Barclay Butera has signed a licensing agreement with Lexington Home Brands, including two lifestyle collections designed to debut at High Point in October.
“Lexington has led the industry in the concept of licensing and lifestyle marketing,” says Phil Haney, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands. “Yet over the past decade, we have strategically focused our design efforts on the company’s three legacy brands: Lexington, Tommy Bahama and Sligh. In today’s market, and from a retailer’s perspective, a design license makes sense when the collaboration adds significant value to the product, and there exists a compelling business case for the proposed style category. In the case of our partnership with Barclay Butera, we are totally confident in our ability to add significant value based on the strength of his design aesthetic, its relevance to our target audience and the pressing need for an updated interpretation of traditional in the marketplace.”
The collections, called Barclay Butera for Lexington, will include two indoor lifestyle lines with a focus on upholstery. “I am thrilled and honored to be collaborating with a company that has such an impeccable reputation for spectacular design and incredible product development capabilities,” says Butera. “I have been a Lexington dealer for years, and I am also ecstatic with their commitment to quality and customer service. Lexington has intelligently positioned themselves as a designer line with broad appeal because of their innovative styling, lifestyle merchandising and strong relative value. Lexington products are totally relevant for my high-end design jobs, yet resonate with consumers in my retail showrooms as well.”
“In recent years, we have seen a rapid and dramatic shift toward transitional and contemporary styling in home furnishings,” says Haney. “However, when asked about their lifestyle preferences, over half of affluent consumers still describe themselves as traditionalists. We believe that the industry’s race to contemporary has left a void, creating an important business opportunity for reinventing neo-traditional design. We were very intentional in seeking out the designer with whom we would partner on this project, and Barclay Butera was our first choice. He brings a proven body of work, a proclivity for offering a fresh vision and relevance to the classics, and four highly successful retail boutiques that ground his design vernacular in the realities of retail.”
