
The highly accomplished leader with a record of success in leading design-centric businesses to succeed Joe Sultan and join Chilewich’s board of directors.
Chilewich, the design-led brand founded by Sandy Chilewich and headquartered in New York City, today announced John McPhee, an accomplished leader and entrepreneurial executive, joining the company as CEO, assuming day-to-day leadership of the company, effective immediately.
“John McPhee is the best executive to lead Chilewich into its next chapter while remaining true to what we stand for — original design,” said founder and creative director Sandy Chilewich. “He is an outstanding leader with broad retail and trade experience, uniquely deep knowledge of our industry, and a track record of successfully managing and growing design-driven brands.”
Chilewich produces a broad range of durable, distinctive textiles for residential, commercial, and transportation applications, and it manufactures woven coverings for tabletops, floors, walls, windows, and more, that are made entirely in the United States. Available in more than 100 countries, Chilewich products combine innovative weaves and multi-tonal colors with durability, indoor/outdoor versatility, and easy maintenance
“I’ve admired the creativity and ingenuity of Chilewich for a long time, and there couldn’t be a better company for me to join,” said McPhee. “Chilewich is what I like to call ‘a startup with scale,’ where I can bring my entrepreneurial expertise in e-commerce, branding, retail, real estate, and team building to lead this great organization to worldwide success.”
“We are thrilled to welcome John into the chief executive role,” said Joe Sultan, who served as CEO since joining the company in 2001. “He joins Chilewich at an ideal time to build upon the momentum we’ve built across all parts of our business, from our strong retail and wholesale presence to our thriving contract, hospitality, and transportation divisions. There are even greater opportunities ahead of us, and we’re confident in John’s ability to unlock them.”
In their ongoing roles as members of Chilewich’s board of directors, Sultan and Sandy Chilewich will work closely with McPhee and John Edelman to ensure a smooth leadership transition. The four have known each other for decades.
“I’m excited to be rejoining forces with John, Sandy, and Joe to grow this iconic company into a worldwide success,” said McPhee. “There is tremendous opportunity for this brand, and I’m excited to be working with this talented team and taking the organization to the next level.”

A design industry leader for decades, McPhee joins Chilewich from contemporary footwear company Sam Edelman, where he served as president beginning in February 2020 and successfully steered the $200 million business through unprecedented times. He brings substantial experience across multiple industries having previously spent a decade as president of Design Within Reach, the modernist furniture retailer he bought, transformed, and sold to Herman Miller (now MillerKnoll) in partnership with John Edelman, who is also a member of the Chilewich board of directors.
Longtime business partners, McPhee and Edelman have built their careers around impactful execution, propelling Design Within Reach to new heights and linking it indelibly with a global design powerhouse. When McPhee and Edelman joined DWR in 2010, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and in just a few years the duo doubled the size of the company and halved the number of stores down to 35, and moved away from producing knockoff designs, making the company incredibly profitable.
At DWR, one of their major contributions was partnering and promoting some of the most exciting brands in the industry, such as Hay, Moooi, J.L. Møllers, Brown Jordan, and Luceplan, in addition to championing under-the-radar designers like Norm Architects and Egg Collective. They also introduced designer discounts and a trade program which made up a significant portion of DWR’s revenue, while expanding the company’s reach from the architecture and design industry and into the consumer market. Prior to joining DWR, both men held the same titles at Edelman Leather. In 2007, Knoll Inc. purchased Edelman Leather for $67 million, and before that, McPhee and Edelman worked at Sam & Libby, the footwear brand best known for affordable ballet flats.

Officeinsight asked the new CEO John McPhee what attracted him to joining Chilewich.
“Chilewich is a brand my wife, Lulu, and I live with every day,” says McPhee. “From the placemats on our kitchen table, to the custom rug under our Saarinen dining table to the coasters under evening cocktails with friends, Chilewich has long been a part of our daily life. It’s a brand that is currently bigger than the business and offers tremendous opportunities for growth.”
As we emerge from the pandemic, McPhee believes that Chilewich can grow in different segments of the market: “Chilewich has an enviable position in the upscale placemat category,” McPhee says. “We have wonderful rugs for both indoor and outdoor use, and flooring is a huge global market and a growth opportunity for us. As a domestic manufacturer, we have an opportunity to offer “the trade” custom capabilities. Whether it is custom floor mats, or countertop or cabinet liners cut to fit perfectly in a new custom kitchen, we have the ability to work closely with our design community partners to create one-of-a-kind products for their projects.”Chilewich most recently launched Cane, a product which combines forms and textures found in nature with the energy of mark-making. Fields of hatched tonal lines are arrayed diagonally, in dialogue with the twill weave structure, to create a versatile play of contrasts for floors, walls, and windows. Popular design-driven Chilewich products include: Basketweave placemats, this four-over-four pattern is available from deep earth tones to shades of metal; Fade Shag mats are ideal for use in kitchens, bathrooms, mudrooms, outdoor terraces, patios, pool areas and entryways; and Thatch floor mat, made from woven textiles using TerraStrand yarns with 25% renewable vegetable content.

For decades, Chilewich has been strong in both the U.S. and Canadian markets, and McPhee believes that the company is still just scratching the surface in North America. The company also has long established partnerships in the EU and the APAC region, and McPhee will be looking to their international partners to continue to develop the business there.
When asked where he sees the most promise and what he hopes to build on, McPhee responded, “Today is ‘day one’ for me. I’m going to spend the next 100 days asking questions and getting to know our team and our partners. Ask me that again in September and I’ll let you know!”