Lillian August was doing great as a solo act in Louisville-designing wallcoverings and fabrics for retailers such as Horchow, Spiegel, Neiman Marcus and Ethan Allen; running a quilt business featuring fabrics she designed.
Then her eldest son, Daniel Weiss, at that time a Wall Street investment manager, began selling her designs in New York and convinced mom to move the business to the big city. That was 1987. Soon mom began designing upholstered furniture, August’s other two sons came on board, and suddenly, the group known as Lillian August Design Inc., a fabric and furniture design studio, was on a roll.
“I think of working with my sons like being in a rock band, only I’m not the lead singer anymore,” says August, who is in her late 50s. “We’re not always singing off the same sheet of music, but somehow our mix of talents and personalities make it work.”
August now calls her eldest son Daniel, 37, both “The Rainmaker” and president of her firm. Thirty-five-year-old John Weiss, a former accountant, goes by chief operating officer. Meanwhile, August, chief executive officer and chairman of the Norwalk, Conn.-based firm, creates the textiles and fabrics, and youngest son Michael Weiss, 33, who studied classical theater at The Juilliard School and was a sales representative at contemporary furniture retailer Roche Bobois in California, creates the product shapes of sofas, chairs and tables.
The shapes, inspired by traditional American and English periods, take on an updated feel in An American Vision, the collection August unveiled last spring at the International Home Furnishings Market here.
In this collection–which will arrive in area stores by November–August combined the best of American and English country in sofas and chairs covered in olive tones topped with other greens; golds and caramels combined with reds, gentle yellows, pinks and mint greens. The patterns: mostly soft plaids and graceful florals.
The color and fabric choices are evidence of the romantic that is Lillian August.
“Good romance happens in the details,” says August, who is a designer-in-residence for Victoria magazine, known for its romantic themes. Details such as rich velvets, fringes covering sofas and chairs to about mid-calf, softly rounded shapes with great attention to tailoring.
“Being a romantic has sometimes gotten me into trouble personally and in business,” says August, who prefers not to elaborate. “It’s very much who I am and how I see things. It’s terrible. I can’t help myself, but I really do think of myself as a romantic.”
Soft and savvy
“There is a creativity, a mystery to Lillian. There is a real femininity and softness to her,” says Michael Weiss, whose official title is vice president of design. “People want to tap into the romantic side and vision. They want their life to be like that and look for ways to bring some element of it into their home.”
Sometimes they want only touches of that romanticism. And because August’s pieces draw from a variety of influences, they also blend with a variety of styles.
“Her look is very sophisticated, very eclectic and very beautiful,” says Lori Stengren, a buyer at Richard Honquest Fine Furnishings in Barrington, where the Lillian August Collection is sold. Her designs also are sold in 500 stores in the United States, Europe and South America. There are three freestanding Lillian August boutiques in Connecticut; plans are to bring these stores to other parts of the U.S. “when the timing is right,” she says.
August may call herself an “incurable romantic” but there’s another side to her as well: savvy businesswoman.
At the twice-yearly furniture markets here, a male-dominated arena filled with backslapping, cigar-chomping and ill-fitting navy suits, August is a breath of fresh air.
“I have an interesting slant on business, which gives me something different to offer,” she says, gliding through the showroom of Drexel Heritage, manufacturer of August’s furniture and textile designs. “I am a working grandmother; part of a certain breed of divorced women who didn’t find out that they had to make a living until they were late in their 30s.”
It’s kind of poetic that August was there for her boys when they needed her nurturing. And when she evolved from artist to entrepreneur, in stepped the “boys.”
“We’ve built this business together,” says Michael, whom August credits with the shapeliness of the styles in the line. “It’s not like we walked in as sons to an old company business or even to the business as it is now.”
Lighter looks to come
Evidence of the direction the collection is going will be seen here at this fall’s International Home Furnishings Market, which runs from Wednesday to Oct. 24. There are about 20 new pieces–sofas, chairs and tables–and 60 textile introductions, including laundered fabric selections for more casual and lighter looks that still have August’s romantic and traditional themes. Prices will be lighter, too–about 30 percent less than in the past–to widen her audience to include first-time homeowners and empty-nesters.
Whatever crowd she is playing to, August strives to offer pieces that will help them build retreats–not just stylish rooms. The key, she says, is mixing things up–colors, patterns, periods and styles.
“How can we go back to thinking people want all contemporary and clean when they are holding on to a quirky little chair or (they) are sentimental about a dusty little rug?” asks August, who will speak about the art of traditional design and the importance of mixing styles and periods at the fall market this week.
“We are creating a love of the home as a refuge,” August says. “With this sentimentality, you don’t let go of everything you have and go all contemporary and technological.
“Yes, rooms get cleaner, but the sentiment and warmth is there.”
The Lillian August Collection is sold at Richard Honquest Fine Furnishings, 1455 S. Barrington Rd., Barrington, 847-382-1700; and the Beacon Hill showroom, at The Merchandise Mart, Wells and Kinzie Streets, Suite 1866, 312-527-3151.
The designer will make an in-store appearance at the Richard Honquest store on Nov. 14, when there will be a Lillian August Collection trunk show. Hours: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.; private appointments until 4 p.m. Call: 847-382-1700.
