Eric Villency is the CEO of Villency Design Group, an interior and product design firm.
Career
Design
In 1932, Villency's grandfather, Maurice Villency, started a furniture company in New York City. His grandfather's company became the Villency Design Group, and in 1998, Eric Villency became CEO. Villency was named "The Wizard of Wellness" by Well + Good and Inc magazine recently name him of the most influential designers to watch In 2001, he was awarded the FIT “All Star Salute” award, recognizing leaders in design and fashion. In 2002, Villency oversaw the launch of the Maurice Villency flagship store, located on 57th street in midtown Manhattan, and launched the company’s first home accessories collection. In 2006, he launched “Villency Atelier”, a workshop dedicated to custom design and fabrication for design professionals. In 2007, Villency was named the recipient of the IFDA “Design Industry” award. 2008 saw the launch of Villency's newest business initiative, Villency Pure Design, an environmentally responsible and domestically produced collection of furniture. Villency has lectured at Savanah College of Art & Design With the 2008 launch of a business-to-business service, Villency Contract, Villency has promoted a number of design projects including the Rudy Giuliani Urgent Care Unit at St. Vincent's Hospital, the Delta Air Lines Miami Crown Lounge, the Club level lounge at Citifield, Starwood brands including W hotels and Sheraton, the Bryant Park Hotel, the Plaza private residences, and office for Kathy Lee Gifford. Villency has worked extensively in boutique fitness having designed the Peloton indoor bike, the SoulCycle, an indoor fitness cycle along with fitness equipment for Rumble.
Television
Villency has been a recurrent guest on the Today Show discussing a wide range of topics from design trends to fashion to family issues. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Tyra Banks show, HGTV, Travel Channel, TBS and was the host of the Fine Living Channel's iDesign. Villency recently executive produced and hosted the documentary INSEAM that chronicles emerging fashion designers.
Writing
Villency is a contributing writer for the Huffington Post. He has written for The New York Times, Details, Best Life, Women's Health, and Departures.
Fashion
Villency, a former model, maintains a connection to the fashion world and has pioneered the Villency Emerging Fashion Fund. The fund has established partnerships with fashion designers including Proenza Schouler, Derek Lam, Imitation of Christ, Ruffian, and Erin Featherston. In February 2009, Villency designed the Mercedes-Benz Star Lounge at New York'sFashion Week. Restoration of the Monarchy is a fashion brand created by Villency in 2007. The line launched in September 2007 with a men's and women's denim line. Julia Restoin Roitfeld, daughter of Carine Roitfeld, is the face of the ad campaign, which ran exclusively in Purple Magazine. The ad campaign was art directed by Olivier Zham, Purple Magazine's Editor-in-Chief.
Personal life
Villency is the son of Rowann, a mixed media artist, and Robert Villency, the chairman of Maurice Villency. Villency is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. On May 27, 2006, Villency married former assistant District Attorney of San Francisco and co-host of The Five on Fox NewsKimberly Guilfoyle on the island of Barbados. On October 4, 2006, Guilfoyle gave birth to their son, Ronan Anthony. On June 23, 2009, it was announced that Guilfoyle and Villency had separated; they divorced later that year. In December 2013, he married Swedish designer Caroline Fare in West Palm Beach. Villency and Fare divorced in 2017.
