BROOKLYN, New York — Chella Textiles is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and held a special event at Scott Bodenner’s design studio to commemorate the occasion as well as the introduction of some new fabric designs.

Bodenner is Chella’s head of design, enlisted by founder Lee Menichella to create logic-defying textiles that boast technical expertise and luxury performance.

“I see my job as intuiting what designers want before they even know themselves,” said Menichella. “Scott then turns my most eccentric ideas — a true performance matelasse; the first outdoor chenille — into solution-dyed acrylics with great structural and color sophistication.”

Murano Strie and Rialto are two of the Spring 2010 Venezia collection launches that the company is currently rolling out.

“Our story for spring is a case of old meets new,” said Menichella. “While exploring the roots of the US textile industry, Chella design chief Scott Bodenner found inspiration in the hills of Appalachia. Working with a Hudson, North Carolina mill established in the nineteenth century, Bodenner cultivated a refined, mineral-toned palette. The resulting collection, Venezia, features sixteen grey-tone infused solid hues that harmonize with pool, spa and garden landscapes.
I’m particularly excited that a foray into our country’s past yielded new fabrics that are contemporary, sophisticated, and made in America.”

Menichella shuns faster and cheaper production options in favor of weaving at top-notch European and American mills, some of whose legacies date to the 15th century. “Certain mills employ true artisans who’ll have thirty, forty years’ weaving expertise,” said Menichella. “Their parents worked there and their children will too.”