Wheeling, IL (January 2010)— Beginning with a modest eight patterns in 1990,
Iris Wang and her husband, E-Kwan Chen, set out upon an endeaver to open their
own textile company, with Chen in charge of the administrative tasks—ranging
from shipping to singlehandedly making up the “customer service” department—and
Wang in charge of sourcing textile mills and bringing her designs to life.
Twenty years later, they are celebrating their “Platinum” anniversary, with many
successes to celebrate. What started as a “mom and pop” company still relatively
is, with Wang and Chen in the office working with their team daily, albeit one
that is internationally represented and partnered with renowned companies such
as Donghia and Pollock as well as numerous independent sales representatives.
2010 is off to a great start, primarily due to a series of steps over the
past several years. In February of 2008, Brentano moved to their present day
corporate headquarters in Wheeling, IL, just northwest of Chicago. This move
from their previous location, which consisted of three separate buildings,
allowed the company to unite their team under one substantially larger roof. In
late 2009, the design department moved into their newly constructed
environmentally-conscious design studio. In February 2010, they will launch the
first half of their year-long celebratory collections, named “Platinum” for the
modern-day 20th wedding anniversary gift.
Additionally, Wang is embarking upon a lecture series, beginning with an
event on the importance of color to design in Toronto as part of the Interior
Design Show with their local showroom Primevera. In March, Wang will also speak
to design students at Columbia College in Chicago about fiber content and
textile choices. In April, she will travel to Egg & Dart in Denver to lecture
on the Brentano Green collection of eco-friendly textiles, and then in October
of 2010, the lecture series will conclude in New York with an event cosponsored
by Pollack, celebrating not only Brentano’s 20th anniversary, but also nearly 20
years of the two manufacturers working together.
When asked about the journey from those eight patterns to Brentano’s
present-day success, Wang is humble, saying she never imagined such an
opportunity, and that it is in large part due to the clients for supporting the
line, and to the sales force for believing in the company. While Wang has an
understanding of Brentano’s place in the interior design industry, she also says
“I feel this is just a start,” she says, “like we have been learning how to do
it.” She says it’s been 20 years of a gaining experience, and she looks forward
to learning more and continuing to go further in the years to come.
About Brentano:
Founded in 1990 by Design Director Iris Wang and her husband and President
E-Kwan Chen, Brentano has grown from a modest beginning of eight patterns to an
internationally represented textile house. Brentano's fabrics stem from Wang's
philosophy of balancing beauty + performance. Their growing collection of
eco-fabrics expands this ideology by demanding textiles to meet thoroughly
researched standards of environmental consciousness while maintaining their
beauty. Celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2010, Brentano continues to offer
a variety of innovative and interesting textiles, including eco-friendly faux
leather, high performance upholstery, fire-resistant, outdoor and Crypton and
Nano-Tex fabrics. Please visit
www.brentanofabrics.com for more information.
