L.A. designers debut new work at AD Home Design Show in New York
Nearly a dozen emerging Los Angeles furniture and decor designers will introduce their latest products -- and make their debut -- at Made, an exhibition that is part of the 14th annual Architectural Digest Home Design Show, which is open to the trade and public from Thursday through Sunday in New York City. Among the participants: lighting designer Brendan Ravenhill, bedding company Parachute, textile and tabletop design firm Wolfum, weaver Mimi Jung, plaster and resin artist Elyse Graham, painter Lewis Mauk and contemporary furniture designers 100xbtr, BROOK&LYN and Eric Trine.
L.A.’s enterprising designers are operating on a hybrid model of studio craft like the woodworker Sam Maloof and industrial design studios like Charles and Ray Eames’, says exhibitor Trine, who will be showcasing his Rod + Weave chair, $1,225, Octahedron tables, $299-$499, planter ring, $55 and pedestal, $95, which are shown in the slideshow above and sold through his website.
“It’s hyper-local,” Trine says of the city’s burgeoning independent design and manufacturing scene. “A lot of these products actually come in contact with the designers’ hands, but some of the fabrication work is outsourced within 20-30 miles and that helps make price points really competitive, even on a global scale.”
The Los Angeles contingent is bringing a wide range of new designs to MADE, including Elyse Graham’s innovative Bull’s-Eye Drip cake stand, with an edge of poured resin drips that seem to defy gravity, and Ravenhill’s largest light fixture to date, the 10.3-foot-wide Double Pivot Chandelier with 10 spun metal shades that disassemble for easy shipping.
The inspirations are equally diverse: As early proponents of 3-D computer design and computer-numerical-controlled manufacturing, 100Xbtr will show tabletop wares that are prototyped by 3-D printers and made with ancient techniques such as bronze casting and ceramic slip-casting. “It’s like the blending of the past and the future,” co-founder Brendan Sowersby says. Wolfum, which is launching a collection of rugs and six wallpaper prints, also puts a 21st century spin on old-time patterns.
“I always aim to fuse hints of the traditional -- Art Deco and William Morris -- with progressive, technically driven patterns and colors that are vibrant and commanding,” says founder Annabel Inganni.
Other designers reference the Southern California lifestyle. Parachute’s Venice bedding and cashmere throws exude a snuggly Malibu boudoir vibe, while Mimi Jung and Brian Hurewitz of BROOK&LYN envisioned their Corian-topped Surfboard Table after seeing surfboards haphazardly stuck in the sand at Huntington Beach.
There is a growing refinement and an interest in materials in the newest Los Angeles designs, says Trine, who has added brass, copper plate and textured, powder-coated steel to his tables. “Mostly everything is light in form,” he adds. “There is nothing overly precious about anyone’s work; it all invites you to touch and use it.”
With attendance estimated at just under 50,000 people, the MADE show, now in its seventh year, offers that invitation to interior decorators, the public and buyers for retail, says producer Julia Haney Montanez, who has focused on bringing in L.A. designers.
“Seeing people moving from other cities to start their careers in Los Angeles, I truly believe it is the heartbeat of young creatives in America,” Montanez adds. “Brooklyn was the place for independent design and now L.A. might be sneaking in there.”
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