Stroheim Celebrates 150 Years: 1865-2015

0 CommentsThursday • September 10, 2015 • by JCW-Admin

Reflecting on the past and looking to the future

Fabricut Inc. celebrates Stroheim’s sesquicentennial as one of the most respected fabric houses in the decorating world. A leading resource for exquisite, fine-quality fabrics, wallcoverings and trimmings for the most discerning clientele, Stroheim’s 150th anniversary is a major milestone in our industry as its history and future continue to influence the interior design community.

“It’s exciting to be part of such a distinguished and venerable brand as Stroheim,” says David Klaristenfeld, vice president of sales for Fabricut Inc. “Not many companies are in business for 50 years and to be celebrating 150 is a rare, wonderful experience.”

In early 1865, a young Julius Stroheim opened a business in Lower Manhattan to supply decorative fabrics to upholsterers and furniture makers. The decades after the Civil War ushered in major economic expansion, the Industrial Revolution had created thousands of new jobs and the taste of the Victorian Age was for opulence; it was a good time to open a fabric business. Huge mansions built by the wealthy fostered demand for luxury fabrics to cover over-stuffed furniture and elaborate drapery treatments were in vogue. “Too much it not enough” was the decorating premise of the time.

A Stroheim advertisement from 1919; published in Good Furniture Magazine.

The decorating world has transformed in the last 150 years but Stroheim has stayed true to its founding design principles: a classical aesthetic that evolves with changing styles but is rooted in traditional design. With a breathtaking range of fabrics, trimmings and wallcoverings, Stroheim enhances interiors created by designers domestically and abroad. Resourcing products from the finest textile, trimming and wallcovering producers around the world, the Stroheim collection features exclusive designs manufactured in a variety of quality fibers.

A Stroheim advertisement from 1989; patterns and colors still relevant today.

“With an eye to the ever changing interior marketplace, Stroheim continues to evolve stylistically while always reflecting the brand’s time-honored aesthetic,” adds Nina Butkin, vice president of design for Fabricut Inc.

In May of 2010, third-generation and employee-owned Fabricut Inc. acquired Stroheim from JAB Anestoetz, another multi-generation family business which joined forces with Stroheim in 1982 to broaden its American distribution channels. Today, Stroheim is part of Fabricut’s 10 corporate showrooms and over 60 agent showrooms worldwide, and an outside sales force that shares the brand’s story every day with designers and decorators. Beyond the years – and many yards of fabrics, trimmings and wallcoverings – Fabricut continues to maintain a level of service, which Stroheim began 150 years ago, that remains an integral part of the business.

Stroheim’s 2015 advertisement commemorating 150 years.

“When Fabricut acquired Stroheim in 2010, we had been looking to increase our profile in the high-end market,” says David Finer, chief executive officer of Fabricut Inc. “Over the last five years, the Stroheim name and respected reputation has helped grow our company footprint in the luxury home furnishings marketplace. We continue to build upon the history, tradition and legacy the Stroheim family established 150 years ago and introduce the next generation of designers to this prestigious brand.”

| Original content and images via Stroheim | Fabricut |