A new pillow collection with a vintage spirit has arrived in Currie & Co.’s showrooms during this week’s market.
Eileen Applebaum, a veteran of both Crate & Barrel and ABC Carpet & Home, brings her product development expertise to Threads. Threads is a carefully selected collection of luxury handmade pillows that celebrate the traditional skills of master craftsmen from around the world.
“Keeping traditional crafts alive is my deepest passion,” Applebaum said. She has spent nearly 20 years developing her Crate rugs and textiles, and her work has allowed her to travel around the world and work closely with artisans. “The deepest thing I’ve learned as a product developer is that the best developers work with artisans. It’s a collaboration. Show me the techniques you use, and I’ll combines it with what I know,” she said. “The best product developers know how to leverage the knowledge of the craftsman, observe every process, and challenge the craftsman to create a new and better version of the technology.”
Applebaum, an avid collector of vintage textiles, just opened a public showroom filled with unique pillows on Sixth Avenue across from Bryant Park in Manhattan.
In this week’s High Point, she proposed a stocking program. “We wanted High Point shoppers to understand that first,” she said.
Applebaum highlights both the luxurious natural materials and dressmaker details that characterize the new pillow collection, including silk embroidery, cashmere crewel embroidery, gorgeous metal zippers, hand-crafted pulls unique to each pillow, and superior linings. I am thinking of doing so. “There’s nothing synthetic about it,” Applebaum said.
The pillow collection is characterized by dressmaker details such as silk embroidery, luxurious fabrics, handcrafted zipper pulls and superior linings. “There’s nothing synthetic about it,” says Eileen Applebaum.
The collections available in the market are manufactured in India and although they are mass produced, they respect traditional craft making and do not exploit artisans or skills.
“We’re going back to where crafts were originally done. It’s the meeting of art and commerce,” Applebaum said. “This is the best representation I’ve ever made and I’m proud of it.”
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