Fendi Casa returns to Luxury Living Group, Elk Home shutters and liquidates, and more

2025.07.24

This week in design, as the summer gets hot, live vicariously through some of the best swimming pools to grace the pages of T Magazine—from a postmodern pool installed in the dunes of Southampton to a cantilevered lagoon in the hills of Monte Carlo. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, events, recommended reading and more.

Business News

Luxury Living Group (a subsidiary of Holland, Michigan–based furniture manufacturer Haworth Group) has signed an agreement to acquire Fashion Furniture Design—the holding company for the Fendi Casa home license—along with all related production and distribution rights of the brand’s furniture and home accessories, from previous owner Flos B&B Italia. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. As Women’s Wear Daily reports, the deal marks a return for the brand: In 2021, Fendi terminated its original agreement with Luxury Living Group—the producer of luxury labels including Versace Home, Trussardi Casa and Bugatti Home—and instead teamed up with Flos B&B Italia to develop the Fendi Casa business. Since former Flos B&B Italia CEO Daniel Lalonde stepped down in January, however, the company's new leadership has reportedly shifted its focus to strengthening the brands in its portfolio and selling them off.

Haleyville, Alabama–based case goods manufacturer Kith Furniture has abruptly shut down operations, Home News Now reports. According to HNN, the news was confirmed by a former company executive and several former employees under the condition of anonymity. Since its founding in 2011, the brand has manufactured an array of bedroom and living room furniture distributed through regional showrooms and dealers across the Southeast. The company has not yet responded to HNN’s request for comment.

Kentucky retailer Trees n Trends—which offers home decor, garden accessories and indoor and outdoor furniture—is winding down operations and closing all six of its stores, Furniture Today reports. Founded in Paducah, Kentucky, in 1992, the family-owned business grew its retail fleet over the years, expanding to include outposts in Missouri and Arkansas. In sharing the news of the closure, the company detailed Trees n Trends’s history in a Facebook post and thanked customers for 33 years in operation, writing: “We, all of us, here at Trees n Trends love what we do. But the time has come for us to say goodbye.”

The number of Canadian homebuyers searching for properties in the U.S. has been declining since the Trump administration's tariff announcements, The New York Times reports. According to new data from real estate platform Redfin, traffic from Canada on the site fell by 26.4 percent year over year in May—which was also the fourth consecutive month of double-digit declines in searches for homes in the U.S. (While the overall number of prospective buyers and renters also declined on the site, that share decreased only “by a fraction of the amount.”) The trend has coincided with the rollout of new U.S. trade policies: The first major decline in searches from Canada came in at a 21.3 percent decrease year over year in February, compared to a drop of just 3.6 percent year over year the month prior, while the largest was a 34.2 percent plunge year over year in April, when Trump announced his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs. For the U.S. real estate market, the numbers could be significant: In 2024, Canadians comprised 13 percent of all foreign homebuyers in the U.S.

On July 30, designer Sara Malek Barney equips designers with the critical skills to streamline their sourcing process as a means to enhancing profitability without sacrificing integrity—it even includes a discussion on the oft-overlooked topic of markups. Click here to learn more and remember, workshops are free for BOH Insiders.

Maison&Objet's managing director Mélanie Leroy stepped down from her role last month, concluding a tenure that began in March 2023, Women's Wear Daily reports. According to a source familiar with the situation, Leroy's resignation came as she prepared to move on to “new endeavors.” During her time at the helm of the trade show, one of Leroy's biggest initiatives involved developing networking opportunities for women in the design industry, in part through the launch of the Woman&Design by Maison&Objet creative collective. It's not yet clear who will step into the managing director vacancy, which comes just a few months out from the fair's upcoming edition in September.

Direct-to-trade brand Elk Home is ceasing operations after more than 40 years in business and has tapped asset disposition firm GA Group to liquidate all of its inventory. The process will include the sale of over $46 million in furniture, lighting and decor, all located in the company's Georgia distribution center. The news of the company's closure comes after months of growing concern throughout the industry, as Elk Home's showrooms in High Point and Dallas remained dark during their respective April and June markets this year, Home Accents Today reports. The company did not cite a reason for the decision to shut down. Details of the sale have not yet been announced, but will likely emerge in the coming days.

Toronto-based interior designer Ashley Montgomery has partnered with Martha Monica Ceramics for a limited-edition collection   Lauren Miller

Launches and Collaborations

Together with designer and repeat collaborator Jonathan Adler, Ruggable has released a collection of home accessories—including pillows and pet beds (inspired in part by Adler's rescue dog, FoxyLady). The new styles were designed with Adler's signature Modern American Glamour aesthetic in mind, complete with striking geometric patterns, jewel tones and wildlife-inspired motifs.

British paint and wood polish manufacturer Mylands tapped Swedish-born, London-based interior designer Beata Heuman for the debut of a new paint collection called The Dependables. The 24-hue range reflects Heuman's design expertise, providing a palette that covers every type of home setting—from light neutrals to edgy dark shades to a smattering of vibrant yellows, reds and blues, with playful names like “Old Man's Beard,” “Crayfish Party,” and the versatile “Beata White.”

Toronto-based interior designer Ashley Montgomery has partnered with Martha Monica Ceramics (also headquartered in Toronto) for a limited-edition collection. The resulting assortment of ceramic vases, lampshades and decorative objects features scalloped edges, subtle stripes and sculptural shapes—all in natural, earthy hues—which ultimately highlight the designer's focus on craftsmanship.

Recommended Reading

North Carolina couple Angie and Mike Skinner spent $1 million to custom-build a two-bedroom cabin complete with luxury additions such as Thermador appliances, a butler’s pantry and a wine cellar—all housed on a luxury motor coach resort lot, where they can park their vehicle in between cross-country trips. For The Wall Street Journal, Robyn A. Friedman explores the high-end design opportunities that have cropped up in motor coach communities across the country, where RV owners are spending big to construct lavish home bases for their journeys.

In years past, a podcast host's setup may have included a couple of old swivel chairs in a garage or spare bedroom—and since the media format was mostly auditory back then, it didn't really matter what their environment looked like. For Elle Decor, Andrew Zucker dives into why the opposite is now the case: In search of cozy, visually compelling spaces that will play well on video platforms like YouTube while also increasing guests' comfort, many podcasters are turning to professional interior designers to outfit their studios.

In Memoriam

Janice Langrall, a longtime design industry veteran in marketing and public relations, passed away last month at the age of 71. Langrall's career began at Interior Design magazine, where she completed a prolific 10-year tenure as the magazine's marketing director, launching countless programs, events and projects,including the Interior Design Hall of Fame and the Roscoes product competitions (now known as the Best of Interior Design). Afterward, Langrall spent nearly a decade at F. Schumacher & Co. as the marketing director of the company's trade brands before establishing her own namesake marketing and public relations firm in 2008. In 2013, Langrall teamed up with Carolyn Sollis to launch Langrall & Sollis, a boutique public relations and marketing firm. But Langrall's impact extended far beyond her own work, as she served as a member of the Decorators Club, along with numerous committees—for organizations like DIFFA and The Alpha Workshops—designed to benefit the design community and beyond. “Janice touched everyone she met with her keen intelligence, quick wit and endless generosity. She was a quiet force and a true professional,” says Sollis. “She will be missed.”