What Clarence House does

Clarence House is a heritage American decorative textile company founded in 1961 by New York interior designer Robin Roberts, headquartered in a flagship showroom at 979 3rd Avenue in the D&D Building in New York with a warehouse and receiving operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company specializes in luxury decorative fabrics, trimmings, and wallcoverings — including silks, linens, cottons, velvets, brocades, prints, grasscloths, and handprinted wallpapers — produced primarily via traditional hand-screen printing with high-style textures and bold color palettes. Its catalog spans 3,042+ SKUs organized into named collections (Clarence House Signature, Joie De Vivre, La Reverie, Africa, Indochine, Medici Silk Velvet, John Boyd, Michelle Nussbaumer, Frank Ponterio, Les Tropicaux, Kaleidoscope Trimmings, Indoor/Outdoor, and seasonal lines), with proprietary design produced by an in-house studio led by art director Kazumi Yoshida (since 1981) and close relationships with European mills and textile archives.

The business operates on a trade-exclusive distribution model serving top-tier interior designers, museums, and historic-house restoration projects. Products are not sold to the general public; access requires an account holder relationship, available through the flagship New York showroom, US showrooms in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York, and an international showroom network spanning 18 countries (Australia, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom). Ordering, stock checking, and sample requests are handled through an account-holder web portal. Pricing is unit-based by the yard (or single roll for wallpaper, packaged in double/triple rolls; grasscloth by the yard) with a one-yard minimum cut, and credit terms are Net 30 days, Cash on Delivery, or Proforma.

Clarence House was acquired by P/Kaufmann Inc. in 2002 and operates as a brand subsidiary; the careers portal is hosted on Fabricut's recruiting infrastructure, suggesting operational integration with the parent group's shared services. The company employs 51-100 people, runs no publicly disclosed funding rounds, and reports no revenue in available sources. Founder Robin Roberts retained close involvement until the sale; current creative direction remains under Kazumi Yoshida.

Name

Clarence House

Legal name

Clarence House

Website

https://clarencehouse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Clarence House is a 1961-founded luxury decorative textile company producing hand-screen-printed fabrics, trimmings, and wallcoverings for top-tier interior designers, museums, and historic houses via trade-exclusive showrooms in New York and 17 international markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decorative Textiles and Wallcoverings

NAICS

Sewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods Retailers (45913)

SIC

Retail-Home Furniture, Furnishings & Equipment Stores (5700)

akta.pro primary industry

Upholstery & Decorative Fabrics Retail (Fabric by the Yard, Slipcovers) (CRAIALAF)

Keywords

• Decorative fabrics
• Luxury wallcoverings
• Textile trimmings
• Interior design textiles
• Hand-printed fabrics

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Textile Product Sales: Sale of decorative fabrics, wallpapers, and trimmings to trade customers including interior designers, museums, and historic houses. Products sold per yard with minimum order quantities. Pricing subject to change without notice.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Clarence House designs, produces, and distributes luxury decorative textiles including hand-printed fabrics, wallcoverings (grasscloth and printed), and trimmings (tassels, braids, cords, fringes). Products are sold exclusively to the trade — professional interior designers, museums, and historic houses — through flagship and regional showrooms plus a trade-only e-commerce portal.

Product overview

Clarence House is a premier decorative fabric and wallcovering company founded in 1961, specializing in high-end textiles for interior designers. The company offers an extensive portfolio of luxury products including premium fabrics (silk, linen, cotton, velvet, brocades, and prints), trimmings (tassels, fringes, braids, cords), and wallcoverings (grasscloth, prints, handprints). Their products are organized into signature collections including Clarence House Signature, La Reverie, Joie De Vivre, Africa, Indochine, Arts & Crafts, Medici Silk Velvet, Michelle Nussbaumer Collection, John Boyd, Kaleidoscope Trimmings, Frank Ponterio, Les Tropicaux, and Indoor/Outdoor lines. Known for hand-screen printing techniques and European-inspired designs, Clarence House products are accessible exclusively to the trade through showrooms across the United States and internationally, with their flagship showroom in the D&D Building in New York.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clarence House Signature: Signature collection featuring fabric, wallcovering, upholstery, drapery, and bedding products
• Joie De Vivre
• La Reverie
• Indochine
• Africa
• 60th Anniversary Fabrics
• John Boyd
• Kaleidoscope Trimmings
• Medici Silk Velvet
• Michelle Nussbaumer Collection
• Indoor / Outdoor Fabrics
• Africa Trimmings
• Clarence House Joie De Vivre
• Frank Ponterio Collection
• 60th Anniversary Silk Trimmings
• A La Japonaise
• Arts & Crafts
• Clarence House Fall 2019
• Frank Ponterio Trimmings
• Indoor / Outdoor Trimmings
• Les Tropicaux
• 20th Century Roadline Spring 2022

Products and services

• Fabrics

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• P/Kaufmann Inc.former parentOthers · 1 January 2002Clarence House was sold to P/Kaufmann Inc. in 2002. Robin Roberts had a close working relationship with Peter Kaufmann, which was a factor in P/Kaufmann getting the opportunity to acquire the company. The company was founded by Robin Roberts in 1961 and maintains its brand identity and design direction.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pierre Frey: French luxury textile house spanning fabrics, wallcoverings, trimmings, and custom rugs. Closely comparable on designer-channel distribution, European heritage, and museum-quality positioning.
• Thibaut: American heritage decorative brand with comparable fabric and wallpaper breadth; one of the most direct US-based competitors in designer-channel textiles and wallcoverings.
• Manuel Canovas: French heritage decorative fabric and wallpaper brand now operating its own US presence; explicitly cited in Clarence House's own history as a European house that bypassed the original distribution model.
• Lee Jofa: Trade-only decorative fabric brand (now under Kravet) known for designer collaborations, classic prints, and trimmings — overlaps with Clarence House on to-the-trade upholstery/drapery and co-marketed with Cole & Son wallpapers.
• Osborne & Little: British heritage decorative fabric, wallpaper, and trimming brand with its own US operations. Another European house that historically used Clarence House as US distributor and now sells directly to the trade.
• Scalamandre: Long-standing luxury decorative textile house serving designers with historic-reproduction fabrics, trimmings, and wallcoverings. Closely comparable heritage positioning, trade-exclusive distribution, and museum/historic-house clientele.
• Brunschwig & Fils: Heritage decorative fabric house founded in 1927, now part of the Cowtan & Tout / Kravet family. Sells premium upholstery, drapery, and wallcovering to the interior-design trade via the same to-the-trade showroom and account-holder model.
• Zimmer + Rohde: European premium decorative textile group (including Ardecora and Hodsoll McKenzie). Comparable on curated designer-channel fabric, wallcovering, and trimming collections with a heritage European design stance.
• Colefax and Fowler: British heritage decorative fabric and wallpaper brand shipping internationally to designers; comparable on curated, classic-with-a-point-of-view aesthetic and trade-led sales.

Broad incumbents

• Kravet: Large home-furnishings conglomerate that owns Lee Jofa, Cole & Son, and Andrew Martin. Overlaps with Clarence House via trade fabric distribution but operates as a broader multi-brand specialty home-furnishings platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clarence-house

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clarence House