Internationally acclaimed furniture and textile designer Richard Frinier drew inspiration for his latest collection of Sunbrella^® fabrics from the world-renowned resort destination, Santa Barbara, California, illustrating his innate ability to bring his passions to life through design. The Santa Barbara Collection embraces the locale’s natural landscape and will debut during December Showtime in High Point.

“Known around the world as the American Riviera, Santa Barbara is truly an international resort destination, rich with California history and the very best of coastal living,” said Frinier, who is building a new residence and studio in Santa Barbara. “I look forward to calling this sought after haven ‘home,’ where I can enjoy a California lifestyle in a more rural setting – closer to nature – and draw inspiration for my designs.”

Santa Barbara’s bucolic setting is very reminiscent of early California plein air, or open air, paintings for which this area is best known. Frinier’s latest textile collection subtly captures the area’s amazingly varied landscape, from the majestic mountains, rolling hills and winding roads to the pastoral ranches, historic estates and vintage cottages to the many beaches, hiking trails, and shopping and marketplace areas lined with cobblestones.

The Santa Barbara Collection is comprised of three base cloths (Beach, Duck and expanded colorways of Sahara), two stripes (Coastline and Summer) and three patterns (Botanico, El Paseo and Esplanade).

Beach is a lightweight, textured plain weave made from ratiné yarns that give the appearance of beach sand. It is available in Sail, Shore, Sand, Dune, Bluff, Sunset, Seafoam, Agave, Coast, Cielo, Denim, Dusk, Gravel and Stone. With Duck Frinier features a box weave construction woven on a common warp allowing for a beautiful range of colors including Blanco, Sail, Stone, Sand, Dune, Bluff, Mesa, Sunset, Seafoam, Cielo and Dusk.

The already popular Sahara exemplifies the semi-arid microclimates of Santa Barbara with its light structure, vintage and handwoven characteristics, and perfectly imperfect surface texture. Sahara is now offered in 18 colorways: Salt, Ivory, Sand, Dune, Bluff, Mesa, Sunset, Seafoam, Agave, Denim, Cielo, Gravel, Heather, Dusk, Hemp, Caftan, Café and Carbon.

Coastline is woven using the new Beach construction illustrating a classic resort espadrille stripe, and it is available in Sail, Shore, Sand, Dune, Mesa, Sunset, Seafoam, Agave, Cielo, Dusk and Gravel. Summer, the second stripe offering, is a sun-washed cabana stripe that complements Duck in soft pastel colors: Blanco, Stone, Sand, Dune, Mesa, Sunset, Seafoam, Cielo and Dusk.

Frinier’s new pattern Botanico features a banana leaf pattern on a jacquard construction.  Inspired by the botanical gardens and landscapes of private residences in Santa Barbara, Botanico is offered in Stone, Sand, Sandstone, Agave, Cielo and Dusk.

El Paseo is a woven jacquard with an oversized, open basket weave pattern enhanced by a slightly distressed and handwoven appearance. The fabric is symbolic of the many pathways where Santa Barbara locals and visitors alike stroll, shop, dine and relax along the open air colonnades. El Paseo is available in Stone, Sand, Sandstone, Agave, Cielo and Dusk.

Evoking imagery of the more nostalgic and classic Spanish architecture and decorative tiles along Santa Barbara’s State Street is Esplanade. Its softly distressed jacquard diamond pattern is offered in Stone, Sand, Sandstone, Agave, Cielo and Dusk.

“I am pleased to introduce my new Sunbrella fabrics at Showtime and share a piece of this incredibly beautiful locale so close to my heart,” Frinier said.

The Santa Barbara Collection by Richard Frinier for Sunbrella is available to the manufacturing trade only. High resolution images are available in the Sunbrella Press Room.

About Richard Frinier  

For over 30 years, Richard Frinier has been an award-winning furniture and textile designer with an emphasis on resort-at-home and ultraluxe resort environments. Originally a sculptor and lighting designer, he holds a Master of Arts degree and has traveled to more than 40 countries across five continents serving as inspiration for his authentic and memorable designs.

Today, Richard Frinier licenses his exclusive and co-branded designs to lifestyle and legacy brands and manufacturers, including Glen Raven/Sunbrella, Brown Jordan, Century Furniture and Dedon. His body of work at large encompasses hundreds of collections and thousands of individual product designs ranging from soft modern and contemporary to transitional and traditional.

Due to his extraordinary passion for and dedication to his work, he has garnered over 80 design and career excellence awards, including honors from ASID, IDSA, IIDA, ICFA, ADEX, ASFD, reddot museum, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design's Good Design Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Casual Furnishings Association, a division of the American Home Furnishings Alliance.

Designs by Richard Frinier have been specified for the Vatican, royal palaces, resorts, spas and private residences around the world and they have been exhibited and published extensively and internationally. He is committed to supporting students of design by sponsoring various trade scholarship programs. Learn more at richardfrinier.com.

About Sunbrella Fabrics

Introduced in 1961, Sunbrella revolutionized the way the world thinks about how beautiful fabrics look, feel and perform. The Sunbrella brand is the leading premium fabric choice for awning, marine and furniture manufacturers, offering legendary durability, fade resistance and ease of cleaning.

Upholstery fabrics from Sunbrella are continually advancing in design sophistication and comfort, resulting in applications both outside and inside the home for coordinated décor. Sunbrella fabrics have achieved GREENGUARD GOLD certification as contributing to healthy indoor air quality by being a very low emitting interior product.

Sunbrella fabrics are manufactured and marketed by Glen Raven, a 135-year-old family-owned company based in North Carolina with operations worldwide. For more information on the Sunbrella brand, including fabric resources, visit sunbrella.com.