{"id":624,"date":"2014-07-25T21:28:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T21:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/?p=624"},"modified":"2014-07-26T15:31:51","modified_gmt":"2014-07-26T15:31:51","slug":"global-icon-mackenzie-childs-creative-director-rebecca-proctor-on-hand-to-greet-2014-barn-sale-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/?p=624","title":{"rendered":"Global Icon Business Leader MacKenzie-Childs Creative Director Rebecca Proctor On Hand to Greet 2014 Barn Sale Visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President and Rebecca Proctor, Creative Director of Iconic MacKenzie-Childs Share Their Camaraderie at the Epic 2014 MacKenzie-Childs Barn Sale Venue in Aurora NY, Overlooking Cayuga Lake in the Heart of the Finger Lakes Region in Upstate Central New York.<\/p><\/div>\n

For over two decades MacKenzie-Childs Creative Director\u00a0Rebecca Proctor<\/strong>, leads the iconic global brand of the MacKenzie-Childs design team. They introduce upward 700 items each year, emulating the artisan-handpainted pottery creations at its production studios in bucolic Aurora, New York. “We have artists and poets and all kinds of talented people there,” Proctor said of the company, which has its headquarters on a 65 acre farm nestled in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region in Central Upstate New York.<\/p>\n

MacKenzie-Childs Creative Director\u00a0Rebecca Proctor<\/strong>\u00a0began working with the collection in 1991 and looks back on it as the most incredible opportunity of her life. \u201cI was hired by the founders of MacKenzie-Childs and I got a very interesting inside view of the brand traveling and working with them,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cThey left the company in 2001 and then Pleasant Rowland, founder of American Girl, bought us. I was also excited to work with her. Then in 2008 Rowland sold MacKenzie-Childs to Lee Feldman and Howard Cohen and they are wonderful to work with as well. They\u2019re so supportive of the design process and they\u2019ve really taken a tabletop company to an exciting lifestyle brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Working swiftly and growing every season, the collection went from launching 24 designs a season to an impressive 300 new items. This is no accident. The brand is overflowing with magical qualities just like Proctor herself. Design rules are tossed out the window, patterns are mixed with cheerful spontaneity and the passion of the MacKenzie-Childs collector is unceasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is filled with stuff you can find anywhere,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cOur point of view with this brand really sets us apart. Our customers say our designs make them happy. Making people feel good is the core of our mission and it\u2019s really important to me. They come to us for playful creations. We\u2019re the court jester in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something very regal about the line\u2019s iconic black and white checkerboard pattern called \u201ccourtly check.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pattern started as a tiny design accent painted on furniture in the \u201880s,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cIn 1993, I started working with the founders on handmade black and white checkered enamel plates. We love handmade things at MacKenzie-Childs because no two are alike. We originally called the pattern \u2018roasted marshmallow.\u2019 Now we call it courtly check and it\u2019s become our signature pattern. This pattern has a major place in history and it\u2019s beautiful but at the same time, oddly a neutral.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to courtly check, MacKenzie-Childs offers a variety of enchanting patterns for enamelware and accessories such as a vibrant flower market pattern and piccadilly ceramics. The Aurora pattern is an homage to the brand\u2019s home-base and production studio that was once a dairy barn in Aurora. \u201cWe have highland cattle grazing on our fields and extraordinary gardens. Every window is like a framed piece of art,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cThis 65-acre farm is a tremendous source of inspiration for us. We have a fantastic design team with high energy people. Many of them have also been with the brand since 1991. Inspiration is every where. It comes from dinners and conversations with friends and travel as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest pattern to take flight in the MacKenzie-Childs family is the butterfly garden enamelware. \u201cThis pattern was inspired by the gardens on our property filled with butterflies and we wanted to incorporate all of our other patterns into the butterflies,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cI love to cook and entertain and when you place food on a plate, you want the food to be the star. With the butterfly garden enamelware, the butterflies appear to be fluttering around the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to charm bracelets and travel accessories, MacKenzie-Childs is now tapping into the young mother\u2019s market. \u201cWe\u2019ve introduced a diaper bag, nursery items and baby dishes,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cWe also make beautiful, hand-sewn quilts for cribs. It\u2019s a really exciting time for us. Our owners are so open minded, the sky is really the limit for MacKenzie-Childs.\u201d http:\/\/www.mackenzie-childs.com\u00a0Excerpts adapted from the SunSentinel.com article by Joanie Cox-Henry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For over two decades MacKenzie-Childs Creative Director\u00a0Rebecca Proctor, leads the iconic global brand of the MacKenzie-Childs design team. They introduce upward 700 items each year, emulating the artisan-handpainted pottery creations at its production studios in bucolic Aurora, New York. “We … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,4,152,181,6,170,178,179,180,1,5,169,67,171,172,108,56],"tags":[316,22,309,174,173,310,25,383,311,175,327,176,43,19,382,69,384,385,177,324],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=624"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":644,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624\/revisions\/644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chinafrontier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}