Owner Victoria Fanning relocated the business to North Charleston in 2025
As the founder of Crown Linen Designs, Victoria Fanning often used pieces of her Arte Italica collection of old-world pewter, hand-painted ceramics, and etched glass made by artisans in Florence, Italy, when styling photographs for her catalog of tablecloths, place mats, napkins, tea towels, and apparel. So when she had the opportunity to purchase Arte Italica, she knew the businesses would pair well. “These two brands were destined to be together because we share the same belief that relationships matter more than anything else,” she says.
Soon after taking over Arte Italica in 2022, Fanning sought to move her company’s operations from New Jersey to a port city that offered a better quality of life with a mild climate. On a discovery trip to Charleston in 2024, she and her husband, Mark, who handles operations, found that the Lowcountry ticked all their boxes. Last year, the Fannings, who had lived in Seattle, Washington, moved the business to North Charleston and purchased a home in Summerville. “We are so excited to introduce our heritage European products here in Charleston and to grow this timeless lifestyle brand that is now rooted in the community,” says Fanning, who has a public relations degree and worked as a buyer for Eddie Bauer.
Fanning started Crown Linen Designs in 2015 after her youngest son went to college. When a Ukrainian friend introduced her to the country’s luxurious embroidered linens, she purchased a few hundred pieces from artisans to sell at school and church fundraisers. Within a few years, the company was selling to more than 1,000 stores across the US. In 2019, Fanning met the then-owner of Arte Italica at the Atlanta home and gift market and completed the purchase of that business in 2022.
Since relocating to Charleston, Fanning has been able to spend more time at the warehouse, where she oversees a 10-person team, as well as design and quality control. During a facility tour, Fanning pauses to inspect a painted glass goblet that’s recently arrived in a shipment from Italy. “Because our legacy is to create today’s treasures that will become tomorrow’s heirlooms, no detail can go unnoticed,” she says.
Fanning has debuted Charleston-inspired tea towels and has plans for more Lowcountry-themed designs. Arte Italica and Crown Linen Designs pieces can be found in local stores, including Gwynn’s of Mount Pleasant and Rhodes Home & Gift. “We feel so lucky to have found Charleston with the beauty of the people and surroundings, which continue to inspire me personally every day,” says Fanning.
By the Numbers
