Poppy Indigo cushions by John Robshaw Textiles
You might not remember much from the 2004 film Along Came Polly except, perhaps, the image of Ben Stiller stabbing his wife's theatrical tableau of throw pillows with a carving knife. Few household items provoke ire quite like those ubiquitous bundles of foam, and they're not going away any time soon.
Throw cushions have become the designer's not-so-secret weapon, an affordable finishing touch for a room that communicates their vision at a time when a sofa or even a new set of curtains are tough to justify. More than the sum of their stuffing and stitching, they distill sweeping trends and palettes like a designer's witty one-liner.
"People buy tons of them," says John Robshaw, the fabric designer whose New York showroom distributes to Canadian retailers such as Elte in Toronto and 31 Westgate in Halifax.
Robshaw launched his first atelier selling block-printed linens by the yard to interior designers. Eventually his sewing workshop opened him up to quilts and pillows – which, in turn, led to a revelation. "We realized we could use a wider variety of fabrics for pillows than for bedding," he says. And so he made more. This fall he has introduced crewel-embroidered cushions, pleated metallics and squeegee-printed ink blots to complement his linen ranges.
Shoppers, says Robshaw, have "notions" about duvets, curtains and sofa fabrics – that they require a long-term commitment. "People don't get all freaked out if they can't work cushions into their bedroom scheme," he says. "If it doesn't work somewhere, it'll go somewhere else." He estimates 50 per cent of his sales come from throw pillows, which retail for upward of $150.
At Home Outfitters, toss cushions are top-selling items, according to Paul Yun Sang, director of fashion, product and brand management. "We can be more creative with patterns, colours and designs on cushions than with larger pieces, which is really important to convey a story for collections," he says.
Margot Austin, senior design editor at House & Home, says some retailers will change their cushion offerings every six weeks, as with any other impulse purchase. For Austin, pillows are to the design world what lipstick is to the fashion world: the final flourish that can take a look from fine to fabulous. They respond, more than other accessories, to the vagaries of decor trends. "As a stylist, pillows and throws in a living room are the two most important tools we have," she says.
Magazine editors, window dressers, interior designers – they all look to pillows with experimental patterns to craft a signature look.
"They are taken out all the time for shoots," says Alexandra Yaphe, owner of Y & Co., a carpet and textile house with locations in Montreal and Toronto. The most coveted are from New York-based designer Madeline Weinrib, also known for her versatile hand-woven rugs, which make it into every style magazine, from House & Home to Vogue. "[Weinrib's] cottons are well priced, so they're a great look for a younger designer who can't commit to $10,000 for a rug."
Even if Weinrib's cushions hover around the $600 mark, Yaphe says "people love them. They're a really good way to get her imprint into a room."
The gradual movement of fashion designers into home decor has something to do with the snowballing trend, says Yaphe. "Missoni, Marimekko – they're trying to get their look to the masses. At the same time, places like Toronto, which have typically been very safe, now want more interesting design. Pillows are a great way to get that."
Brian Gluckstein, who designs lines of household products for The Bay and Home Outfitters, says pillows outsell his other offerings. "People would be taken aback if they were to hear what our sales are," he says. "Every season we sell more and more. And in the next three years they'll become a much more significant category for us as we slowly educate the customer that home design has a fashion element to it. You buy one, then a few more the next year – they're really a fashion accessory."
"Pillows are the MVP of a collection," Austin says. "And for designers, they're integral to an overall scheme of colour and pattern. There's a concerted plan to how they're being employed, even if they may be a flash in the pan for consumers."
Using throw cushions as a hook, some retailers are merchandising around them. West Elm recently introduced Pattern Palette, an online service that pairs current cushion designs with co-ordinating pieces from its linen and furnishings collections.
"We think of our pillows in layers and palettes and try to use them to show our customers how they can mix textures, patterns and colours in easy ways," says Abigal Jacobs, vice-president of marketing for West Elm. "One of the most common questions we get is how to layer patterns."
West Elm has colonized the low end of the market. Its pillows sell for about $50 at locations in Montreal and Vancouver as well as Toronto. Pillows at that price have become the sweet spot for many a retailer.
"We're kind of in an era of sticker shock," Austin says. "People want fashionable, on-trend items for less and retailers are responding to customers scared by larger commitments to bigger purchases. Even window treatments are befuddling. But cushions are so easy."
Easier still if you're going the big-box route, no turn-off for Austin. "IKEA does an amazing linen cushion cover for $10. It's a solid, so I use it as a backup cushion – but you need those fillers, too."