Carpet Designer Bob Hutchison Has Died

Lookout Mountain, TN, April 29, 2024-Bob Hutchison, vice president of global design at Milliken & Company, died April 15. He previously held positions with Collins & Aikman, Shaw Lees, Mohawk and Mannington.

Hutchison was educated at the Royal College of Art in London, studying design, and moved to the United States after he graduated. He had a brief spell with Collins & Aikman before moving to Shaw.

From there, in the 1990s, Hutchison moved to Lees, a division of Burlington Industries, leading commercial design and product development group, where he designed Pebbleweave and Sisal Craft, two products that helped Lees stand out with A&D.

Lees was purchased by Mohawk, and Hutchison continued on with the company, leading commercial design and product development.

Hutchison then moved to Mannington to lead its commercial design and product development group.

Says Jim McCullum, former Milliken executive, “When I joined Milliken, Bob was the first guy I recruited, knowing the desperate need Milliken had for relevant design at that time. I felt Bob would be the best guy to create the ‘renaissance’ needed at Milliken and, boy oh boy, did he manage that in an awesome fashion.” Hutchison retired from Milliken.

“I feel he has been an icon in the commercial flooring design arena. He was very unassuming and avoided the limelight, thus was maybe not as well-known as some of the other icons, such as David Oakey, Sandy Mishkin and Suzanne Tick. However, I strongly believe Bob was as talented as these other industry giants.”

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