Jessica McClintock Home Upholstery Collection by C.R. Laine

Jessica McClintock – The Designer

Jessica McClintock grew up in Presque Isle, Maine . It was her seamstress grandmother who introduced her to the idea of making clothes. By the age of three, Jessica knew the difference between silk and cotton. By junior high, she was sewing all her own clothes.

Although Jessica will admit that she has always thought of color and prints and what she could do with them, she never studied design. In 1950, she earned her associate's degree at Boston University. Shortly thereafter, she was teaching elementary school science and music.

It was in 1969 when Jessica McClintock, a widowed mother of a young son, arrived in California. Jessica soon learned of Gunne Sax, a small company specializing in granny dresses worn by “flower children”. For $5,000, she became a business and design partner. Customers loved Jessica’s designs. At that time, all the hippies got married in bare feet and Gunne Sax dresses. Even Hillary Rodham wore a linen Gunne Sax dress when she married Bill Clinton.

Within three months, Jessica knew designing was what she wanted to do with her life. She bought Gunne Sax, which she has turned into the San Francisco based premier design house, Jessica McClintock, Inc., a multifaceted, multimillion-dollar business of which she is president and CEO.

Without ever losing the primary focus … romance, Jessica McClintock, Inc., encompasses a vast national and international wholesale and retail business selling Jessica’s designs throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Her retail exposure includes 43 company owned boutiques with plans for opening more.

Jessica McClintock has also formed a licensing division. The product lines include eyewear, handbags, jewelry, handmade area rugs, lighting, wood and upholstered furniture, and soon to be introduced decorative accessories and fashion bedding. In April 2006, the Jessica McClintock Home upholstery collection was launched with C.R. Laine Furniture Company, Inc. of Hickory, North Carolina.

Jessica has won many of the industry’s most prestigious honors including California Designer of the Year by the California Mart and a special Tommy award from American Printed Fabric Council for unique design conceptualization. She is also a four-time winner of both DEBI (Design Elegance in the Bridal industry) Award for Social Occasions and the Dallas Fashion Award. Since 1994, Jessica has consistently been listed among Working Women's Top 50 Women Business Owners.

Jessica McClintock – The Home

Because a home reflects its owner's aesthetic and personality, it’s no surprise that Jessica’s three-story, 22-room Victorian in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood is a reflection of sumptuous style and gracious taste. The home was formerly owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola who lived there when “The Godfather” was produced.

Jessica’s bedroom/bath suite features hardwood floors softened with lovely rugs and sometimes painted with cherubs, ribbons and flowers. Color tones are soft pastels. A creamy lace canopy over the ornate French bed cascades from the ceiling to the floor. A curved bay window offers a commanding view of the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.Plants and flowers bloom throughout the house. A fountain with a cherub stands in the middle of a hall surrounded by trailing ivy.

Despite the elegance of her home, the feel is comfortable and relaxed. Framed photos of family and friends are everywhere. Coco, one of McClintock’s beloved Labradors, has toys piled in a corner.

The Jessica McClintock Home collection from C.R. Laine derives its inspiration from Jessica’s well photographed home, her travels, her lifestyle and her love of life.

C.R. Laine’s design team, Warren Frye ( COO), Alice Stegall (Merchandising Mgr.), and Holly Blalock (Marketing Director), visited Jessica at her home in late Summer 2005. The team spent time with Jessica snapping lots of inspirational pictures.

“This relationship with C.R. Laine is the perfect marriage of a designer who for the last 30 years has had a love affair with fashion and textiles, and a manufacturer with an expertise in producing quality, upholstered furniture,” commented Jessica.

The Jessica McClintock Home Collection by C.R. Laine reflects her characteristic traits of elegance and romance. To Jessica, romance can be defined as beauty that touches the emotional part of our being; a philosophy e mbraced by C.R. Laine.

Initially, the collection was twenty-four (24) frames that make up an eclectic yet cohesive line; each inspired by actual pieces in McClintock’s San Francisco home. The collection has now expanded to twenty-eight (28) frames and fourty-four (44) luxurious fabrics including velvets, silks, jacquards and linens, some of which are interpretations of antique documents being produced exclusively for the Jessica McClintock Home Collection by C.R. Laine. There are also man trim choices.  

C.R. Laine unveiled the Jessica McClintock Home Collection during the High Point Furniture Market in April 2006. “What a wonderful partnership,” said Holly Blalock, Marketing Director of C.R. Laine. “C.R. Laine has long been known for our highly customized bench-crafted upholstery. It was only natural for us to welcome the influence of Jessica. She understands that an unexpected detail can turn the ordinary into something lovely. In this collection, special touches include subtly curved silhouettes, intricate carvings and amazing upholstering details.”

The complete collection can be viewed online at www.crlaine.com.