It’s a line attributed to, of all people, Elvis Presley: “Don’t criticize what you don’t understand.” Stephane Silverman, founder of the fabric brand Castel, passes the King’s test: He has some critical takes on the fabric industry, but could never be accused of not understanding it.
Silverman grew up in the business—literally. His parents, tasked with bringing French textile giant Boussac to the States, had set up a showroom in New York’s D&D Building to sell to designers, and there, Silverman did his high school homework. “The smell of the finishing in the fabric in the wings is still in my memory bank,” he tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast.
He went on to a practical education in the family business through an apprenticeship with Manuel Canovas and then a stint for fabric converting giant P/Kaufmann. But though he was steeped in the industry’s traditions, Silverman was (and is) an inveterate tinkerer—he used to call himself the Jekyll and Hyde of the design business, unafraid to experiment with an old-school industry’s longstanding practices.
That began with the formation of his own company, Castel, in 1999. “I came in saying, ‘How can I start a fabric company without stocking anything and not having a showroom, and doing things on the Internet?’” recounts Silverman with a laugh. “I can only tell you that now I have inventory and I have a showroom. … But we’re constantly trying to tweak little pieces along the way.”
Those “little pieces” are the mechanics of the way fabric is sold to the design trade—and in this episode, Silverman gives a masterclass in their inner workings. For example, he explains, the price of a yard of fabric is only partially related to how much it costs to develop and manufacture. The other 50 percent can be attributed to the idiosyncrasies of the design business—for instance, cutting for approval (CFA) samples sent to designers to sign off on color and pattern.