Drawing his inspiration from 16th Century Venice, home furnishings designer Joe Ruggiero will unveil "Venezia" during the April furniture market in High Point. Venezia is a new pattern in Ruggiero's Italian Classics, one of five Sunbrella fabric collections debuting in the Norwalk Furniture show room.
"Throughout the ages, there has been universal respect for fabrics and tapestries from Venice, and even today Venice is known for fine silks and damasks," Ruggiero said. "The inspiration for Venezia came from archival patterns I discovered in Venice that date back to the 15th and 16th centuries."
Venezia is a classic damask with a silk-like look and feel, featured in rosewood and cornsilk color ways. It represents Ruggiero's continuing focus on broadening his collection of Sunbrella performance fabrics for home interiors.
"I wanted to add a dressier fabric to our collection, and Venezia will be our showpiece for April Market," Ruggiero said. "More traditional upholstery frames are very popular, and Venezia will complement these designs. This fabric is so elegant, it could also be used on contemporary frames and bring a whole new look to a room. Venezia is another leap forward in styling sophistication for Sunbrella."
Ruggiero's five collections for High Point this spring, which are inspired by the classics of art and home décor, are Italian Classics, Naturals, Tribal, Barely There Pastels and Blue and White.
Italian Classics
"Venice has been the seat of culture, design and creativity for centuries, influenced by the Italian masters and by trade with the Far East. When you think of Venice, you think of elegant silks and tapestries, and we have captured these feelings in our Sunbrella fabrics."
Patterns in the Italian Classics collection coordinate in color and design with Venezia. Weaver, offered in rose, is an elegant woven pattern in which individual threads stand out in a magnified effect. San Marco is a traditionally elegant stripe offered in rosewood and designed to work well with the Venice-inspired look of the entire collection. Rounding out Italian Classics is Trax in zinfandel.
Naturals
"These fabrics are inspired by earth, land, sky and sea - beautiful and very organic in their inspiration. As much as people enjoy bright colors, they gravitate to naturals, which are traditionally top sellers."
Ruggiero patterns in this collection include Melrose, which is composed of a series of horizontal stripes, creating an uneven effect and resulting in a fresh, contemporary look in the colors tawny and patina. Cara is a crisp traditional thin stripe in herbal.
Tribal
"The Tribal collection is an ethnic look, inspired by Native American and African cultures. The ethnic tribal look has been with us for quite a long time and remains popular in fashion and in home décor."
Several Ruggiero patterns are debuting this market through the Tribal collection. The pattern Safari, inspired by African symbols for animals and nature, will be available in wheat. Tatami is also inspired by nature, resembling a bamboo construction in camel.
Vice Versa is based on robes worn by tribal leaders in Africa that are sewn in a patchwork pattern. Ruggiero's interpretation of this look features vertical and horizontal lines in wren.
The African jungle is captured in a new pattern called Leaf Dance, which was created by the fanciful design of leaves that appear in a raised pattern, offering the look of embroidery. Leaf Dance is available in parchment.
Zipper is the final new pattern in the Tribal collection. Zipper, available in bronze, has a woven look, offering a hint of Native American influences.
Barely There Pastels
"Our Barely There Pastels collection has a crisp, serene look, similar to cotton fabrics that you would envision decorating a beach house. These are fabrics in which the new styling sophistication of Sunbrella is front and center. You would swear they are cotton, but they are Sunbrella performance fabrics."
For the Barely There Collection, Ruggiero has taken his new Cara pattern and colored it in pistachio, sky and smoke, resulting in a Swedish country look that is pale, serene and easy to live with. Ruggiero is also featuring Trax in pewter in this collection.
Blue and White
"Blue and white is such a classic look that you cannot go wrong with this styling in your home. It has been a part of the American scene since before the turn of the 19th century with the importing of blue and white housewares from China."
Creating the background for this collection is Islandia, a new pattern colored in vellum. Islandia offers a tone-on-tone effect with flowers and vines on a textured background that resembles crewel embroidery.
St. Tropez was re-colored for this collection in navy and vellum and in indigo and vellum. Ruggiero has created reverse variations on this pattern in which he makes vellum or indigo the dominate colors.
Ruggiero is also including his popular Trax pattern in the Blue and White collection, colored in navy for a denim look. Trax is a traditional herringbone with hints of vellum.
"During a time when consumers are faced with so many confusing choices and so many different trends in home décor, it is reassuring to return to the Classics, which is the focus of our April Market," Ruggiero said. "We should pause a moment to appreciate the 'Art of Decoration' and look to the classics as inspiration for the mainstays of home decoration today."
Joseph Ruggiero & Associates, Inc. is a multi-media home design and television production company based in Los Angeles. Ruggiero's home furnishings design and media career spans more than 30 years and includes an award winning case goods and upholstery collection for Norwalk Furniture and an extensive collection for Sunbrella. Ruggiero's chenille pattern - Chenillela - is part of a chenille collection from Sunbrella that recently received a prestigious ADEX platinum award. On the web at www.joeruggiero.com.
