SYDNEY, AU—Jacqueline “Jacquie” McMahon was named general manager of interiors and homewares at Charles Parsons & Co. last December. From the Charles Parsons website, one learns that “homewares” include cushions, throws, bedding, and readymade curtains. McMahon just recently confirmed her appointment to Fabrics & Furnishings International. Prior to her new post, she was a management consultant for nearly thirteen years. Before that, she was involved in furniture design and development for Domayne, a major Australian retailer. McMahon is based in Charles Parsons’s headquarters in Redfurn, New South Wales, Australia. Charles Parsons is a 103-year-old wholesaler and converter of fabrics in all of their applications, including apparel and floor covering. Charles W. Parsons is the fourth-generation principal and managing director. The company has five showrooms in Australia and three in New Zealand, with numerous distributors both in Australia and abroad, even as far away as South Korea. It is an exporter of fabrics to Asia and to the Northern Hemisphere. Charles Parsons offers designers and consumers a three-year guarantee covering its fabrics. It offers to replace “any fabric which is found to be faulty due to manufacturing defect(s) and which has been used in accordance with its care instructions, performance ratings and Australasian standards for a period of three years,” according to its website. The company tests all of its fabrics in its own in-house laboratory in Melbourne, according to the chairman, Vicki Parsons. Charles Parsons is a privately-owned family operation comprising businesses which operate throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as servicing markets in Europe, Asia, and North America. 
The company was founded in 1915 by Charles Leslie Parsons, supplying fabrics to suit manufacturers. Since then, the company has diversified across almost every category where fabric or textiles are used. “This includes the supply of roll stock to garment manufacturers from basics to high fashion, performance sport, school and corporate,” according to the company website. 
Charles Parsons and Company remains a privately-owned fourth-generation family business.