A History between Princess Grace and Springs

February 28, 2011

In the late 1970s, an enterprising young stylist for Springs Industries (from which Springs Creative began), had an idea to contribute to the company’s new designer-endorsed, couture collections: asking Princess Grace to design floral collages that would be used as print designs for table and bedding linens sold under the Springmaid brand. With assurances that the royalties would go to her favorite charities, and that her restrictions regarding publicity would be respected, Princess Grace agreed. The line premiered in 1977 – and was a resounding success, based not just on her name and celebrity, but on the quality of the designs themselves. Altogether, five very popular floral patterns were released, contributing substantially to Springs’ sales (enough to generate $1 million in royalties for the Princess’ charities) and, to the delight of many Springs employees, resulting in a royal visit to the Springs plants in July of 1979.

At Springs Creative, we are fortunate to be constantly inspired by a legacy of design form the past, whether handed down to us by an unknown artist – or a princess and Oscar-winning actress. And we are grateful to the Springs Close Family Archives for giving us the information about the Grace Kelly collections – and for letting us see them whenever we want to!

Pictured here are a napkin and a table cloth from the Princess Grace collection as well as a photo of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier at the Katherine Plant in 1979 seeing first hand how her designs were transformed into sheets.

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