Susan M. Andrews
Design icon will create fabric line

VALDESE, N.C. — Fabric supplier Valdese Weavers and designer Wesley Mancini have agreed to enter a long-term partnership starting this summer.

Valdese Weavers will merchandise, market and manufacture the Wesley Mancini Home Fabrics Collection of decorative textiles beginning July 1. The line will be in addition to Valdese’s current products designed in-house.

Mancini announced in January that he planned to leave Home Fabrics, where he has spent most of his career, by June 30.

He began designing for the company 24 years ago when it was part of Collins & Aikman. He continued the relationship when Home Fabrics became a division of Joan Fabrics in 1997, when owner Elkin McCallum acquired the Mastercraft Fabrics group from C&A.

“I have known and admired Wesley and his design team for many years as a worthy competitor in the decorative textile industry,” said Michael Shelton, president and CEO of Valdese Weavers. “He has established his design company as one of the top creative forces in our industry.

“I believe that this opportunity for Valdese Weavers and Wesley Mancini to align is truly a landmark event for both of our companies and, potentially, for the industry,” Shelton said.

Mancini will keep his design studio in Charlotte, N.C., where he has about 15 associates. At Valdese, he will work with Laura Levinson, the company’s senior vice president of product development and design.

“Being that almost half my life I have worked for one company, it is time for a change. In one sense you could say it’s my mid-life crisis,” Mancini said. “Starting with a new mill will make everything new again and regenerate my enthusiasm for designing textiles in today’s business climate. This will be a true renaissance for Wesley Mancini Ltd.”

Mancini has received such honors as the 2000 Home Fashions Product Assn. Hometex Award and the 1992 DuPont Creative Leadership Award, and was on Metropolitan Home’s “Design 100” list in 1992 and 1994.

Valdese Weavers recently announced a move to add manufacturing capacity and capabilities in information technology and design. The company also recently established a new division, Valdese International Products (VIP), to add sourced products.