The fashion designer Chuks Collins is diving into the home sector through a licensing deal with Lush Decor.
The designer’s first collection of duvets, shams, sheets, throw pillows and other items will debut this spring via Amazon and Collins’ site. Collins is also gearing up for a presentation to unveil his latest ready-to-wear and home selections, during next month’s New York Fashion Week.
The way he sees it, the idea of home is a multidimensional space that “encompasses three essential aspects — our earth, our residential home and our clothing.” Collins said that every piece that he designs for the home collection is meant to transform living spaces into personal sanctuaries that are also inspirational. The designer also considers clothing to be “the intimate home that we carry with us that also serves as a shield to cover ourselves, to protect our bodies and to make us be our full selves for everything that we do,” said Collins, who previously worked for Ralph Lauren and Nanette Lepore.
First-year retail volume for the home collection is estimated to be $1 million, according to market sources. Lush Decor is planning an event in March in its first store, and the official launch for the collaborative home line will be on Amazon in April.
“Mycelium Whispers” will be the first drop and that theme is a nod to his discovery of the healing powers of mushrooms, while receiving chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer. After ending that medical treatment in August of 2023, Collins returned to work in time for last fall’s New York Fashion Week and staged an event at Berkeley College’s New York outpost to celebrate his residency with the school. “I’m just grateful to God for the resilience that I’ve been able to show through my career and my life. I’m taking it a step at a time because I am grateful to be here now. For every opportunity that I get, as long as I am ready, I put in my best effort,” the 36-year-old said. “I’m still cancer free, and I eat mushrooms as part of my meals today. That’s what inspired this whole collection for the fashion presentation and this home collaboration.”
The designer is known for his prints.
Photo Courtesy Chuks Collins
To kick off the two-year deal with Lush Decor, Collins cohosted a dinner at Meduza Mediterrania in New York City with his friend and mentor Nicole Miller. Lush Decor’s founder Julia Jing Zhu and chief executive officer Paola Peretti were also on hand, as well as Transocean’s head designer Liora Manne, stylist Solange Franklin, model Jason Felton, and “Real Housewives of New York” star Bershan Shaw. Notable guests sported looks from Collins’ fall collection including Miller, who said she received several compliments for the moss green velvet dress. (That “Angelina” style is available online for $1,295.) Arrangements of mushrooms — and the designer’s prints — were used to decorate the tables, and guests were offered signature cocktails that were infused with mushroom powder.
A shower curtain designed by Chuks Collins.
Photo Courtesy Chuks Collins
Miller said she expects Collins to succeed in the home sector, due to his “unique vision for prints including many in soft tones.” Collins gave guests at that dinner “beautiful” printed scarves with hers being one in an abstract camouflage print, Miller said. “And you will see me in the blouse that I am going to make out of the scarf.”
Looking ahead, Collins said he is working on lining up wholesale accounts. He also has been busy creating custom pieces for three nominees at this year’s Critic Choice Awards — Rachel Bloom whose Netflix series “Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Special” is a contender for Best Comedy Special, Michael Urie, a nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in “Shrinking,” and actor Brandon Scott Jones, a competitor for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
