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Stacy Garcia introduces her Modern Legacy Collection at Calico

Designers always feel close to what they design, but for Stacy Garcia, her new collection is even more personal. She’s using it extensively in her own home in her remodeled dining room and also her home office. We interviewed Stacy about what we can expect from her collection, new for 2020 at Calico.

It’s personal.

For her new collection, Stacy took inspiration from her travels and from her grandmother, who always loved Asian design in her home décor. “The crane pattern really reminds me of her aesthetic,” she says, pointing to a crane illustration on a light blue background that she has used for both her dining room drapes and the wing chairs that anchor the ends of her dining table. “The florals as well, they remind me of travels to gardens and inspired a lot of hand-drawn watercolor effects that we added to the prints.” Stacy talks about her inspiration for the new collection »

Stacy Garcia was renovating her house at the same time she developed her new collection, which gave her an opportunity to use some of her favorite patterns prior to launch.

It’s performance.

With four kids and a dog, Stacy needed fabrics that resist stains. All the fabrics in her new collection are Crypton® Home stain-resistant high-performance fabrics. “It’s not a spray-on after-finish,” Stacy says. “It’s an immersive technology that really becomes one with the fabric.” Stacy has been working with Crypton for years, starting with her work in the hospitality industry twenty years ago. She has seen performance fabrics get to the point where the look and the hand are indistinguishable from non-performance indoor fabrics. “It’s really amazing,” she says. “We’re doing gorgeous textures. We can do plush fabrics. The beauty of this technology is that these days, from the design perspective, the Crypton technology is just an enhancement. We pick it because it’s beautiful.” Stacy shows you the difference Crypton can make »

With more patterns than ever before, Crypton Home fabrics look and feel so good, it’s hard to tell they’re stain-resistant performance fabrics.

It’s timeless, not trendy.

Home fashion isn’t like personal fashion, where you may buy a few trendy new pieces each year to update your wardrobe. It might be many years before you’re ready to redecorate, so it’s essential that designs work for both today and tomorrow. “We’re looking at what’s happening in the marketplace, and how colors are trending over time,” she says. “Those trends are really important when you’re figuring out what you want your home to look like, because you don’t want to invest in something that looks trendy, and then it’s out.”

Stacy’s team is involved with companies that do color forecasting for consumer products across the board.

It’s layered.

“It’s really about having something that’s cohesive but interesting at the same time,” Stacy says. “We’re always looking to have a hero design and then create complements to those things. You start with something that stands out and creates visual interest. That’s what creates personality in a space and that’s what makes it a wow.” Stacy begins with the overall concept, using sketchbooks and watercolors to draw something with soul, before scanning the hand-drawn designs into a computer where her team can manipulate the images. “There’s a ton of experimentation we do when we’re developing the collection,” Stacy says. “You want something that you could use on a sofa, on a chair, on a pillow – a cohesive grouping that will look beautiful in somebody’s home.”

Layering different styles gives a room an eclectic look. Stacy says, “I think that’s what gives a home personality.”

It’s designed to fit perfectly together.

Stacy and her team carefully edit the collection to make it easier for customers to mix and match fearlessly. “I love developing collections that have common color themes throughout the various patterns and also have a variety of scales,” Stacy says. “We have some small, some medium and some large patterns, and the colors really blend beautifully. The editing process is part of the gift that we give to the homeowner. We pare down the collection to what we in the studio feel are the best of the best. We make tough decisions so you don’t have to!”

Stacy’s collection is made so anyone can put together a great room, but complimentary design help from Calico gives you an extra measure of confidence.

It’s the perfect time to try Calico.

As a designer of fabric, furniture and more, Stacy didn’t need to use Calico designers, but she’s still a big fan. “It’s like working out with a trainer,” Stacy says of the help Calico designers provide. “They push you to create something that maybe you would not have been bold enough to come up with yourself.” There are over 60 Calico design centers nationwide.