Green Living

“Ten years ago, you couldn’t find an organic tomato in New York City unless you went to the hippie store,” said Anthony Cochran, the 35-yearold co-founder of Q Collection, a 7-month-old, high-design, “green” furniture company based in Manhattan. “Now look at Whole Foods.” Every detail of Q Collection’s furnishings is environmentally friendly, from the recycled metal studs to glue without formaldehyde. The wood comes from sustainable forests, and the stains lack polyurethane. Even the feather stuffing for the pillows comes from free-range ducks.Q Collection’s other co-founder, Jesse Johnson, 33, who has a degree in environmental management as well as an MBA from Yale, has painstakingly researched organic alternatives to every component used in furniture construction, ensuring that the line’s chairs, sofas, and tables have as little impact as possible upon the environment and the human beings using them. The furnishings are all hypoallergenic.So far, the company’s ecologically friendly philosophy has proved successful. One customer recently became fascinated by the company after reading an article about its practices. After checking out the Web site, she picked up the phone and placed a six-figure order, buying every one of the pieces in the line. She never bothered to set foot in the showroom.“She’s allergy-sensitive,” Mr. Cochran explained.The company’s sales have risen steadily since Q Collection opened its doors in February. Last week, an interior designer known for decorating Madonna’s and Demi Moore’s abode, flew out to peruse the selection.“Thankfully, a lot of people are buying our stuff solely because of the quality,” said Mr. Johnson. “But increasingly, we’re starting to really get in front of the people who care about materials.”Yet Messrs. Johnson and Cochran knew when creating the line that the furniture above all needed an impeccable design to attract buyers – its organic construction, a certain bonus for recycling fans, wouldn’t alone convince customers to take the pieces home.“I wanted some sensuality to the furniture, but I wanted a clean look,” said Mr. Cochran, who designed the line’s 17 pieces, all named after friends or family. “I didn’t want it to be traditional.”The collection’s showroom on Broadway near Union Square feels welcoming. Colorful pillows priced from $90 to $250 are stacked in the corner, and lamps made from antique vases, from $860 to $1,140, light the room. The furnishings, some upholstered in warm golds and reds, are spaciously arranged. The furniture’s angles and curves are softer than those found in modern design, but the pieces lack the heaviness of antique store finds.A show-stopping settee called “Abigail” has a high, straight back and a regal appearance, at $15,440. (All prices listed are retail. Q Collection offers “fairly significant” discounts for designers and people in the trade). The dark leather “Joe” Club chair and accompanying ottoman, at $6,800 and $3,750, are a pipe smoker’s paradise, and the small, mustard-yellow “Bessie” side chair, $2,400, with a round back and slightly curved legs, would be equally at home at Grandma’s house or in a modern apartment.Some of Q Collection’s most popular items are its fabrics. The satins, wools, and hemps in colors such as olive, aubergine, and rust, are created with zero impact, noncarcinogenic dyes. Customers have bought the cloth for curtains and bedspreads, as well as to cover their furniture. The hemp retails for $63 a yard, while the satin wool sells for $127 a yard.While both Mr. Cochran and Mr. Johnson acknowledge Q Collection’s higher prices, they say they don’t pass on to customers the costs of the expensive organic components. According to Mr. Johnson, studies have shown that some people will pay 10% more for all-natural materials. However, “I didn’t really want to test that myself,” he said. In the end, they decided to charge for the design, but not for the all-natural materials.The founders met in 2000, when Mr. Johnson hired Mr. Cochran to redecorate his TriBeCa apartment. Mr. Johnson, who was wrapping up his environmental management studies, asked about “green” furniture. But Mr. Cochran, who at the time had his own design firm, ACD New York, couldn’t locate any organic pieces with exceptional design. After the apartment was complete, the two stayed in touch. In the back of his mind, Mr. Johnson already knew he wanted to somehow combine business with sustainable design, but it was the terrorist attacks of September 11 that pushed him into action. “Why wait?” he said.Mr. Johnson trusted Mr. Cochran’s sense of design and knew he had made his own furniture, so that November, over dinner at Le Zinc, he broached the subject of going into business together. Mr. Cochran agreed to the partnership and began working on the new collection. He crafted the furniture in less than a year, but researching the materials turned out to be more time-intensive than expected – it took a year, and is still an ongoing project.It was the booming high-end furniture market and the growing trend for organic foods and green buildings that convinced the men that a green furnishings company would work.But it’s not just ecology fans that are swiping up Q Collections pieces. So far, the furnishings have attracted three main types of customers: People who buy the furniture solely for the design, those who love the design and consider the all-natural factor a bonus, and those who seek them out because of their organic furniture, but still appreciate the style.“We want to give people a choice,” Mr. Johnson said.

Green Living

Green Living

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