Nestled in a tree-studded design enclave just west of downtown Chicago, the bricked loft district that houses our design studio and corporate offices is also home to a host of other creative talents that infuse our world with inspiration, innovation, and integrity every day.
In the coming weeks, we’ll talk with some of our neighboring artists, designers, and other creators about what they do and why they do it.
First up: Eli-Wyn, a family-owned upholstery business that brings a personalized touch to everything they do. And the list is lengthy: re-upholstery, custom furniture, window treatments, fabric sales, and pickups and deliveries.
We at Unison can happily vouch for the quality of their work; over the years, we’ve become such fans that we’ve begun working with Eli Wyn to produce some of our ottomans, poufs, and piped pillows.
Recently, we caught up with Molly Quinlan, who runs the shop with her husband, John.
Here’s what we talked about:
Unison: Eli-Wyn offers such an array of services. How did your business evolve?
Molly: My husband, John, had a retail store for many years, and he used Eli Wyn upholstery at the time. So when the owner retired and offered us the business in 1996, I took over and dove into the reupholstery business. At the time, I was a designer at a commercial furniture dealership in Chicago, and ready for a change.
Eli-Wyn offers upholstery services as well as custom furniture. We make everything from headboards to sectionals, ottomans, and pillows. We also make custom window treatments.
We moved to the Fulton area about 6 years ago, and we welcome customers to come and select from hundreds of fabric samples that we have in our showroom.
Unison: That sounds like a unique model – kind of a hybrid between an upholstery shop and a design studio. Do you feel this makes you different from others in your field?
Molly: Yes, the full-service aspect is unique. John brings deep retail experience from running his own store for over 10 years, I bring the design background, and we have a gentleman on staff who, upon request, will go out to customers’ homes to help them take measurements, select fabrics, etc. We love to work with both designers and end users, and our full-service approach allows for that.
It’s also nice that we have a library up front to service customers and designers who want to select fabrics. And the custom furniture side is unique as well.
Unison: And can you tell us about the vibe in the design district of Chicago where you (and we) are located?
Molly: This area has been wonderful. We have met many different artisans who share a collaborative approach to their work: there’s Unison, and also a refinishing company, custom cabinetry makers, and a graphic printing company that we have had the chance to work closely with.
It’s been great to be able to utilize the knowledge from the various crafts. It is definitely a unique area to work in.
The ever-so stylish lifestyle site, The Effortless Chic, recently featured a number of Unison favorites in their Kids Easter Bash. Colorful, inspiring, and full of spring spirit, we were thrilled to see our products brought to life!
This season, we are launching a striking variety of standout ceramics. Each piece makes a bold enough statement to stand on its own, but the collection still made us want to know more. So we cornered founding designer (and my husband) Robert Segal for some insight into choosing, using, and loving this new selection of offerings.
Alicia: Why are you introducing a new ceramic line?
Robert: We feel ceramics complement our core line of bedding, throw pillows, and table linens. They merge in any room of the home, and we want to offer a selection from planters to dinner plates, to capture the unique perspective of our modern aesthetic. Having done one-of-a-kind and smaller runs with designers abroad and local, we’ve come to love what can be created with the material.
Alicia: What is it about ceramic(s) that draws you in general?
Robert: The sculptural quality and material. And the fact that glazes are so similar to printing, yet more variation can occur. I also find the contrast between ceramics and textiles appealing: hard and soft, cold and warm. It’s an interesting dichotomy.
Alicia: What about the factories you worked with to make these? Why Portugal?
Robert: We have been producing our bedding collection in Portugal since 2006, so it was very accessible for us and easy to meet in person. Having known the quality from Portugal, I was excited to find various ceramic factories offering different ranges and technique. The collection reflects this, with some vases and plates hand made with reactive glazes, while others have been done with slip casting – more minimal and industrial. As we became familiar with new materials and design processes, I was taken back to the excitement of working through this process with textiles.
Alicia: The line is a mix of dinnerware, vases, and centerpieces. Is there one from the collection that you like best?
Robert: Perhaps the Strata Black Centerpiece Bowl. I love the contrast between interior and exterior, along with the dimension the material creates. It feels very solid and industrial, even tough it’s created from such a fragile material.
Alicia: What’s next in new products that you helped design and develop?
Robert: I’m looking to expand our range of ceramics for the Fall collection, with more texture and pattern involved. I’m also excited about using new colors with existing shapes, playing with the ways color can change the feel of an object.
We have had the pleasure of working with artist Hillery Sproatt in the last couple of years on collaborations with Unison. Last fall we hosted a launch party at our Chicago store featuring the Harvest pattern (as table linens, knit blankets and pillows and hand printed cotton pillows) and were pleasantly surprised that Hillery’s mom, Debra Weiss, was there too. We knew that Debra is not only Hillery’s mom, but that the two have worked closely together since Hillery was a teen on her women’s apparel brand, Rebe. Currently Hillery helps with marketing for Rebe and curating their online shop, but it is evident their relationship is exceptional so we thought it nice to give a little tribute to their success and find out: what’s their secret?
Hillery, we love that you have had such an amazing relationship with your mom and textile artist, Debra. Weiss. Can you tell us about your professional and personal life together?
