Fresh off of his 22-stop North American tour and Lionel Richie is settling into bed—rather, a bedding collection. The five-time Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter is expanding the Lionel Richie Home Collection with a bed and bath partnership with Baltic Linen Co., which was acquired by 80-year-old hospitality textile supplier Sobel Westex earlier this year. The new offerings add to last year’s tabletop introductions within the home collection.
![Lionel Richie Home Collection Lionel Richie Home Collection](https://businessofhome.com/system/ckeditor/pictures/7745/data/content/lionelrichie_towels.jpg)
Like his music, the new collection appeals to multiple audiences. Sophisticated gold-and-black jacquard and a gold-and-white brocade-style bedding target the “Three Times a Lady” generation, while the navy striped and graphic “Love” prints have a more youthful Tuskegee consumer in mind. The four bedding designs join four coordinating towel and accessory collections, in addition to two signature towels.
The performer-turned-designer takes EAL under the covers of his new collection and shares a few exclusive details from his own nightly routine.
How did the licensing partnership with Sobel Westex come about?
It was a manager from Red Light that actually came in and said, “Would you be interested?” [Walter Pelaez, CEO of Sobel Westex, and I] met on Valentine’s Day at my house, and we got along instantly. He could see that I was not just doing it as a put-my-name-on-it kind of thing. No, I actually wanted to be in the design.
![Lionel Richie Home Collection Lionel Richie Home Collection](https://businessofhome.com/system/ckeditor/pictures/7744/data/content/lionel_richie_entry.jpg)
Where did you draw inspiration for the bed and bath collection?
If I’m not in the studio or onstage, I’m in bed. I’m either in bed in a hotel, a spa, a resort—because when we tour, I love to find great places to stay. I’ve spent 40 years in hotels, and the problem is that I find a complaint every time I go to these places. All the little pet peeves that drove me crazy, this gives me an opportunity now to do it in my line to correct it. I’m the market research. A lot of people think it’s about spending the night in bed. That’s a given. On your day off, if you want to spend the day in bed too, that’s the right bed.
The four bedding styles span generational tastes. Was it a challenge trying to design for different ages?
It wasn’t hard, and you know why? It’s because I live with them. [My kids] are my fit models, my opinions. Everyone thinks that every time I write a song, it’s a hit. No, I throw away 20 to get one. Same way with the design. You have to kind of mess it up to pick out the parts you like. What I love is honest opinion, and if you want honest opinion, ask your kids. Or your grandmother.
![Lionel Richie Home Collection Lionel Richie Home Collection](https://businessofhome.com/system/ckeditor/pictures/7746/data/content/lionelrichie.jpg)
What would we find on your nightstand?
No clocks. No cell phones. Just a lamp and water.
Plush or firm pillow?
Firm.
What’s one thing that would get you out of bed in the morning?
My kids. [He groans.] There is a line that your parents will use: “One day, you’ll get yours back.” They mean that.
One pre-bed ritual?
I always do a little bit of reading. Something I don’t want to read. Why? Because it puts me to sleep.