Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/946707
68 K en Kehoe is of the philosophy that if you ask, you might just get what you want. This mindset has brought several sought-after lines to Houston for the first time, from the 98-year-old Jonas artisan upholstery and furniture workroom to legendary designer Dorothy Draper's wallpaper and fabric. "These are lines I've been interested in for a long time," Kehoe says. "People said they'd never come to Houston, but not one of them said no, and all of them are excited to be here." Kehoe has added 1,000 square feet to the showroom to accommodate new procurements, which also include Tai Ping sculptural carpets, and furniture from Julian Chichester and Mr. Brown London. "The idea was to fill a void with collections that Houston didn't already have. There's always going to be a market for wealthy individuals who want things no one else can get." THOU SHALT COVET BY REBECCA SHERMAN TWO LUST-WORTHY, LEGENDARY DESIGN COMPANIES DEBUT IN HOUSTON. JONAS Interior designers have highly guarded go-to sources for custom upholstery and furniture, but there's none more coveted than Jonas. Founded almost a century ago, Jonas' workrooms in Manhattan and L.A. have produced upholstered furnishings for the country's social elite, Doris Duke, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the Rockefellers, along with Mick Jagger and David Bowie. Jonas is a designer's dream — furniture is created by hand in the traditional manner with goose down, horsehair, and eight-way tied springs, and Jonas artisans are known for such decorative detailing as razor-sharp welting and precise luggage stitching. Back in the day, Mark Hampton, Billy Baldwin, Sister Parish, and Albert Hadley frequently collaborated with Jonas on design projects. And more recently, Calvin Klein tapped Jonas for his East Hamptons house, and when designer Michael S. Smith needed sofas for the Obama Oval Office, he turned to Jonas. The Jonas firm dates to 1920s New York, where it was founded by Samuel Langer, an Austrian émigré who had worked with artisans such as Josef Hoffmann. Langer learned the trade from his Viennese ancestors, who had worked as upholsters to 19th-century European royalty. His nephew, Ronald Jonas, was liberated from a concentration camp after World War II and came to America as Langer's apprentice; he later inherited the company. Ronald's son Steven Jonas presides over the family business today. Because the company keeps every design it produces, one can request the original curved mid-century sofa made for Elsa Schiaparelli or glamorous seating made for the Tom Ford, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Turnbull & Asser boutiques, among hundreds of others. DOROTHY DRAPER Ken Kehoe wrote a dissertation on Dorothy Draper in design school 33 years ago, and he's been a fan ever since. So, when the president/owner of Dorothy Draper & Company, Carleton Varney (who was a Draper protégé), dropped by the showroom last year, a deal was struck to bring the legendary wallpapers and fabrics to Houston. Draper opened one of the country's first interior design firms in 1923, and her glamorous and Jonas artisan upholstery