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When Andra Eggleston moved to Nashville with her music-industry husband and their young son, she wasn't sure what would come next. She'd lived in both Los Angeles and New York, working in film (she had a small role in Baby Mama) as well as user-interface design.
Eggleston grew up in Memphis, the daughter of William Egglestonwhom many consider the godfather of color photography. After relocating to Music City in 2012, she started making monthly treks to visit her dad, figuring she'd get to know him better. It soon became clear that something else was going on. While William Eggleston is famous for his photography, it was his drawings that Andra always loved. Her monthly visits quickly morphed into weekly creative inspiration. The two would listen to music, eat sushi, watch David Lynch movies with the sound off, and draw together.
One day, she was scanning some of her father's drawings to archive them and began playing with the patterns in a repeat. She realized the bright colors and abstract designs could make a great fabric.
'They were a departure from the work that I've done before in terms of not using my own artwork and using artwork that was not ever intended for textile application,” Eggleston says.
In March 2014, she officially incorporated Electra Eggleston. The company name comes from family lore: 'Electra” was the name her father wanted for her; Mom vetoed itbut Andra seized it decades later as a reflection of her new business's creative energy. The senior Eggleston's aesthetic is a product of his Southern upbringing and life. And although Andra's designs have caught the eye of the international press, including Vogue and Marie Claire Italia, they too are products of the South.
'Everything for me is done in the Southeast,” she says. 'Pillows are made in the Southeast. The inserts are fabricated in the Southeast. The [linen] fabric's from Belgium, but it's printed in North Carolina.”
The fabrics are currently the fine arts of the textile world, with Eggleston selling them only 'to the trade” at a high price point. While this strays from the Etsy/maker vibe of many local designers, it's consistent with her high-end vision for the brand.
As her business grew, Eggleston moved out of a Fort Houston coworking space and into her own studio down the street in the Wedgewood/Houston neighborhood. She created a line of $280 pillows as a way to showcase the fabrics and to give those who couldn't afford the fabric by the yard a piece of the new collection. The pillows are available locally at Wilder in Germantown and Digs in Green Hills.
In 2014, Eggleston collaborated with local tie-maker Otis James on a series of hand-numbered silk linen with her designs (originally so she could give her dad a Father's Day gift); a few of these are still available through the Otis James website.
This spring, the company is expanding the test designs Eggleston developed last year. The line of 15 vibrant designs is based on five of her father's drawings, with some new neutral palettes added to the mix. A new showroom in L.A. is selling them to the design trade. Eggleston would like to collaborate with couture designers to see the fabrics on clothing as well as in home décor. She's also looking into expanding into wallpaper and designing with the works of other artists, as well as incorporating her own art. More at electraeggleston.com.