India, your work with the coveted Sherrill brands is amazing. Your showrooms for these brands at the High Point Furniture Market are always a delight for the eyes. Can you tell us how you go about choosing your new fabrics for each season? Thank you so much—that means a lot! The fabric selection process is one of the most exciting and collaborative parts of our work at Sherrill Furniture Brands. We’ve built strong relationships with some of the best fabric mills in the industry, and every season begins with reviewing nearly 100 lines over the span of 2-3 weeks. From those meetings, we could pull in between 300-500 fabric samples. The next step is carefully editing those down to create around 35 cohesive color stories. From there, we curate a final seasonal assortment, usually about 200 new fabrics across the five divisions. It’s a blend of trend forecasting, brand identity, and instinct—and it’s always a thrill to see how it all comes together on the showroom floor.
The Interwoven show in High Point, NC (formerly “Showtime” and hosted by the International Textile Alliance) was held in May. These new fabric selections for the Fall 2025 High Point Furniture Market won’t be seen by the public until early 2026. Can you give our readers some insight on your takeaways from the show, and what were the trends you noticed in color and texture? Interwoven is always an inspiring experience—it’s a chance to see what the mills are experimenting with and how materials are evolving. That said, I’ve never been one to chase trends. With the way they come and go, I see it as my responsibility as a designer to think beyond them. At Sherrill, our approach is less about following what’s “in” and more about setting the tone for what’s next.
Our focus is on curating fabric stories that surprise and delight—mixing colors, textures, and patterns in unexpected ways to create fresh, lifestyle-driven compositions. If anything stood out to me at the show, it was the renewed emphasis on tactile interest—layered textures, dimensional weaves, and finishes that invite touch. But ultimately, we take that inspiration and translate it through our own lens, crafting fabric stories that feel original, elevated, and enduring.
What are some of your favorite creative ways to incorporate leather products into a room design? My favorite ways to incorporate leather into a room design is the use of embossed and decorative leathers. I love to shop and using these types of decorative leathers on accent chairs, ottomans and the arm panels of sofas, is like completing the outfit with a great handbag or pair of shoes. This layering of texture and pattern is what helps to create a fashionable home.
The recent tariff actions have uncovered an unfortunate truth about the furniture textile industry, and how dependent it had become on foreign-sourced fabrics. Can you tell us your thoughts on how the furniture industry has adjusted? The tariff actions have certainly brought a major shift to the textile landscape, especially for an industry that had grown heavily reliant on imports from China. At Sherrill, we made a proactive decision prior to the April 2025 Market to discontinue introducing or presenting any textiles of Chinese origin. As a result, we’ve removed nearly 900 in-line fabrics from our offering. This move aligns with our commitment to being a company that proudly manufactures in the USA, and it’s allowed us to deepen our relationships with domestic mills. From a fabric selection standpoint, it has added a layer of complexity—China has long been a go-to source for value textiles, and navigating price points without that option certainly requires more intentional choices.
However, the challenge has also brought opportunity. It’s pushed us to be more strategic in how we define value, and it’s sparked more thoughtful collaboration with our supply partners. In many ways, it’s elevated the design process, encouraging innovation and greater alignment with our core values of quality, craftsmanship, and American-made excellence.
Our readers would love to hear about your personal favorite textile designs that you enjoy working with. Prints are always my favorite to work with—and often become the “jumping off point” for an entire lifestyle story. The ones that feel more like pieces of art than traditional fabrics. I love starting with something unique that features beautiful, sometimes unexpected color combinations. That one fabric can inspire everything from the palette to the mood of the room.
Prior to your role at Sherrill, you ran your own interior design business. Can you tell our readers what you feel has changed most about the interior design industry in the last 20 years? One of the biggest shifts has been the impact of the Internet and, more significantly, social media. Clients today are far more informed and engaged. They have access to endless inspiration and resources, which allows them to develop a clearer vision of what they like—and don’t like—early in the process. This has naturally changed the role of the designer. Rather than presenting a wide range of proposals from scratch, we’re now guiding clients through their ideas with a more curated, informed approach. Our value lies in our ability to discern quality, identify what will work functionally and aesthetically, and ultimately source the perfect materials, furnishings, and solutions that bring their vision to life—often in ways they hadn’t imagined. It’s about blending their input with our expertise to create spaces that are not only beautiful but exceed expectations.
Probably one of the most exciting trends in textiles in recent years has been with the expansion of performance fabrics. Can you tellour readers about your experience with these types of fabrics and how they have improved over the last decade? Performance fabrics have come such a long way—and it’s been exciting to watch their evolution. A decade ago, performance often meant sacrificing aesthetics. The options were typically limited to flat textures, muted colors, and a feel that was more functional than luxurious. It was challenging to incorporate them into elevated, sophisticated designs without them standing out as obviously “performance” or even outdoor fabrics. Today, that’s completely changed. The advancements at the chemistry level have been impressive, but what’s really remarkable is how far they’ve come in terms of look and feel. We’re now seeing performance fabrics with rich textures, beautiful color palettes, and soft, inviting hand-feels—qualities that once were exclusive to more delicate textiles. Most mills now offer some form of performance collection, and we incorporate these fabrics into our designs frequently. When you find a textile that not only looks stunning but also stands up to real life—that’s a true win-win. It’s no longer about choosing between beauty and durability. Now, you can have both.
Working in Hickory, NC, you are right at the heart of where many of the textile mills make these beautiful fabrics.What is it that you love most about working in the textile industry? What I love most is the people—hands down. The relationships I’ve built over the years with the makers, creators, and doers of this industry are truly special. At Sherrill, we operate like a close-knit family, and I consider our textile partners to be an extension of that family. There’s a deep sense of respect and collaboration that’s hard to find elsewhere. One of the most exciting aspects of working with these mills is the opportunity to customize and create fabrics that are uniquely ours. While time doesn’t always allow us to explore that as much as we’d like, when we do get the chance to collaborate on something original, it’s incredibly rewarding. That creative exchange—combining their craftsmanship with our vision—is what makes this industry so inspiring to be a part of.
One of the many exciting things going on at Sherrill Furniture is the use of fabrics, trims and finishes across their many brands. Can you discuss some of your recent design work for the showrooms and how you are pairing these products and fabrics together? Each market, I try to find new ways to showcase Sherrill’s incredible manufacturing capabilities—especially through creative and unexpected fabric applications. For example, we recently took a beautifully detailed stripe fabric—something you’d typically see run down the center of a statement wing chair—and used it as a tape detail on a skirted sofa. It was a unique request, and our factory executed it perfectly. I love moments like that where you can push the boundaries of traditional upholstery.