Sustainably Storied: Phillips Collection
“Every piece a conversation,” isn’t just a tagline for High Point-based home furnishings company, Phillips Collection; it’s a way of life. In fact, it is almost impossible to step foot into the Phillips Collection showroom in downtown High Point without finding yourself in a fascinating conversation with a member of the Phillips family about their sustainable, innovative, and highly creative home furnishings.
When you step into Phillips Collection, you’ll see items that are a cross between modern art and a National Geographic spread: petrified wood, splintered stone from tectonic plate shifts, broken pieces of Ficus tree roots, old oil drums, and more are recycled into pieces that draw buyers from all over the world to their year-round showroom in High Point. Sourcing products from countries like China, Indonesia, and Thailand, the Phillips family draws inspiration from nature, history, and modern art – weaving them together into collections as intricate as the interwoven straps of their iconic seatbelt chairs.
And while High Point is no stranger to the comings and goings of home furnishings businesses during the twice annual High Point Market, the Phillips family doesn’t just drop by High Point. They have chosen to make their home in the Home Furnishings Capital of the World. Not only that, but they have made sure that the sustainability and generosity they are known for is practiced both in the countries where they source their materials as well as on their own home turf in High Point.
The Phillips family is still the mainstay behind their family-owned global brand. Although Mark Phillips, President & CEO, and his wife Julie haven’t always been in this industry. In fact, Mark, whose father was in textile manufacturing, got his start in the business world selling stereos. Julie, who is an architect by trade, has always had a keen eye for design.
Mark’s father and mother dabbled in ancient art dealing, and after inviting the newly married Mark and Julie on a trip to Southeast Asia, the couple was hooked. They were awed and inspired by the world of ancient art and the natural world of Asia.
“I went from electronics to ancient art,” Mark smiles, thinking back to his journey into his career.
Together, Mark and Julie married their passions for art and business and launched Phillips Collection in 1983, a furniture design and manufacturing company that brings the globe into the home through their extensive home furnishings collections.
Today, the company is still operated by Mark and Julie, now with the support of their two children: Jason and Jessica. Jason, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Jessica, Vice President of Hospitality and Business Development, grew up traveling the world with their parents. Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam were all places they visited from a young age. The took their storied childhood of traveling the globe with their parents and continued to tell the story of the natural world – with an unwavering focus on sustainability and beauty.
“It has to be beautiful to be a Phillips piece,” Jason explains, and, he adds, it has to be sustainably and it has to tell a story.
“You’re mixing playful and organic,” Jessica says in describing the unique aesthetic that can be crafted from Phillips Collection pieces.
All four members of the Phillips family are eager to share the journeys behind the pieces in their showroom. It’s not unusual to find larger-than-life pieces that come from the jungles of Thailand or Indonesia. What is unusual is the fact that the Phillips Collection never cuts down a tree for their products.
“We’re not cutting trees down,” Jason explains. Their team works with governments worldwide to identify when there are infrastructure projects to build hospitals, schools, and more, and a large amount of forestry must be cut down.
“We take those trunks and make our slabs,” Jason notes about these projects. “We take the roots, which is very innovative, and we cut tables.”
Rather than deplete the earth’s natural resources, the Phillips family rescues them, giving new life to cast-off pieces.
At Phillips Collection, there are a number of one-of-a-kind pieces, signified by black tags that share the story of the piece. Their Elements and Origins collections consist of sustainably harvested stone and wood pieces respectively. But, ever true to their desire for repurposing, Phillips Collection wondered how to take the inspiration of the once-in-a-lifetime natural pieces and make them more accessible for their customers.
“If we find the perfect piece, we cast it,” explains Mark. Resin molds are cast from these one-of-a-kind natural elements and allow Phillips Collection to fabricate and replicate non-organic versions of these stunning natural forms. White tags signify these replications in their showroom and allow for more color customization.
“This allows us to capture nature into these beautiful forms,” Jason says. “It’s something we led with and continue to do.”
Along with taking cues from the natural world for their pieces they replicate, Phillips Collection makes it their mission to have no waste when it comes to their products.
