FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Barbara Marks
914-939-3934
barbara@chrismadden.com
"Chris Madden is fast becoming a brand in every room of the house."
The New York Times
"Chris Madden is bringing design to the heartland."
Time Magazine
"Chris Madden has become the home design arbiter for Middle America since launching her exclusive home collection for JCPenney in 2004."
Home Furnishings News
"Chris Madden is a template for the meaning of an ideal citizen:
brilliantly creative in her work; committed to the relief of others; active in society and—not at all incidentally—she is a good friend."
Toni Morrison
Thirty years ago Chris Madden decided to leave her job as publicity director at Simon & Schuster Publishers to open on September 26, 1977, her own public relations firm, Chris Casson Madden Associates, in a tiny 5x8 room on 84th Street in New York City with a Smith Corona typewriter, an overstuffed rolodex and such diverse clients as Ford Models, Helsinki Watch Group, Random House and Macmillan Publishers.
On September 26, 2007 Chris Madden will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her company, Chris Madden, Inc. which is today a nationally recognized multi-million dollar media and design company whose headquarters are located in Port Chester, New York, and whose corporate partners include JCPenney and Hearst Magazines and such luminary clients as Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric and Toni Morrison. Clearly, hard work and determination have paid off for this high-powered Chief Executive Officer with two honorary degrees, an enormously successful collection with over 1,500 skus for one of the country's leading retailers, two magazines bearing her name, sixteen published books, eight years as a national television host for HG TV, a weekly Scripps newspaper column for a decade, and as a nationally sought-after lecturer with an office wall lined with letters of gratitude and testimony for her many charitable activities including her recent Project Katrina which kicked off the 30th year anniversary of her company.
Project Katrina began when Chris Madden galvanized her energetic staff and began the process of donating the contents of her Vermont warehouse to families who lost their homes and most of their belongings to Hurricane Katrina two years ago this month. With help from ABF trucking company, Chris and her husband Kevin, (former publisher of House and Garden, Bon Appetit and Self) shipped all of her samples from the Chris Madden for JCPenney Home Collection to families in Pass Christian and Biloxi, Mississippi.
"I am thrilled to be able to do my part to help people like Ms. Thelma Piernas and the Diaz and Parker families furnish their homes and regain a sense of hope and comfort. Throughout my 30 years of running my own company, I have always made time to give back. I know I can help make this happen for those less fortunate because I believe everyone needs a welcoming and safe place to return to each day- a place they can call their haven."
Chris Madden Inc.
At A Glance
Chris Madden Inc. is a multi-million dollar company founded 30 years ago by celebrity designer Chris Madden, which spans design, licensing, publishing and television. She was design correspondent for the "Oprah Show", hosted her own television show for 8 seasons, and published 16 books, from the ground-breaking InteriorVisions (1987) to the best-selling A Room of Her Own (1997). In May 2006 Chris Madden and Good Housekeeping announced a new partnership for the Your Good House Publication and the next issue will be the September 2007 issue titled, "Fresh Start": Designer Chris Madden Helps Restore a Storm-Damaged Mississippi Home. Prior to that venture, her magazine experience included Editor in Chief of At Home with Chris Madden, as well as contributing editor to several other national shelter publications. This year Home Furnishings News named Chris Madden as the 18th person on their list of the 50 most influential people in home furnishings style and design.
Books:
Haven: Finding the Keys to Your Personal Decorating Style – May 2004
New American Living Rooms – April 2003
Bedrooms – 2001
Getaways – 2000
A Room of Her Own: Women's Personal Spaces – 1997
Bathrooms – 1996
Kitchens – 1993
Rooms With A View: Two Decades of the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse – 1992
Interior Visions - 1987
Licensing:
Chris Madden for JCPenney Home Collection launched in May 2004
Magazine:
"Your Good House," Hearst Publications, debuted November 2006
Television:
Host of HGTV's Weekly Series- Interiors by Design
Design Correspondent for Oprah 1997-1998
Regular Guest Appearances on National Television