Kathy Ireland Shades of America, Really
Shades of Kathy

[read the full interview here]

FlooringGuide.com's own Ray with Kathy Ireland.

With corporate and celebrity endorsements on everything from ballparks to bubble gum, it's nice to see that Kathy Ireland lends not only her name but her passion to Shaw's, Kathy Ireland Shades of America. This collection of wall to wall carpeting contains 90 colors in 4 distinct patterns.

Kathy Ireland has expanded her Home Collection to include furniture, area rugs, lighting, and accessories and now, wall to wall carpet. The Shades of America carpet marks the second time that Kathy Ireland and Shaw have partnered together. With the success of the area rug collection, it seemed only natural to extend the relationship with Shaw. When FlooringGuide.com asked about working with the largest carpet manufacturer in the world, Ms. Ireland, who works with her team of designers, had this to say about Shaw: "Shaw is a company made up of wonderful, creative and talented people. It's a company with integrity and they respect my values, and they are great partners in helping me execute my vision."

Ms. Ireland explained that she "starts from the ground up" in both her approaches to home decorating and fashion, "my apparel collection began with socks." The collection is designed with not only Kathy's comfortable West Coast feeling, but also with busy moms and families in mind. She explained that even the color names are straightforward. Using names like Midnight Blue, Frosted Peach and Cinnamon Toast allows the purchaser to picture the color and know about complimentary décor colors instantly. "If she chooses Midnight Blue carpet, she'll know that anything in the blue family will work for her room."

The Ireland family has even installed this carpet in their own home with great success. Kathy explains, "I have two young children and we tested this product." As she further elaborated, "We had found some of the most disgusting things out of the refrigerator, and science projects that just covered the carpet, because we want to make sure that this stuff does what it says it does." This desire to ensure certain quality standards stem all the way back to Kathy Ireland's modeling career, "My background in modeling alerted me to images and clothing that were unrealistic. It's important to me that everything under my label carry my personal involvement."

The entire Kathy Ireland Shades of America collection is deigned to be a mix and match spectrum of colors. It features R2X stain protection and incorporates the Luxury Softbac Platinum for "worry free installation". As Kathy told us, "the consumer may not know why they are happy, why it looks so good, but with that extra added quality, they're going to get a beautiful installation, with no re-stretch problems. We'll have happy customers!"

Kathy Ireland loves her work as a "lifestyle designer" and has incorporated her own personality into her products. "When a customer purchases a Kathy Ireland Shades of America carpet, they are getting a great quality, beautiful product and I feel really passionately about it. It's beautiful. It's great quality! It's easy to take care of! It's great value! So you can't go wrong. I've sold all my family and friends and they love it! I'm really excited about it!"

The Shades of America collection is available through Shaw Industries affiliated dealers and at www.kathyireland.com and www.shawinc.com

Author: Jason Walker - FlooringGuide.com Editorial Staff Jason Walker is a Professional Flooring Consultant Copyright © 2000 FlooringGuide.com All Rights Reserved