AT EIGHT YEARS OF AGE, PATTY SUBMITTED A DRAWING TO A “MATCHBOOK” SCHOOL TO WIN A FREE SCHOLARSHIP. ALTHOUGH SHE WON SHE WAS EVENTUALLY DISQUALIFIED BECAUSE OF HER AGE. AT A MORE APPROPRIATE AGE SHE ATTENDED THE FORT LAUDERDALE ART INSTITUTE AND PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN.

BY THE MID-SEVENTIES, PATTY WAS AN AWARD WINNING STORE DECORATOR AND DESIGNER WITH WALKER GROUP AND LATER, WITH CNI. SHE WAS CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR SURFACE MATERIALS FOR HER PROJECTS THAT WOULD BE NEW AND FRESH WHEN THE STORES SHE WAS DESIGNING OPENED SEVERAL YEARS LATER.

FRUSTRATED WITH THE LACK OF OPTIONS PATTY STARTED TO CREATE HER OWN PRODUCTS TO USE ON HER PROJECTS.

PATTY BEGAN BY TAKING MATERIALS USED IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIES AND ADAPTING THEM FOR USE ON WALLS. WHEN SHE COULD NOT FIND EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED SHE DECIDED TO DESIGN THEM HERSELF AND HAVE MANUFACTURERS CUSTOM MAKE THEM FOR HER PROJECTS.

PATTY’S FIRST WALLCOVERING, “METALENE”, WON A ROSCOE AWARD AS DID HER FIRST FABRIC, “WEDDING”.

IN THE LATE-SEVENTIES, PATTY FOUND AN EMBOSSED JAPANESE VINYL PRODUCT USED FOR CEILINGS OF RAIL CARS. SHE ADAPTED IT AS A WALLCOVERING. THE PRODUCT WAS SO SUCCESSFUL THAT THE JAPANESE COMPANY, “LONSEAL” ASKED PATTY TO DESIGN MORE EMBOSSINGS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE WALLCOVERING MARKET. SHE HAS DEVELOPED VINYL FLOORINGS AND A UNIQUE PEARLESENT COLORING SYSTEM THAT CONTINUES TO BE MARKETED BY LONSEAL.

AT LONSEAL’S REQUEST, PATTY INTRODUCED “INNOVATIONS”, TO BECOME THEIR EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR OF PATTY’S EMBOSSED VINYL WALLCOVERINGS. IT IS A MEASURE OF PATTY’S TIMELESS DESIGNS THAT MANY OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE STILL BEING SOLD TODAY.

IN 1979, PATTY, WITH HER PARTNER AND FUTURE HUSBAND, GARY MILLER, FORMED THE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT FIRM, “PATTY MADDEN INC.” THEIR PHILOSOPHY WAS TO IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF MANUFACTURING THEIR PRODUCTS TO LEARN HOW TO PUSH THE TECHNICAL ENVELOPE TO CREATE EVER MORE SOPHISTICATED PRODUCTS.

THEIR GOAL WAS TO DEVELOP AND EXPLOIT THE NON-EXISTENT HIGH-END COMMERCIAL WALLCOVING MARKET. OVER THE NEXT 23 YEARS, PATTY WENT FROM SUCCESS TO SUCCESS WITH THEIR PRODUCTS. THE COMPANY’S AREA OF INTEREST HAS BROADENED TO INCLUDE ALL SURFACE MATERIALS. PATTY’S FIRST LINE OF MOSAIC AREA RUGS FOR “LAMONTAGE” WON THE BEST OF SHOW AWARD ROSCOE IN 1991. CURRENTLY, PATTY IS DESIGNING A LINE OF PRINTED CARPETING FOR “DESIGN ORIGINS”, A SHAW INDUSTRIES COMPANY. ALSO IN THE WORKS ARE FABRIC COLLECTIONS IN MOHAIR, CS TRIVERA AND OTHER TEXTILES.

