An American Idol

By Lisa Casinger -- Home Accents Today, 4/1/2005

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Robert Idol

Robert Idol, no stranger to the home furnishings industry, debuts his first eponymous collections at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C. this month with The Robert Idol Collection at Lane, lamps and lighting at Currey & Company and wall decor at CAS. However, anyone who's walked into a Lane Furniture showroom in the last 20 years knows of his work even if they don't know his name.

A native North Carolinian, Robert's first job out of design school was with Drexel Heritage in the store-planning department.

"Like most of our first jobs, mine set me on the path for the rest of my career," Robert said. "I was fortunate to land there. It was a great department and I learned a tremendous amount."

In 1979, in his early 20s, Robert moved to San Francisco and became a design director for Bryant-Forney Associates, the store planning and design firm. This move was a milestone of sorts. Not only did the contemporary design aesthetics and philosophies influence Robert's own design sensibility, but it also brought him in contact with Lane Furniture. Robert left Bryant-Forney to form Robert Idol Designs in 1983, with Lane as his first client. As a consultant for the furniture manufacturer, Robert designed its showrooms across the country.

Aside from Lane, Robert had a good residential and commercial design business and worked on other manufacturer showrooms including the fabric company Kravet. Finally, in 1991, Lane convinced Robert to come on board as its design director and move to Atlanta. Today, he is vice president of corporate design and what was once an office for one in Atlanta now houses a staff of 24 responsible for Lane showrooms, free-standing stores, showcases or galleries and details (the accessory program for Lane dealers).

Growing up Robert wanted to be an architect; that mindset plays into his design philosophy. His extensive background in store and showroom planning filters into his work. The West coast mentality, as well as the work of designers like Michael Taylor and Robjohn Givens, also shaped Robert's ideas.

"Even in traditional spaces I like a cleaner, simpler look where the architecture and the furniture stand out," Robert said. "That contemporary mentality one finds on the West coast was sort of the final stamp of what my design direction and philosophy came to be. I wanted to be an architect, but I didn't want to wait until I was 30 to start making a living. I went to design school and was fortunate to fall into an industry that really is as close to being an architect as you can get without being one, so it's a great fit."

Each project has to be approached differently, Robert says, and believes this is why he's a good fit at Lane. Working in upholstery and with the mills on his new line has been a treat for him because it's been a learning experience, something he thoroughly enjoys about being a designer.

"Some designers are strictly creative," he said. "I tend to wear the creative hat as well as business hat and understand the need for merchandising and that we need to sell product."

Robert has designed furniture for himself in the past but admitted designing for mass production was a bit daunting. When it came to the lighting for Currey & Company he considered how it would be used in a space, whether it would hang over a rectangular table, in an entryway, etc. In his furniture and accessories, a mirror inspired by a window on a Georgian house and grillwork reminiscent of an art deco screen can be found. His collection for CAS actually is inspired by his personal collection of art, and while he doesn't claim to be a painter, he did compile and direct the assembly of the CAS line.

"When I'm designing something, my biggest challenge is having confidence in myself," Robert said. "I'm my worst critic. It's one thing to build one of something, but can it then be mass-produced? I heard this advice years ago and I think it's great; every designer should spend one year in a drapery workroom, one year in upholstery etc. so that you really learn how things work."

One of Robert's favorite designs is a big cocktail table he designed for himself in Brazilian rosewood and had built years ago by a company in Los Angeles. "Because it's clean and simple with no carvings, it's contemporary and it's a piece in which the graining of the wood stands out," he said. "My furniture collection is like that. It's about the materials that went into it, whether it's a stretcher becoming an important element or the wood grain really telling the story of the piece. There really doesn't have to be a lot of carving to tell a good story."

"I'm not a celebrity who has put their name on a line of furniture, I'm a designer," he said. "I know what pieces are required for a room. One of the things I prefer is a more eclectic look, not 'Garanimals,' not perfectly matched. With this look there seems to be more of a story that's told about the person who's put these items together. That's what I'm trying to bring to all three lines; it's not just one style."

The furniture, lighting and wall decor collections all have an urban, sophisticated look, something quite different for all three companies. Robert thinks the draw for these product lines is not necessarily his name but rather his experience in putting rooms together and knowing what's important in a space.

Robert is looking into filling in his offerings with rugs, accessories and "basically everything you'd need to fill your home."