Ethan Allen interprets new eclecticism
Classic furniture brand Ethan Allen recently launched its first of three campaign settings called New Eclecticism with interior designer Chat Fores, featuring younger, bolder styling using the brand’s pieces.
In the next three months, the brand is also launching new, modern pieces more apt for smaller living spaces. “Around the world, living spaces are contracting especially in cities,” says Melissa Valdez, senior brand manager of Ethan Allen. “They are smaller in scale except for some sofas that give you a choice in the length.”
Designer of some of the most luxurious condominium model units in Manila — including interpreting and designing Trump Tower and Spire, and other signature condominiums — Chat starts off the collaboration with Ethan Allen; she will be followed by fashion designers Albert Andrada and Amina Aranaz.
“New eclecticism for me is no rules,” says Chat. “When you say eclectic, people think it’s a bit wild or halo-halo ng gamit. There is an order and it’s about making use of what you have. Some of my clients before had collections and you can’t tell them that they can’t use it. Rather, you mix what they have with new stuff. That’s how I got trained to use what’s existing and adding more.”
A former interior design professor at PSID, Chat says that eclecticism encompasses periods, styles and materials. “One way to organize your furniture and accessories is to put the same color or similar pieces in one area. Say, all black or a similar theme for the pieces so there is harmony. New eclecticism is really just investing in nicer pieces, avoiding clutter and basura. It’s not one purchase and you’re done, it’s collecting things through time.”
Chat went to the main showroom of Ethan Allen in Mandaluyong, perused the catalogues and inventory, and came up with a theme for her setting for the showroom at The Residences at Greenbelt: black and white, choosing from the popular line British Classics collection and Modern Glamour.
“Ethan Allen has never been known to have strong, dark colors, it’s mostly wood, beige and very suburban American home. The usual profile is housewives or older women with money because the pieces are not that cheap. So I said, let’s try to get the younger market because some of them now earn a lot of money, and they buy bags and other stupid things. Also black and white is a neutral palette, it could be for a man or a woman. In fact, people are now saying, ‘Oh I didn’t know Ethan Allen had this or that,’ so they’re seeing the brand in a different light now.”
Her setting brings to life a black and white palette with the Ethan Allen pieces requiring surprisingly a small space. You’d think most of the furniture are bulky and old-fashioned, but Chat manages to inject a sense of contemporary feel while retaining that Ethan Allen signature of luxury and a feeling that these indeed are heritage pieces, ones that can be passed on to the next generation, never leaving the family or discarded in a fire sale.
She mixes a studded black leather sofa with gray wing chairs that look large but are actually proportioned just right even for a condo space. Against a gray wall, Chat embellishes the monochromatic space with mirrors of all shapes, sizes materials, from resin to metal. And where you would expect a continuation of solid colors, Chat infuses the space with animal patterns in the pouf ottoman, animal-print rug, and an asymmetrically striped wall. Chat also used yellow-green candles on silver candelabras on stacking boxes as storage.
Yes, rugs are still so “in,” especially leather rugs for those with family members with allergy. “A rug pulls a look together, completes it.” All kinds of rugs? Yes, even your grandmother’s Persian rugs. In fact, if you have a big collection of them, one way to use them all is to layer them. “I’ve seen it in a hotel lobby in Europe and it is so beautiful. The floor looked like a patchwork of these expensive rugs.”
One tip though, when choosing a rug to put in the living room: If your sofa has print, use a simple rug and vice versa, or it may be too much pattern going on. If the print is bold, use a smooth texture; if it’s plain, use a richer texture.
“I like mixing. I like shiny, rough, smooth. Some people start decorating by choosing the fabric on their sofa, others start with the rug and then work outward. I think, go with your first instinct. The accent fabric should be one or two pieces lang, either on the wall or the rug.”
As for scale, the question is do you mix big and small pieces or keep it in one size? “Definitely mix,” Chat says. “I don’t necessarily like small pieces, kasi di napapansin. People say you should have all small things if you live in a condo. No, you choose the sofa that’s correct in proportion, if a three-seater doesn’t fit, choose a two-seater. Several small pieces will actually make a space look smaller. If you get a nice two-seater and a nice lounge chair, di ka mukhang kawawa.”
If you want to nest mirrors on a wall, start with three, or five or seven. Always an odd number, says Chat. Why? “That is something I was taught since I was a design student. I think it’s because usually, it’s more interesting.”
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Ethan Allen’s new showroom is located at the ground floor of The Residences at Greenbelt, Makati City.
