Simon & Kabuki
By Cynthia Van Hazinga
Chic & Sassy
A shortage of hip party supplies led this cool duo to designing playful stationery, accessories, and ultimately–fabric!
Fabric lovers, get ready to smile. Erin Sarpa and Ilene Guy have joined forces to bring us Simon + Kabuki, charmingdesign for choosy clientele.” Their first line for Quilting Treasures, “Juicy Blossoms,” combines clean graphic motifs with on-trend color. The next, “Nesting,” (think birds and eggs), in stores this October, is another winner.
Erin and Ilene have been a team since their schooldays at San Jose State University, where both studied design and
discovered a mutual love for chic design, a modern color palette and fresh typography. Twenty years later, they’re partners in the completely cool firm EandI design, known for invitations, stationery, personal notebooks, kids’ stuff, home accessories— and now fabrics. Meanwhile, they’re each mothers of three who live the California life to the hilt.
(Ilene plays soccer, and did she say water polo?)
Actually, their own kids led to the birth of Simon + Kabuki. Planning birthday parties, Erin and Ilene discovered a shortage of super-hip party invitations and stepped into the breach with fresh designs. Simon + Kabuki grew and
branched out; their theory is that “you don’t have to spend a fortune or hire a contractor to make your living space feel like a designer lives there.”
The team’s fresh, modern designs soar to unexpected sizes in playful wall murals (muralsyourway.com).
Ready to Sew
Though both women had mothers who sewed, neither Erin nor Ilene has kept up the craft, at least until now. Erin made throw pillows from the “Juicy Blossoms” fabric, but she’s “better with power tools,” she reports. Ilene loves to iron, but claims that if she had one of the super-awesome sewing machines she saw at last fall’s Houston Quilt Market, she’d be a whiz. They both take lots of photos, especially of their flower gardens, which are a ready source of inspiration for design. (Erin also has a big salsa garden and loves landscaping.)
Both women are “mad for color,” and like to combine unexpected colors, say teal and orange, as nature does. They work closely with Quilting Treasures when developing a fabric line. They sketch first, then turn to the computer.
Quilting is “cool and amazing,” these creative divas think. Women quilt because it’s nostalgic, meaningful, homemade and gets them closer to other women, they say, and they’re eager to add their modern aesthetic to the quilting world.
And why the name, Simon + Kabuki? Simon was Erin’s first childhood pet, a cat, and Kabuki was Ilene’s first pet, a rat.
For More Information: simonandkabuki.com, quiltingtreasures.com
Tags: Designer Spotlight, Quilting Treasures, Simon & Kabuki
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