Walt Disney Signature collection expands into accessories
By Lauren Heist
The public has always been fascinated by Walt Disney — a man who turned a simple cartoon of a mouse into a multinational corporation. Now, people can emulate Walt's personal style in their own homes as the Walt Disney Signature collection expands into area rugs, lighting and tabletop.
The public has always been fascinated by Walt Disney — a man who turned a simple cartoon of a mouse into a multinational corporation. Both a free-thinking artist and a innovative businessman, Disney embodies for many what it means to be a true American original.
So it’s no surprise that consumers would be eager to emulate Walt’s personal style in their own homes.
In April 2006, Disney Home, a division of Disney Consumer Products, launched the Walt Disney Signature Collection — a line of furniture made by Drexel Heritage that reflects the Art Moderne style of the 1930s and ’40s that Disney had in his studio office in Burbank, CA.
The Walt Disney Signature Collection is a far cry from what many people associate with Disney — think bubble-gum pink bedding featuring Belle and Ariel or Toy Story characters on a bright-blue background. Instead, this collection is all about high-end, adult sophistication: hand-finished exotic woods like African Mozambique, rosewood and South American primavera accented with details like brushed nickel, black granite, leather and parchment.
The line did so well for Disney Consumer Products that the company decided to partner with three more manufacturers to offer a full range of home accessories including lighting, area rugs and tabletop.
Like the furniture from Drexel Heritage, The Walt Disney Signature lighting from Minka Lighting, which debuted at this spring’s High Point Market, is designed to evoke Disney’s era of the Art Deco and Art Moderne periods. The collection includes three fixture collections and seven portable collections, featuring sleek chrome finishes, rectangular ebony shades and Chrysler Building-like scalloped accents.
The Walt Disney Signature tabletop collections and area rugs, however, don’t get their inspiration from Walt Disney himself. Instead, both lines take their artistic cues from some of Disney’s most well-known animated films.
Introduced during the New York Tabletop Week in April, Zak Designs’ “Kingswell Decorated” and “Kingswell Two-Tone” tabletop collections were both inspired by the angular images of the forest found in “Sleeping Beauty,” while the “Fresco” collection, which features a translucent green leaf on white porcelain, is imagery inspired by the scene in “Bambi” where he experiences rain for the first time.
The area rugs, too, subtly invoke Disney movie magic. Made by The Rug Market and were introduced at the Las Vegas Market in January, the area rugs use shapes, colors and patterns inspired by movies like “Aladdin,” “Cinderella” and “The Jungle Book.”
A red, hand-tufted rug splashed with a large golden Chinese dragon is said to be inspired by “Mulan,” while a cream-colored rug with simple, geometric circles is a take-off on the windows in Briar Rose’s cottage in “Sleeping Beauty.”
Aaron Shabtai, spokesman for The Rug Market, says it makes sense for companies to tap into consumers’ love of Disney animated movies.
“Everyone can relate to Walt Disney’s animated movies and themes as they are so recognizable, so why not have a collection of rugs that does just that?” Shabtai says.
Shabtai says The Rug Market’s goal with the Walt Disney Signature collection, which includes 22 rugs measuring 5-by-8 feet, 8-by-11 feet and 10-by-13 feet, was to translate the beautiful artwork of the Disney animated movies into something people can incorporate into their homes.
“People buy paintings and put them on a wall because they have either a story behind it or it has some symbolism within it,” Shabtai explains. “We are doing the same thing… We painted our own pictures onto rugs and reshaped not only rooms, but the area rug industry.”
Shabtai says The Rug Market has been especially pleased with how well the line of area rugs has been received.
“More and more people are recognizing Disney is not just Mickey Mouse and Co.,” Shabtai says. “The demand for this line is huge.”
