Fabric Focus

SHERRY BLACK, co-owner of PENDER CREEK DESIGN WORKSHOP, BLACK AND MILLER DESIGNS, and MFANO FABRICS, lost everything after a fire destroyed the building where her interior design business was located last year.

“It was devastating at first … I lost everything I worked for over fifteen years, so it was of course very difficult,” Black says. “It was as if all of my memories, that were on paper disappeared. They went up in flames."

While hard to recover from, the fire gave the company and Black a chance to regroup and reorganize. Classic Designs of Wilmington is owned by Randy Trull, and since the offices moved for Black and her design partner John Miller, they went back to their original names for their interior design business so customers would know where to find them and not think that Classic Designs had relocated or closed.

Black’s fabric business, MFANO, co-owned with Miller and Trull, specializes in Sunbrella, performance fabrics, and even fire retardant fabrics. Black and her partners are unique to the area as they have a workroom as well as a traditional interior design service and a proprietary fabric line operation based at 3205 Kitty Hawk Road.

“The fire ended up being a blessing in disguise,” Black says, adding that it forced them to relocate their design office out to the workroom “where we would be more involved in the day-to-day operations of the workroom, and provided for more time to be hands on with and more involved in growing the MFANO fabric line.”

Pender Creek Design Workshop is expanding its offices this month, with close to 10,000 square feet of design, upholstery, inventory, and creative workspace. Once put together, it will serve as the offices for Black and Miller Design as well.

“Our products are all made from Sunbrella, an outdoor fabric guaranteed not to fade in full sunlight, for five years,” Black says. “It has been traditionally used for yachts, boats, and awnings.”

But now, she says, the fabric – which include velvets, chenilles, linen-type yarns, and even dupionies – can be used indoors as well as outside.

“We have about 300 different fabrics in our fabric line,” Black says. “Sunbrella is not just canvas any longer. Our fabrics are high performance and will hold up to heavy use, children, pets, etc.”

The MFANO fabric line started two years ago. It comes out with new collections twice a year and is getting ready to launch its next collection this spring.

As MFANO grows, it will include more current and edgy fabrics, Black says. She is also working on a children’s line of fabrics to work in bedrooms, nurseries, and playrooms.

“Even though the original intention was to (use it) for outdoor furniture, people are now starting to appreciate their use indoors,” Black says. “You can easily throw them in the wash. Parents love our fabrics since they are stain resistant. It’s a little more expensive than regular fabric, but you will be able to launder and even bleach them, and they will not fade.”

While she has been an interior designer for sixteen years, owning her own fabric line “is a dream come true,” Black says. “We hope to expand into bedding, draperies, wallpaper, and furniture in the near future.

"I’ve been very, very blessed in my design business. It’s my passion. I eat, drink, and sleep it. It’s what is on my mind most of the time."

While her parents were born and raised in Wilmington, Black grew up abroad most of her life. After studying architecture in Germany, she went on to study business at Tomlinson College. She then studied design and Japanese at North Carolina State University.

Black began getting design jobs so she stopped she stopped classes to focus primarily on her interior design work that was starting to be recognized in the Triangle area.

“I do think school is important, and I highly recommend it, but no matter how much you learn, you’re not going to design the same if it’s not in your soul,” Black says. 

As far as the future goes, Black is continuing to expand her design business and working to expanding the MFANO fabric line. Right now it is currently in showrooms in London, Miami, San Francisco, New York, Arizona, and Atlanta.

“We have five reps right now, and we’re adding twenty-five this year around the country,” Black says.

“It’s like a dream to watch something grow that I have worked for and contributed to for such a long time. It’s so fulfilling. It’s almost magical in a sense,” she says. “When it finally comes to fruition, you kind of forget how hard it was to get there.”

This version clarifies the name change of Sherry Black's interior design business and details about the MFANO fabric line.

 To view more of photographer Kevin Kleitches' work, go to  www.kevintitusphoto.com