How It All Began
When Darva Hirsch started Adelene Simple Cloth™ in 2012, she came up with the name by combining the first names of her maternal grandmother, Ada Modisette, whom she called “Grandma Modisette” and her husband Rick’s paternal grandmother, Elene Lansky, whom they called “Nana.” Grandma Modisette, who was the bedrock of Darva’s childhood, passed away in 2001 at the wonderful age of 95. Nana passed away after 94 years of living life to the fullest at the end of 2011. A couple of years earlier, Nana had given Darva and Rick a Chippendale-style camelback sofa. She always called it a sofa, not a couch, so we will too. The sofa had been in her house since before Rick was born; Rick and Darva both had an incredibly close relationship with Nana, so that sofa, which embodies decades of family memories, holds a lot of significance for them.
It was a quality piece of furniture from the 1950s. It happened to be the perfect size for the space under the front windows of their living room. The sofa, which was covered in a peach-toned silk-blend damask fabric, was in solid shape and didn’t have too much wear. It had accumulated a number of stains, but nothing a good professional cleaning couldn’t have taken care of. However, there were two real problems with it that a cleaning wasn’t going to fix.
One problem was that the fabric it was covered in was never going to be able to stand up to the affection it was receiving from the canine and feline members of the household. Their two dogs and two cats used it constantly. Either napping on it, jumping up on it to see out the window, or in the case of the cats, clawing at it the way cats tend to do. The other problem was that it was very dated and just screamed “welcome to Grandma’s sitting room!” So, Darva decided to reupholster the sofa, which meant she had to pick upholstery fabric.
Are you thinking what we’re thinking?
Unfussy over fancy. Quality over quantity. Intentional decisions over impulsive ones. Distinctive over mainstream. Naturally imperfect.
Your home is an expression of who you are, what you stand for, and what you love, and we believe the things in your home should reflect that, too – through colors that make your eyes brighten, textures you can’t help but run your hands over, and simple products that are made so well you wouldn’t ever choose to part with them.
So we made something for you. Quite a few things, actually, out of fabric that ticks those boxes, all while standing up to the go go go of everyday life. Adelene’s products are made by real hands with real love to enrich your lifestyle and last a lifetime. Maybe even a few lifetimes… Because as humble as we are, the staying power of our products really is unrivaled.
They’re made for life, and made to love.
