired by unique displays, good quality fabrics and most of all their energy. Even though their initial intros are modest, I predict they will take the industry by storm.
Of course I’m partial to their design perspective particularly after meeting Carrie who developed a cordless lamp line that we hope to carry soon at Chameleon. When Carrie pulled out her fuchsia purse (matching mine) I knew that we would share lots of ideas.
Another favorite woman-owned company is Lacefield Designs. We have the complete gallery of Lacefield patterns in our Arroyo Grande store. They are amongst our best sellers consistently.
I got a chance to sit down with Jenny Sullivan, Product Development Manager for Lacefield and discuss some ideas to integrate into our Chameleon Style® Design Method.
A true highlight for me was meeting Scott Kravet, one of the owners of Kravet Fabrics. He bounced in the showroom with so much energy. He was excited about some possible new colors of Latika (we carry Latika in several colors at Chameleon but Seafoam is by far the favorite). Chameleon has really increased its offerings of Kravet-Portfolio offerings. I hope to set up a meeting with Scott in the near future as I sensed he has tremendous enthusiasm for new approaches in fabric development and I think he would be a great Chameleon!
Chameleon will be receiving the many samples ordered in the next few weeks. We hope to have you vote on your favorites through our newsletter in late January so stay tuned!
