Brooklyn's Progress
February/March 2007

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce produced BKLYN Designs™ show.  The much anticipated home and interior design event will take place May 11 - 13. The show features some of Brooklyn’s best designers and manufacturers of contemporary furnishings, rugs, lighting and accessories.

Zia-Priven Design, one of this year's participants, was founded in 1999 and was born out of a shared passion for dramatic lighting and a love of ’40s Moderne. Based in Brooklyn, N.Y. with a showroom at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Zia-Priven is known for its sleek and sophisticated style, glamorous silk pendant lighting with crystal finials, sexy Lucite lamps and the ability to customize anything. 

The following is an interview with Zia-Priven founders Paul Priven and Marcia Zia.

Who is Zia-Priven?
Marcia:  Zia-Priven Design is my husband Paul, me, and our team of great employees.

How did the company form?
Paul:  We were born and raised in L.A.  We met on a film 10 years ago and broke out of the industry and started our own business in 1999.  Marcia is an Emmy-nominated Set Decorator and I was a 1st Assistant Director.  We were both looking for something that allowed us more creative control in our careers.
Marcia:  After owning a home furnishings and antique store for a year, lighting had become our specialty. We collected everything from vintage to modern, and found a niche with designers.  The next step for us was to create something that was our own.  And so we began the process of manufacturing.  And in the beginning we did everything ourselves.
Paul:  We didn’t realize what we were getting into…

How did you arrive in Brooklyn?
Marcia:  We chose Brooklyn because alot of our clients were in the tri-state area and we were really drawn to the artistic inspiration throughout the borough.  In addition, housing and warehouse space were affordable, so that was a huge plus.

Brooklyn has left an indelible mark on us because this is where we landed when we moved east.  We live in the city now, but we still love the energy in Brooklyn.  Everywhere you turn there’s another artist.

Paul:  Our studio is in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  We have four people who work for us at our studio in Brooklyn where I run the day-to-day operations, and Marcia does all of the design work out of our home office.  But there’s collaboration between us in all aspects of the business – we’re constantly bouncing ideas off of each other.

Congratulations on winning a commission for Donald Trump!  How did that come about?
Marcia:  We were approached by the Trump Organization in the summer of 2006, to contribute designs to a lighting line that will be manufactured by ELK Lighting, a much larger company than ours with factories overseas.
Paul:  We are collaborating with ELK’s in-house designer to come up with 6 to 7 collections all based around Trump’s different residences and properties. 
Marcia:  Since then, we’ve had numerous design and development meetings with Trump and ELK to establish the look we would like the Trump lighting line to convey.  It’s all been really exciting!  The first time we got to walk into Trump Tower as business associates and pass through the coveted gold elevator doors was surreal.  When the doors opened upstairs, and we caught our first glimpse of the polished white corridors… This has been a fantastic opportunity, however, an arduous process. 
Paul:  All of the designs are pending approval at the moment, and the plan is for the collections to come out in June. 
Marcia: We look forward to meeting the Donald (himself) in the near future, and hope he is as proud of the lighting as we are.
Paul:  The last thing we want to hear is “you’re fired!”

What’s next for Zia-Priven?
Paul:  The official launch of our retail line: ZP Studio.  Our ZP Studio Collection is an exciting, affordable alternative to our custom Couture line to the trade. 
Marcia:  All our pendants are made exactly the same as the higher priced custom ones, but are available in limited colors and sizes. This way, they can be made in quantity, always be in stock and we can pass our savings onto the customer.
Paul: We also have an extensive trade-only line and make custom lighting for the residential, commercial and hospitality industries.
Marcia: We’re also working on a line of new trade only pieces for our custom Couture Collection that we’re excited about and will be debuting at BKLYN DESIGNS in May of this year!

To contact Marcia and Paul of Zia-Priven call 718-398-6777, or send an email to info@ziapriven.com.