Raymond Waites debuts Metropolitan Chic bedding

Designer Raymond Waites revisits his past with a focus on the future through crisp polka dots, stylized origami flowers and masculine graphics as he introduces Metropolitan Chic, a contemporary bedding collection complete with new packaging.

Waites also has expanded his showroom at 230 Fifth Avenue, nearly doubling the size and featuring an all-white color scheme to complement Metropolitan Chic.

Long known for his florals and traditional patterns, it's easy to forget Waites began his design career at the iconic design firm Marimekko.

"I'm going back to my youth," he said. "Metropolitan Chic is very modern, very retro. It's what I did in the '60s — white walls and floors and bold fabrics. It was a blast to return to this style and design a bedding collection around it. And global sourcing allows me to incorporate unique details and fabrications into the collection."

First tested in Waites' ceramics line, Metropolitan Chic's strong sales cemented the style's move to bedding. About 12 designs will debut in the collection, ranging from Asian and ethnic inspiration to urban, sophisticated designs.

Metropolitan Chic will have its own packaging, in a Bauhaus graphic style colored in black, citron and mango and with white lettering.

Waites used the vibrant citron and mango as those two colors have become the fashion colors with an edge. "I love citron — it's the accent color I use throughout my home," he said.

Waites' Vintage lux look will be expanded. Silk embroideries, including one of peacock feathers on a green ground, will debut, as will designs of Persian geometrics, crests, chinoiserie and red florals.

Another new pattern will be Tuscany, a bold, graphic jacquard with a wide stripe of a large-scale terra cotta design.

The Rainbow Stripe pattern has a quilted look and feel.