LOUIS NICHOLE….. A RENAISANCE MAN……..
from
The White House to Queen Elizabeth’s House to your Neighbor’s House.”( Louie sure gets around !)
Louis Nichole, a former kindergarten teacher who turned cabinetmaker and craftsman, built an international brand and consumer base in only 10 years…without advertising, marketing or public relations.
Living to the left of the 20th century, Nichole licensed his name and Old World craftsmanship to major corporations across the globe in such diverse industries as furniture, bed, bath and table linens, lighting, carpets, textiles, lace, china, dinnerware, Christmas decorations, porcelain dolls and decorative home accessories. He is the master of crafting new things… and making them look old…. using street tar, egg white, rottenstone, and gesso.
Nichole was the first mass designer brand to bring “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous “ to the “Poor & Anonymous”…like Louie. His Theme song “.Put Me On Your Table, Put Me On Your Floor, Put Me On Your Bed And Hope You Come Back For More” brought consumers to department stores across the country to hear him sing his collection of original humorous ”Louie Songs.” Nichole entered almost 25 different industries and set sales records in almost every category that was stamped with his unique mark of “emotional intelligence” and non conforming business style.
Nichole became the forerunner of the Romantic Lifestyle, and was the first designer create co coordinated home furnishings in a ” no brainer, decorating made easy” concept. He traveled extensively across the globe as craftsman, author, and speaker, always incorporating his original songs: part entertainer, part performer, and part comedian. “People have always asked me what it is exactly that I do for a living… I tell them that I make new things… and then I make them look old. If they don’t understand…. I tell them to take a look at what I did to my mother and my father”..
Raised in Waterbury, CT as part of an Italian working class family, Nichole, traces the start of his career in the early 50’s at 6 years of age when he began selling recycled flowers from the local cemetery dump…. transforming them into his own “ designer bouquets.” By age 14, the entrepreneurial Nichole had amassed $10,000; by high school’s end, $25,000. His first book was written in high school and published by Vogue/ Butterick, “Designer Accessories to Make From the Cemetery Dump.”
By age 15, Nichole’s work has been featured in top newspapers and magazines across the globe…. in articles spanning as many as 25 pages in one Good Housekeeping issue. His artistry and craft , as well as his unorthodox deign sensibility have been solicited by some of the world’s most prestigious institutions including The White House, The Smithsonian, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Queen Elizabeth’s private collections, Disneyworld, and the Jimmy Carter Museum. … as well as a 25 year retrospective of the designer/craftsman’s work at the Wadsworth Atheneum, (Americas’ first museum and forerunner to the Met.
At 55, Nichole began his greatest passion.. and the beginning of his still another career…. as a songwriter. He was driven to tell stories with a profound respect for the musicality and lyric content.
The challenge was to find a way to transform his natural operatic voice into the contemporary music style he would write. The NY Times called him a Pavarotti, but singing opera was not the story Louie had to sing. After working for one year in Hollywood on”Louie & His 235 Italian Relatives”, Nichole moved to his home in CT to care for his dad who had stage 4 Alzheimers. He began the greatest experience of his life that enabled him to tell the stories and write the songs that he was meant to sing
Louis is the recipient of:
“The American Home Textile Award”
( along with Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Bill Blass)
“The Queen’s Prize” (Queen Elizabeth II) for his children’s book, Sofie & Luisa, by Collins Publishers
“Tommy Award”for printed textiles
Two “ Doll of the Year” Awards from the toy industry.
2007 CT Cottages and Gardens “Innovator Garden Design Award”.
2008 ISC Songwriting Award ( International Songwriting Award)
6 Billboard Song Awards for his country, pop, and inspirational music.
2 John Lennon Songwriting Awards for his children’s music
Click To See Louie Videos
