Ann Gish expands into everyday luxury

New machine-washable designs to debut at High Point Market

Luxury bedding maker Ann Gish will reveal the results of a major product expansion in High Point next month.

Best known for its distinctive ensembles of silks, jacquards, linens, embroideries and fine detailing, the company has broadened its offering to include new constructions and designs for easy-care, everyday elegance.

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The introductions are debuting as chief designer Jane Gish marks her first year as CEO of Ann Gish Inc., the eponymous company started by her mother more than three decades ago. While the new collections will incorporate new innovations and design elements, the designer-driven looks and level of quality will remain the same, Jane Gish told HNN. “These are easy-care items that are NOT plain; we are still offering the amazing jacquards, embroideries and detailing that make us stand out in a world of (very nice) white bed linens, but now they’re sturdier, and machine washable.”

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For Gish, who juggles running a company with being a mom to two young boys, the move was a response to real life. “My children are adorable but also often disgusting and sticky. I want durability but I don’t want to have to settle for ‘plain.’

“I want what elevates my home into something that brings me joy yet doesn’t cause me to do extra work. That balance, I think, is really important. You want something that makes you happy when you go to bed in it, when you look at it, but it can’t require a lot of you. You want to own your stuff, not have your stuff own you.”

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Ann Gish’s timeless classics will remain unchanged — the “more formal, dry clean-only” designs that are among the company’s top-sellers and remain highly popular, Gish said. “I love designing the really fancy stuff and I definitely don’t want to alienate the core customer, but I also think that, more and more, people have less time, so you’ve got to make it easier.”

The product also has to look nice, she added. “We’ve done a bit of consumer research in the last couple of months and one of the actionable insights is that people are having a hard time finding things that are really beautiful and interesting, that are easy to take care of.”

The company is also placing a stronger emphasis on social responsibility, embracing green energy and sustainable fabrics such as recycled polyester and Oeko Tex 100 certified textiles.

“I’m really into the fact that our Hem Stripe Sheets are made at a mill that runs 100% of its operations on wind power, everything from the spinning of yarns to weaving to the cut and sew,” Gish said. “That’s so cool. We’re working on a bunch of new styles with them that I’m really excited about.”

Also new is a more robust, inspirational brand voice on social media and a heightened presence in the e-commerce space, where 30% of the company’s (online) sales are being donated to fight COVID-19 and support social justice. “The way my mother did photo shoots you could identify a lot of our product just by the look of the photography – which was great, but it’s too formal. Some of the more casual photography you see on Instagram is my stepsister Chiara, who is doing an amazing job from her house in L.A.”

Prior to her death last summer, Ann Gish closed her Manhattan retail showroom and moved operations to an 11,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in West Springfield, Mass. Soon after, Jane and her family moved from Brooklyn to a home in nearby Northampton, Mass. When the closure was announced, there was talk of reopening a retail showroom at a later date, possibly in the New York Design Center.

Though the events of the past year, including COVID’s impact on retail and the economy, have understandably put a hold on those plans for now, Jane Gish is clearly in control and positioning the 30-year-old brand for even greater success going forward. “It was a good move (to Massachusetts). The retail shut down, the timing there was kind of incredible. And moving out of the city was good for us, with children, from a quality of life perspective.”

Next on the agenda is High Point, where the company will be showcasing its new intros alongside top-selling classics from its Ann Gish and Ann Gish & The Art of Home lines in Interhall (IHFC IH-114).

Asked how she’s handling the “new rules” and additional stress of prepping for market during COVID times, Gish replied, “When I start to feel frustrated I tell myself that I’m a planner who can’t plan. I don’t know anyone who has had the kind of summer that they expected to. It’s actually been great to just kind of roll with it.”