design editor Lauren Petroff shares an inside look at the NY now trade show.
Every year near the end of summer, a few of the editors here at house & home head down to new York City for the two-day blitz of design inspiration that is NY NOW. The biannual market and trade show focuses on home, lifestyle and gift products, and while the majority of attendees are merchants on the hunt for stunning collections, my colleague Jen Masseau and I got to attend as flies on the wall — ready to scope out what’s new and what’s next.
Here are some highlights and upcoming trends from the whirlwind design show…
These hand-blown glass vessels by Joe Cariati demonstrate the stunning range of color we saw at the market. It’s always interesting to see the shift in palettes over time, and this year we saw a lot of saturated, yet earthy colors — even the pinks, purples and oranges had a natural quality to them. These pieces would make a terrific accent to any room, considering that their muted undertones are very livable.
We identified similar colors on artisanal textiles at new Market Goods, Sien + Co and Tantuvi studio (starting from the top left), and loved how these colors were combined with simple, yet graphic patterns.
Also in the realm of pattern, these in-depth textiles from Manglam Arts (top left), Sugar Feather (bottom) and Walter.g (top right) really caught our eye. Their global, subtly vintage feel comes courtesy of techniques like block-printing and batik dying.
We also saw a lot of creative tabletop designs. merchant Hawkins new York seemed to draw inspiration from celestial bodies in their special tabletop collection.
In recent years there’s been a trend toward strong stoneware in neutral tones, but we observed plenty of porcelain, ceramic and china vessels with hand-painted embellishments at the show — signs of a shift to come.
Designer: Jill Rosewald, The Granite (top row), Malka Dina, Nicholas Newcomb (bottom row)
Boho wall hangings have been a mini-trend over the past couple years, but at NY NOW, there was barely a macramé in sight. but that doesn’t indicate that the walls were neglected. We admired a number of bold and dainty vertical surface adornments featuring metals and natural materials.
Designer: The Dharma Door (top left), fail (right), Anna Karlin (bottom left)
While there wasn’t an exhaustive amount of lighting at the tradeshow, there were a few significant pieces on display. lots of of them shared an appealing sculptural quality, with burnished, dark finishes rather than bright and shiny ones.
Designer: Roll & hill (left), Gentner (right)
Finally, on a broader note, Jen and I saw quite a bit of roundness and fluidity when it pertained to accessories. contemporary and organic, I think these forms are a great departure from the angular accents we’ve seen so much of.
Designer: Light + Ladder (left), far & large collective (top right), Klein Reid (bottom right)