HIGH POINT — There will be new furniture designs by the dozens to see in the Currey & Company showroom at spring market.
In a year defined by geopolitical and economic uncertainties, Currey’s robust offering of almost 60 new furniture pieces underscores the company’s strategy of developing product that creates “must-have” mindset among retailers and designers. Drew Alden, director of furniture, explained that Currey’s creative process combines design and trends with practicality, using fashion concepts to illustrate the form-function formula.
“We start with a trend forecast from our Creative Director Cecil Adams, followed by a design team workshop,” said Alden. “This covers new trends and evolutions of recent trends we have addressed in the prior season and reflects how we see trends playing out in the market, allowing for overlapping transitions in the product line. We love our ‘must have’ one-off pieces and tend to address this in our accent table line, while our case and upholstery lines naturally lend themselves to being developed into cohesive groupings.”
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Currey’s team still focuses on “pushing the envelope” with case and upholstery lines but does so with material and finish decisions to create staying power on larger pieces, said Alden. The accent table line allows for more interpretative forms, much like the “jewelry” to the little black dress, noted the designer.
“We let concepts develop the way we feel it is best for the design to become fully realized,” he said. “We know if the design is successful, it will be a must-have for anyone.”
With a launch of designs that nod to nostalgia in a fresh voice, Currey is showcasing several key themes in the new collection for spring market, according to Alden. The Lunaria accent table, inspired by its namesake that is often referred to as silver dollar plant, features silver-leafing petals that wrap up the base topped off with a white marble top.
Alden explained that biophilic designs are a staple of Currey & Company and the Lunaria accent table speaks to the Currey brand as well as the Modern English and Venetian trend stories the company has developed for market. Another nod to Modern English and Venetian is the Enid accent table with a scalloped edge highlighted with gold, and at the opposite end of the design spectrum, Currey is debuting Jute Fringe ottomans with a Modern Prairie aesthetic.
“The layers of fringe extending to the floor adds some Surrealism to the pieces, which was another theme we were targeting this introduction,” said Alden. “We were inspired by Pharrell’s LV americana menswear collections and used that to keep us from going too ‘Yellowstone.’”
The new pieces also expand Currey’s good/better/best stories, noted Alden.
“We often have a fourth tier of medium that fits between good and better,” he said. “You can see examples of this in the introductions to the accent tables. The Enid Accent Table being ‘good,’ the Quatrefoil Accent Table being ‘medium,’ the Lunaria Accent Table being ‘better,’ and the Spalzato Accent Table being ‘best.’”
When asked about his own inspiration for Currey’s product designs, Alden said that travel is at the top of the list. “I love getting to see a city or country for the first time and attempting to get to the root of what makes it unique. Architecture, museums, nature, film, it all inspires me.”
That inspiration usually always transitions into his work, said Alden.
“I have a hard time turning my furniture mind off, and I find myself snapping photos of things I find interesting almost anywhere. It could be the way some bottles are stacked at the store, or someone’s patinaed leather jacket at the gas station. If I have a reaction to it, I am capturing it somehow and using it as inspiration.
“There is a deliberate attempt to not look to furniture for inspiration for furniture,” he continued. “We have a wonderful library of materials at our office that is a beautiful curation of every design movement known and in every medium possible. It is a great resource and keeps us off the internet where things can become an echo chamber.”
Alden explained that his approach to design is an ideal match for a team of like-minded creative colleagues focused on achieving the same goal.
“We want a piece of furniture to feel familiar and new at the same time, evoking fondness for the past and excitement for the future. To be a must-have, furniture must be as useful as it is beautiful down to the smallest detail.
“The current environment makes the connections we make through our products paramount; we will not compromise this by reacting in ways that could jeopardize that relationship,” he concluded. “We want to make the best products with the best materials at the best place for them to be executed and to have fun while doing so in hope that joy passes on to the homes our products are in.”