WHEN OMNOVA, PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS GENCORP, THE LARGEST AMERICAN MANUFACTURER OF VINYL WALLCOVERINGS, WANTED TO CREATE A NEW LINE OF EMBOSSINGS THAT WENT BEYOND ANYTHING THAT THEY HAD DONE BEFORE, THEY CAME TO PATTY MADDEN RATHER THAN USING THEIR OWN EXTENSIVE DESIGN CENTER. [RUN-ON] THE RESULT, “X-QUEST” HAS BEEN RECEIVED CRITICAL ACCLAIM.

IN 1991, PATTY MADDEN INC. FORMED A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH J.M. LYNNE, CO., A NATIONAL MARKETING ORGANIZATION, WHOSE VISION OF THE FUTURE EMBRACED MASS MARKETING PMI’S HIGH-END PRODUCTS AT AFFORDABLE PRICES.

THE MANAGEMENT OF J.M. LYNNE HAS ENCOURAGED PATTY TO EXPLORE HER CREATIVITY IN BOTH DESIGN AND COLOR. THE RESULTS HAVE MADE BOTH OF THEM INDUSTRY LEADERS.

SINCE PMI’S FIRST PRODUCT INTRODUCTION IN 1992, WHEN A THIRSTY DESIGN COMMUNITY ENTHUSIASTICALLY SPECIFIED THEIR PRODUCTS, THE PMI AND J.M. LYNNE TEAM NEVER LOOKED BACK! TOGETHER THEY HAVE CREATED A WALLCOVERING COMPANY WITH AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED DESIGNER. [RUN-ON ?]

IN 1992, J.M. LYNNE’S ANNUAL EARNINGS WERE 11 MILLION DOLLARS. J. M. LYNNE HAS GROWN TO A 55 MILLION DOLLAR COMPANY IN 2000! WITH PMI’S PRODUCTS ACCOUNTING FOR 40 PERCENT OF SALES. BY 2002 PATTY MADDEN CUMULATIVE SALES TOPPED THE $100,000,000 MARK.

PATTY’S DESIGN VISION HAS ALWAYS BEEN THREE DIMENSIONAL. SHE HAS DEVELOPED INGENIOUS WAYS OF TRANSLATING THE THREE DIMENSIONAL TO TWO DIMENSIONAL FOR HER PRINT DESIGNS.

WITH HER UNIQUE STYLE OF LAYERING, SHE HAS CREATED A WHOLE CLASS OF PRINTED DESIGNS THAT EXHIBIT HER TRADEMARK SUBTLETY AND FEELING OF INFINITE DEPTH. DIFFERENT FACETS OF HER DESIGNS ARE HIGHLIGHTED DEPENDING UPON ONE’S VIEWING ANGLE OR LIGHT SOURCE.

CURRENTLY, PMI IS DEVELOPING A NEW CLASS OF PRODUCT, WHICH COMBINES EMBOSSING AND PRINTS: CALLED “3-D PRINTS”. OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, PMI HAS DEVELOPED AND PERFECTED A LASER ENGRAVING TECHNIQUE SPECIFICIALLY TO MANUFACTURE THIS NEW CLASS OF PRODUCTS. RECENTLY, PMI ADAPTED SOME OF THE LASER DEVELOPMENT TECHNIQUES TO CREATE A NEW ENGRAVING METHOD THAT CREATES A NEW CLASS OF PRODUCT.

THE FIRST PRODUCT THAT UTILIZES THIS METHOD WAS INTRODUCED AT NEOCON 2002 AND WON THE GOLD PRIZE.

PATTY MADDEN IS THE DOMINANT FORCE IN THE AMERICAN COMMERICAL WALLCOVERING MARKET. SHE CONTINUALLY SETS NEW DESIGN, PROFIT, AND MANUFACTURING STANDARDS. PATTY DEDICATES HERSELF TO CHALLENGING THE DESIGN AND PRODUCT ENVELOPE, CONTINUOUSLY INTRODUCING NEW AND EXCITING WALLCOVERINGS .

PATTY BEGAN DESIGNING PRINTED CARPET FOR DESIGN ORIGINS IN 2000 AND IS WORKING ON HER THIRD COLLECTION.