A legacy of design, a history of service
timelessness, quality, attention to detail and superb craftsmanship are the hallmarks of products from Brunschwig & Fils, designer and manufacturer of contemporary and historically-inspired decorative fabrics, wall coverings, trimmings, upholstered furniture, lamps, tables, mirrors and accessories.

The Past
Achille Brunschwig established Brunschwig & Fils in 1900 as a tapestry-weaving mill in Aubusson and Bohain, in France.  Early in the twentieth century, the firm expanded its collection to include printed and woven silks and cottons from the finest European mills.  Brunschwig soon enjoyed an international reputation for quality.  By 1925, under the direction of Captain Roger E. Brunschwig, the founder’s son, the company opened showrooms in New York and other American cities.

In 1941, Captain Brunschwig joined General de Gaulle’s Free French Forces in London, leaving Zelina, his American wife, to direct the business.  Mrs. Brunschwig – affectionately called Mrs. B – who had been a successful interior designer, joined the firm as a stylist, and found herself without French imports and, being forced to be innovative, she substituted parachute cloth for silk, unbleached muslin for linen, and found American mills to weave and print her designs, all to great acclaim.

Following the war, Roger Brunschwig, now a Colonel, returned to head the firm, which was again able to import fabrics from France and England to complement its American collection.  Under Mrs. B’s leadership as design director, the company broadened its product base to include wallpapers and trimmings, many of which coordinated with existing printed cotton and linen designs.  Mrs. B. also continued to enrich the company’s archives of antique textiles, wallpapers and trims – originally established by Achille Brunschwig – as well as collaborating with museums and historic restorations to create further documentary fabrics.

Today
Brunschwig & Fils continues as a family-owned company – with headquarters in North White Plains, New York – under the direction of Thomas P. Peardon, Jr., Chairman of the Board. T. Olivier Peardon is the President and Chief Executive Officer. Murray Bartlett Douglas continues as a board member and design consultant.

The firm now offers more than 22,000 fabrics and 1,200 wall coverings, ranging from fine documentary reproductions to striking contemporary designs.  Resources include relationships with more than 200 mills from around the world, as well as Brunschwig & Fils’ secret weapon – the wealth of design history in the firm’s extensive archives.

Believing that good design is forever, Brunschwig & Fils does not retire its designs quickly.  Many of the designs in today’s collections date back to the early 1940s, while still others are more than 200 years old.  Hand-woven Louis XV ecru silk brocade is woven in the same Lyon atelier that wove fabrics for the restoration of the Chateau de Versailles.  Brocades, lampas and velvets created for Louis XIV are produced today on the very same looms as the originals in the 18th century.

Every year the design studio creates two new fabric collections consisting of as many as thirty designs per collection, each design available in a variety of color ways.  At least one annual collection is inspired by a museum or historic place.  Previous collections have originated from such diverse sources as the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts and The Henry Francis Du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

The studio also annually introduces a new wallpaper book and adds to its extensive collection of passementerie – tassels, braids, fringes, ropes and cords.

Brunschwig & Fils’ custom capabilities are truly infinite: A fabric order as little as 50 yards can be custom-colored and scaled to order.  Quilting, trapunto, appliqués and other special effects are also available.

In 1986, the company launched its first collection of upholstered furniture.  Now numbering over 100 styles, many of the pieces are available in custom as well as traditional sizes.  As it has with other products, Brunschwig & Fils produces timeless designs of exceptional quality that are suited to both residential and contract use. Included in the collection are sofas and récamiers; armchairs; slipper, dining and occasional chairs; banquettes; ottomans, benches and footstools.  All of the designs can be customized in endless variations for diverse traditional and contemporary settings.

Hand-assembled, kiln-dried hardwood frames and individually placed, hand-tied coil springs demonstrate the exceptional custom quality of this upholstery collection.  Numerous custom options include tufting, buttoning, pleating and shirring.  Choice of custom trim and nail head application provide the final touch to these distinctively styled pieces.

In the most significant expansion since its introduction of upholstered furniture in 1986, Brunschwig & Fils launched lighting and table collections in the spring of 1992.  The collections, in part, were inspired by the need to accessorize Brunschwig & Fils showrooms, where lamps and tables of consistent quality and design suitable to a wide range of fabric and furniture were not always available.  Those collections have been significantly expanded annually since their introductions.

In 1996, Brunschwig & Fils began North American distribution for two major European textile companies: Verel de Belval from France and Gaston Y Daniela from Spain; followed two years later by the Italian company Decortex. In 2003, B&F began the worldwide distribution for Jagtar Thai Silks. In 2004 Brunschwig & Fils acquired worldwide distribution rights for the Kirk Brummel Collection, which today is a division of Brunschwig & Fils.

Export Sales
In 1990 Brunschwig opened a showroom in London, England - its first showroom outside of North America. Ten years later the Paris showroom was inaugurated on the historic rue du Mail. Two showrooms soon followed in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and most recently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In addition to these five B&F-owned showrooms, the company has agents and distributors in 24 countries around the world. With international sales growing at such a fast pace, they now hold an impressive place in the company’s overall marketing picture.