| We traveled to New York mid September to attend the 11th annual What’s New, What’s Next event at the New York Design Center. This is one of the most anticipated interior design events of the season. |
| This year, 96 showrooms opened their doors to guests from around the country for events, open houses and cocktail parties. Over 170 leading designers and industry pros lent their expertise and industry insights to panel discussions and presentations around the building. Top editors of media outlets such as Luxe Interiors + Design, Elle Decor, Veranda, Town & Country and New York magazine, among many others, were there to discuss trends and preview the showrooms’ fresh fall introductions. Ahead of the main event, on September 11th, we attended the annual Fall Intermix Dinner co-hosted by The Design Leadership Network and New York Design Center at the Flora Bar, to celebrate What’s New, What’s Next 2019. |
| The dinner was preceded by an intimate behind the scenes preview of Anni Albers & Paul Klee show, hosted by David Leiber, Partner at David Zwirner’s Gallery. |
| Some of the highlights of What’s New, What’s Next included visiting Kravet’s new concept showroom, called Kravet Workspace, which carries 12,000 products in its new NYC location. The self-service sample library, which gets replenished daily, is set up to be an efficient resource for the on-the-go designer. The 3,000-square-foot showroom also includes spacious workstations, each hooked up to a digital database capable of scanning samples to check stock, provide pricing information, display alternative colorways, and more. In-person customer service is still available: showroom representatives are on hand to help gather samples and offer technology system tutorials. |
| Sean Kelly, a leading gallerist, gave a meaningful talk “Value art, not its value” at the FAIR & Merida Showroom. He shared his perspective on collecting wisely in a world where art and design buyers have a tendency to value acquisitions in asset terms as opposed to the inherent quality of thework. |
Presentations from Timothy Corrigan about his new wallpaper collection for Fromental and Ray Booth about his collection for Hickory Chair (see pictures below) have both been enjoyable to attend. |
And last but not least, while in New York, we met up with our editor and the team at Rizzoli to review the progress of our upcoming book. We’re looking forward to “Beautiful, Livable Rooms That Work” (working title) being in the Rizzoli Bookstore this time next year! |
| Rizzoli Bookstore, Broadway, New York |
| “The future depends on what you do today.” – Gandhi |