H: My mom and I are very close, she is one of my dearest friends. For as long as I can remember we have shared a love of art, textiles, hand work, laughing and exploring new cities.
Starting Rebe 15 years ago seemed like a natural progression. My mom valued my creative sensibilities and Rebe was a platform for us to put our skills to work. Although I was only 15 years old when we launched our first collection of handbags and women’s apparel, my mom treated me like a partner. We worked closely designing the collections and learning how to market and sell our wares. Within a few years Rebe handbags and women’s apparel were in hundreds of stores all over the country.
Since then, much has changed. I went off to school where I earned my BFA in fine art and I began my own art practice. I no longer have a hand in any of the designing for Rebe, but I do help market and sell her beautiful wearables. Together we run a curated online shop that specializes in fine handmade goods called, Specks & Keepings and we travel to craft markets throughout the country selling our goods.
What is the one thing that you love most when it comes to working together on Rebe?
D: I love the excitement Hillery and I bring to our work individually and together. We inspire each other. It brings us great joy to work together in part because we love each other, but also because we have been doing it for so long that we make a great team. We both enjoy wearing my designs daily and we love working closely with our customers so they feel beautiful and comfortable in their everyday wear. There is great joy and ease for me in being able to present my designs to the world with Hillery by my side.
H: I love the freedom our work affords us, the freedom to be creative, travel and to affect the lives of our many wonderful customers. It is amazing to watch people light up when they feel beautiful in their clothing or stumble upon an artwork that resonates with them.
Do you have a favorite story or sentiment to share about a product or product line that you were involved with at Rebe or Specks and Keepings?
H: I look forward to the new Rebe collection every season. I feel most beautiful in my mom’s clothing and I wear it nearly everyday. Perhaps this is why I enjoy selling her work. It is wonderful to share with others that which you love yourself. I especially love living with my patchwork quilt she made me. Every season she completes a few of these blankets using her cutting room scraps. Some are simple and others more complex, but each is so beautiful with her sampling of past season fabrics side by side.
Rebe Maggie Blue DressRebe Rose Garden DressRebe Lena Wrap Dress
D: There isn’t one particular story that comes to mind. I think one of the things I love most about our work is all our wonderful customers. Many visit us each year at our craft shows. Through them I hear the stories of my clothing. I design with beauty, functionality and durability in mind and I am always overjoyed to know that customers get stopped when wearing my designs and they have pieces they love and wear that are now many years old.
What do you love about working with your mom? What might be certain knowledge that you feel she has given to you and really helped.
H: My mom is very hard working. She raised myself and my two sisters on her own. She inspires me to follow my heart, even when things appear tough and she is a wonderful example of the joy that comes with being a kind person.
Tell us about your recent works, whether it’s on paper or fiber, and what you love about both media.
H: I have been enjoying painting very much. It is a quiet practice and the immediacy of mark making excites me- in this way it is very different from embroidery.
Paintings by Hillery SproattHillery working in her studio
D: I got my degree in textile design in 1977, but for many years I have struggled to find the time to cultivate a fine art practice while running Rebe. Just recently I have begun to carve out time to sit and work on my textiles. It is slow work, so I have to be patient with myself and the medium, which is challenging and wonderful.
I began a series of Fabric Works last year, which are fabric collages that I treat almost like painted compositions. I use my fabric scraps, careful not to cut them in order to keep the integrity of their found shape. Like much of my other work, this is an exercise in responding to material. Most recently, I have been enjoying working on larger latch hook pieces as well as my small macrame wall hangings.
Fabric Work 16 by Debra WeissFlower Fields by Debora Weiss
You are also a master at nail art and have developed a loyal following. What brought you into this area? Do you have a favorite style, color or fun story to share?
My dear friend and wonderful artist, Annika Blomberg inspired me to paint nails. At the time, she was inspired by friends who painted nails long before I. For years we just painted each others nails for fun, but it has increasingly become a part of my art practice. I find painting nails gratifying in large part because I consider them to be small artworks that are the result of an intimate exchange and intuitive process that is sensitive to material, surface and scale.
So far we have collaborated on several projects with you – My Lady and Gentelmen dolls, Dolls of the World, and the Harvest pattern which came out as several products. What collaboration so far has been your favorite and why?
I loved our textile collaboration, the Harvest Print. It was fantastic to see my work large, graphic and functional. I have wanted to translate my paintings to textiles for many years and this was my first experience seeing the impact they have as cloth- I was very pleased.
H: I continue to paint daily and I just started taking my very first hand-building ceramics class, which I love.
Do you have wise words for anyone else who might have a great mother-daughter relationship – be it just personal or also professional?
H: To remember to be grateful and good to each other. It is a very special gift to be able to work closely with a parent.
D: I have been given the amazing gift of Hillery as a daughter. It is such a pleasure to be able to work together. I think we both learned early on the importance of allowing for space and time to cultivate our own work, as this is one of the most fulfilling things you can do for yourself as an artist or designer.From there, we were able to come together to showcase both of our work beautifully side by side. I have always tried to encourage all my daughters to go after their passion in life and to nourish each of their talents.
To see more of Hillery Sproatt and Debra Weiss’ work visit:
