FURNISHINGS : Bingeing on Fringe

Don’t think that cowboys and Indians appear only in the movies. The Western influence is riding high in fashion departments and furniture stores this summer.

Thanks to the popularity of Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” and to renewed interest in the Old West, fashion and furnishings companies are roping in a considerable audience.

Rope-stitching and fringe details decorate armchairs and outerwear. Other trends off the prairie include hand-painted Indian motifs and animal images on leather and suede clothing as well as upholstered furniture.

“I grew up playing cowboys and Indians,” says Don Silva, whose firm, National Upholstery Co., makes a fringed suede club chair (pictured, left). It is available by special order through the Mimi London showroom in Los Angeles. He says the Western theme is more than a trend. “Trendy comes and goes. Our heritage is here to stay.”

Los Angeles-based menswear designer Jules Weinseider for M. Julian interprets a vintage leather jacket (pictured, right) with fringed sleeves and eagle back inset. It is available at Chanin’s, Beverly Center.