E.J. Victor Brings Art Deco Like You’ve Never Seen It.

NOTE TO EDITORS: This document and supporting images are available online at the E.J. Victor web site. Point your browser to www.ejvictor.com and navigate to the What's New page.

Sensing a trend that minimalizes ornate extravagance and captures the elegant style of cool sophistication using abstraction, simplification, ingenious geometry and intense colors, premiere furniture crafter E.J. Victor introduces Couture 25.

Inspired by the exciting forms of Art Deco design, Couture 25 represents a bold and deliberate departure from E.J. Victor’s historic lineup of period reproduction furniture. With, coincidentally, 25 pieces of dining room, occasional and upholstered furniture, Couture 25 is a stunning mix of exotic woods, precious metals, stone, glass and dazzling pallets of fabrics.

The furniture possesses the functionality demanded by today’s lifestyle, yet reflects the fabulous visual trends of the 1920s when Art Deco was the rage of the fashion world.

And for fashion-forward consumers, the trend is returning. "We are currently seeing a movement away from collections in America and in Europe, and a movement away from 18th-Century reproductions, especially from England and France," said John Jokinen, E.J. Victor president and co-founder. "Instead, we are seeing a demand for a later period of furniture that feeds right into the Art Deco style."

Art Deco took its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, an exhibition held in Paris in 1925 (hence the collection’s name, Couture 25). Its origins are rooted in a reaction to the flowing motifs and fussiness of Art Nouveau with its emphasis on individual craftsman-made pieces.

"After the First World War people wanted a modern, functional style for their furniture, jewelry and decorative objects," Jokinen said. "As a result, many Art Deco designers rejected traditional materials for their work and chose instead to work with more unusual materials like ebony, steel, marble and rare and expensive types of wood. Their designs were geometric with clean unfussy lines."

"We are impressed with that approach," he said. "What appeals to me is that it is a form that is very understandable to the traditional customer. It is not stark. It has flowing lines. It has beautiful veneers. It has nice hardware. It is very functional. It removes a lot of the excess that that period furniture had."

"I’m starting to see Art Deco bring a big ticket in antique shops around the country," Jokinen said, "especially in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and other international markets. There seems to be a building momentum for that type of furniture in terms of appeal."

"So we’re venturing out a little bit," he said, "but I think it’s time for the high end industry to give some choice to the consumers who appreciate fine quality and perhaps a new style category."

Jokinen and his product development team spent over a year researching the Art Deco arena while preparing Couture 25. The furniture is inspired from unique items found in museums and exhibits in Europe, Canada and the United States.

The case good pieces are crafted from cherry solids, mahogany veneers and Santos veneers. Santos is a stable, rich, dark mahogany colored wood, which is a superior choice to genuine mahogany because of its hardness and color fastness (it is 175% as hard as red oak).

Three dining tables, two sideboards, two consoles, four dining chairs, two armoires, three coffee tables, three end tables, three sofas and three upholstered chairs complete E.J. Victor’s April 2004’s introduction. A bedroom package, highlighted by one of the most stunning beds of the Art Deco era, is planned for later in the year.

The furniture features E.J. Victor’s trademark exquisite hand finish applications, including elaborate feathered veneer patterns, bold gold- and silver-leafing on black lacquer, metal accents on table tops and leg bases, custom-cut glass and stone tops and complex shaping of cases. There is constant, yet graceful, visual movement throughout the furniture.

Visitors to E.J. Victor’s High Point showroom can expect to enjoy a setting that captures the essence of the Art Deco period. "Our showroom is over the top," Jokinen said. "There are black and white floors, black and white walls and period fabrics and skins and ultra suede with a lot of red and white and black and mixing all the colors."

Edward W. Phifer, III, Joseph B. Manderson and John Victor Jokinen founded E.J. Victor in 1990 in Morganton, NC. Together, the founders created a corporate culture that maintains an unwavering commitment to preserving time-honored, local construction methods used to create exquisite furniture for the home.