Cooper Hewitt says...
California Drop Cloth is a hand painted upholstery house. It was founded in the mid-1970’s by Leonard Pollikof. Pollikof began by repurposing drop cloths used by painters, which he would dry clean and use as upholstery. The first showroom to carry his collection of repurposed drop cloth upholstery was in the Pacific Design Center. In 1978, Pollikof teamed up with Eric Jones to create their first commercial space on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. Inside the space was a single table where Pollikof and Jones painted fabrics in shift, using tools like sponges and wallpaper brushes. Index cards were tacked to the wall with instructions for mixing paint colors. However, given the variability of the hand-painting process, reproducing colors to the memo samples was approximate and customers were reminded that the product would include natural variations. In the same year California Drop Cloth was mentioned in Egon Von Furstenburg’s book The Power Look at Home, which boosted the company’s sales and allowed Pollikof to continue to build the business.
