Design Guy

Day 4: NEW YORK – NOW (formerly the New York International Gift Show)

The last day of market always starts in high gear, so much so that we sometimes spilt up trying to conquer more of the massive Javitz Center before the end of the show. Today was no exception!

First buy of the day was from a supplier to our hotel store, “…away from home”, that we’ve had the most success with. They are the maker of our “tortoise shell” (actually buffalo horn) necklaces and bracelets, as well as bone jewelry, and Shagreen jewelry and hand bags. This is the kind of vendor where all their products look great so you really have to try and cut things out of the buy because everything is just so wonderful. Great quality, beautiful design, and exotic materials.

Shagreen (pronounced Sha – grin) handbags in great colors and some with patterns printed over the color.

The handbag can be used with its built-in chain or tuck it away and carry it as a clutch (not my words, hers!)

Buffalo Horn link bracelets in Tortoise Shell coloration's, carved cuffs with cutouts and applied jewels.

Over sized Buffalo Horn links create long length necklaces that can be doubled or tripled for a multiple layer look.

Next was POKKET, the maker of a miniature mixing station for the budding disc jockey inside you! Designed by a young hipster from Berlin, I know, this is just random, but we actually did buy these tiny devices in hopes that they would be a hit with the young set shopping with their parents at our stores. They are available in ten colors and four patterns. If they’re not a hit, then our daughter and her friends may see them under their Christmas trees.

We were first attracted to the speaker where a huge sound was pulsating from and approached the POKKET booth to check it out. Turns out, the speaker case and speakers are made from up-cycled old leather suitcases by yet another Los Angles designer.

For you techies, here’s how the diagram for how it works, below

Clear trends were hard to spot at this show. No definitive color trend was evident, even the “color of the year”, Emerald Green as declared by the good folks at PANTONE had petered out. If I had to state a color trend from this show I would say it was a combination of multiple greens, blues, green-blues, and blue-greens.

Just when it felt safe to say that Lilac and Berry colors were beginning to emerge as a trend, we received the proclamation that it was Emerald Green that would be “the” color. Regardless of the forecasters, this forecaster says that Lilac and Berry will continue to emerge in both runway and home design textiles, while blues, greens, aqua’s remain popular but are starting to cool a bit.

Above, cool Lilacs reign at one of our favorite designers, Aviva Stanoff Designs. Viva is well known for her textiles, made by a process where she takes wet velvet and presses a branch or leaf into the fabric, thereby creating the “pattern”.

A trend that seems to be gaining steam is the use of natural minerals as accessories in the home. Large geodes of natural Amethyst, Citrine, and Rock Crystal, some too exotic to name. We saw the minerals from small table top size to stand alone behemoths.

The geodes in various minerals were shown spilt in- half, slices of agates, and clusters of crystals left in their natural state, or made into lamps, boxes, and tables.

Katherine McCoy Rock Crystal lamp, above, available at “…away from home (at El Encanto Hotel, Santa Barbara)”

Agate encrusted boxes and tray, above.

We stopped at Rizzoli and picked up a few tomes, namely the new coffee table books by Los Angeles designer Barbara Barry, and Washington, D.C. based Thomas Pheasant. Both of these designers are creators of their own lines for Baker Furniture, which we sell in all Cabana Home locations.

Barbara Barry’s iconic X-Back Chair, below, in stock at Cabana Home Santa Barbara.

Thomas Pheasant’s iconic Paris Sofa, below, in stock at Cabana Home Santa Barbara.

Loved this find, an over sized leather bucket with braided handles.

Another mini-trend: Wooden accessories in boxes, drinking cups, trays, lamps and more. Most of it rendered in the mid-century style, but some of it crossed over into the traditional realm.

Walnut wood Table Lamp, with honed finish and white Carrera marble detailing,, below:

Tray made in herringbone pattern of inlaid wood, below

Cowhide on everything, remains a strong category. Here applied to a contemporary chrome bench., below.

A sculpture gallery from Berlin (yes, the Germans were there in force…I mean lots of vendors from Germany were present), which represented several sculptors who work primarily in bronze. We loved the Giacometti inspired 6ft. tall sculptures. We will see them with much more product next month at the Masion & Objet Show in Paris.

From one of our favorite vendors of everything fabulous that is inlaid with bone, there is no one that compares to this man (he is also the maker of the agate encrusted box and tray (in the paragraph on minerals, above). Here he shows for the first time a material created with crushed and ground malachite and resin. I knew there had to be some story to it because he cost of Malachite alone would make these tables virtually unaffordable even to the upper reaches of the well-heeled.

He also developed this great looking resin based tray, below, in a great reddy-rust (not a Pantone color!)

A beautiful inlay of wood and bone creates a stunning geometric pattern on this Occasional Table / Stool.

We loved this mirror he made with inlaid natural bone and grey. Standing over 7 ft. tall, this piece is a centerpiece for any room.

Indian silver is finely sheathed over carved mirror frame. We’ve rarely seen this technique as finely done as it was on this mirror, below.

We were happy to see once again the line of woven leather throw pillows and rugs that we had seen last year at market.

The leather is woven in the style of Bottega Veneta, the Italian fashion leather house that specializes in woven leather goods.

We loved this line last year, and bought in to it his year. We ordered woven leather and finely scaled suede throw pillows as well as a bench with woven leather tip...

and... we ordered woven leather handbags, very Bottega like, below:

We met an Argentine woman who imports fine “sheeps” to the USA. She meant sheep skins, sheep rugs, pillows, etc… She did have a great eye for interpreting sheep in a fresh manner. Expensive, but well done.

And while we’re on the subject of hides and skins, we met a new source for intricate hair-on-hide rugs. Think Kyle Bunting, but at ¼ the price! Rugs in standard and custom sizes and colors.

Custom and stock throw pillows also available, below:

As the day wore on, we saw the lights being turned out starting at the far end of the exhibition hall, but did we turn and leave the hall? Uh, no! We just walked faster in our race to finish the show. We raced down the aisles with determination. We were now stopping at only the extraordinary, and we stopped at a booth offering Middle Eastern woven fabrics, made into throw pillows. These rich covers were colorful and uniquely woven textiles.

One of our bed linen designers debuted new patterns and colors in bed linens, below:

New table top and bath linens in sophisticated shapes and stripes, below:

Do you think we packed it in? So here we are at the last post for the New York NOW Show. It is always interesting to be in New York, and to attend this market. It gets us jazzed up for the upcoming Maison & Object Show in Paris which we will be attending next month.

One more thing: Worst in Show!

These figures, below, are so weird, I can't even project what they are supposed to be. Just trying to figure out why they're here!