“We do everything we can to use every part of the material,” Mark says.
That’s why their designers specifically design pieces of modern art for the irregular scraps left from the products they make. An irregular piece of wood from an end cut of a dining room table for example, may become a breathtaking kinetic sculpture or a mounted piece of art.
“The ability to come up with creative, sustainable, reuse design has exploded for us because of our growth,” Jason adds. “You have a couple of end cuts, you might not see something to do with it, but when you make a hundred tables and you have a hundred of the exact same end cut, you're think, ‘Wait a minute. Those could be wall tiles.’”
“We’ve learned a lot from our suppliers and their regard for no waste,” says Mark.
That’s why the Phillips Collection also gives back to every country they work to harvest recycled materials from. Replanting trees and setting up botany classes in Thailand are just a few examples of how they work to protect the flora and fauna of the natural world that provides them with so much inspiration.
They also partner with international designers to incorporate diverse voices into their work. The iconic Phillips Collection “seatbelt chair,” which has become synonymous with High Point in many ways, was designed nearly two decades ago by a student designer from Thailand, Nuttapong Charoenkitivarakorn.
“Dad saw the chair on display for the first time, fell in love with it, and embarked on a partnership that has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Jason says. The chair, one of the few pops of color that Phillips Collection has in their showroom, has been featured in the likes of The Hunger Games film franchise and celebrity homes like Kylie Jenner’s and Michael Jordan’s.
“A few years ago, Visit High Point approached us to see if we’d like to use the chair in their logo,” Jason says. “Now we beam with pride every time we get their newsletter!”
But their giving back and partnership efforts aren’t limited to the countries where they harvest materials. Giving back originates on their home soil of High Point.
“We’re from New York, but we moved here 20 years ago,” Jason says of the family’s migration to High Point. “We have the gift in High Point of being able to bring people to our warehouse down the street where they can hand select pieces. It has single-handedly transformed our customer base.”
And with that transformation has come a sense of loyalty to make sure that their adopted hometown is just as sustainable as the pieces they create.
Take a tour around town and you might be surprised just how many places Phillips Collection has a hand. The dinosaurs that welcome kiddos in the Nido and Mariana Qubein Children’s Museum? Phillips Collection. The life-size nativity set and beloved nutcrackers at High Point University’s drive-through Christmas? Phillips Collection. Our new downtown coffee shop, A Special Blend, that employs individuals with disabilities? Furniture and design-support provided by Phillips Collection.
Phillips Collection even spearheads the initiative “Artists with Abilities” that encourages artists with disabilities to paint Phillips Collection pieces that are shown and sold with all proceeds being donated back to the artists.
But the Phillips family is also, at their core, still a family. Father, mother, brother, and sister – all weaving their own familial memories into the work they now share with the world. For example, the family still remembers being giddy to see their seatbelt chair in The Hunger Games for the first time at the Palladium Regal Cinemas. And as they discuss their artisan craftsmen, Julie dissects the artist’s process not by pointing to a world-famous artist, but instead by reminiscing on Jason as a seven-year-old, drawing a tiger.
“He started drawing the tiger from the nose,” she laughs. “It’s interesting what an artist sees in a block [of clay].”
“Each piece has to be beautiful, and it has to be responsibly created with an interesting story, and the sustainability, which is always near and dear to us, happens to be the best story to tell.”
Jason Phillips, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Phillips Collection
When asked about a normal family gather get-together for the Phillips, Jason states:
“Let’s eliminate the word ‘normal!’ We are a fun-loving family who enjoys entertaining. A typical gathering at [my parents’ home] likely includes way too much food, all prepared by our mom, with lots of interesting conversation and laughter.”
Because at the heart of the Phillips Collection – and the Phillips family for that matter – isn’t just beautiful art. It’s conversation. It’s community. It’s story.
“Each piece has to be beautiful, and it has to be responsibly created with an interesting story,” Jason says. “And the sustainability, which is always near and dear to us, happens to be the best story to tell.”
Discover our High Points,
The HPD Team
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