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From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, there’s always something new happening in the world of design. In this biweekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.
Product Launches
Cindy Greene Debuts Decor Line
On February 22, interior and graphic designer Cindy Greene forayed into homeware, debuting her new decor line, Sabel Studios. Greene has had much success in the realm of design, having previously founded the cult fashion label Libertine (which featured a capsule collection with Target and a collaboration with Damien Hirst). As a design consultant, her clients included Supreme and Marie Claire. “I am influenced by a diverse group of designers from Peter Max to Alexander Girard to François Lalanne,” Greene shares with AD PRO. “When creating Sabel, I drew inspiration from classic cinema, fashion, historic architecture, and a life of extensive global travel.”
Moda Operandi Honors Italianate Style With Their Latest Trunk Show
On February 8, Moda Operandi launched Save Venice: The Tabletop Collection their newest capsule collection trunk show, showcasing a selection of their favorite Italian artisans. Makers included NasonMoretti, Stories of Italy, Venini, Tessitura Bevilacqua, Porte Italia, and others. To round out the show, co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Lauren Santo Domingo curated a selection of vintage and antique pieces to pair, sourced from her own travels and personal collection. “We looked to our Venetian artisans, each with their own distinct talents, to create this capsule that reflects the rich artistic traditions of the city,” Santo Domingo shares. “The resulting trunk show is giving us Park Avenue in the ’80s, Bonfire of the Vanities vibes—it’s over-the-top opulence, Italianate style.”
Awards
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A Monthlong Celebration for Le French Design 100
This year marks the second annual rendition of Le French Design 100, the digital festival celebrating a selection of 100 best interiors and objects that showcase outstanding contemporary French Design. The celebrations commenced with a ceremony on January 21 at the Élysée Palace Paris, where French president Emmanuelle Macron spoke on the significance of design in today’s world. The winners and jury members came together for the festival alongside Macron, Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin (France’s minister of culture), and Philippe Starck, this year’s official guest of honor. The festivities carried on through February with the launch of their monthlong digital program, where projects by each of the winners were showcased online.
All About Arts
Duro Olowu to Curate at the Cooper Hewitt This March
The British Nigerian designer Duro Olowu has long stunned fans since launching his renowned womenswear label in 2004, continuously showcasing unique patterns and impeccable construction through his clothing. In 2005, he was named New Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards. Olowu’s talents carry into the arts as well, with past curations for the Camden Arts Centre in London and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. Up next, the designer will guest-curate the 20th installment of the Cooper Hewitt’s “Selects” series, using a selection from the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition will highlight the theme of pattern and its ability to express ideas and cultural heritage—drawing on much of his fashion expertise. The show will be on view from March 18 to August 28.
Openings
Ceramics Sizzle in a New Exhibition
West Coasters who haven’t had their fill of creativity from Frieze will find refuge in Santa Monica, where clay gets chopped, screwed, and reformulated into a lineup of inventive works in the show “Ceramics Synthesized.” Now open, the exhibition, a pop-up show organized by fellow clay worker Jenny Hata Blumenfield (under the umbrella of her venture Blumenfield Projects), brings together artists including Mustafa Ali Clayton, Lizette Hernandez, and Gabriella Picone, each of whom brings a different lens to the medium—from graphic, almost two-dimensional treatment of surface (see Cody Hoyt’s Landscape Vessel #3) or Kiyoshi Kaneshiro’s explosive Fractured Vessels. On view through March 1.
New Casa Perfect Show Opens with a Pause
The Future Perfect’s exhibition, “Momentary Pause,” is currently on view at Casa Perfect in Beverly Hills. “The works presented in the exhibition are all expressions of labor—or the act of making by hand—as a form of care for nature, or as a way of understanding oneself in relation to the environment,” gallery director Laura Young said in a statement. “With a growing awareness of the impact of mass production on the environment, and mass media on the individual, we’ve seen a return to simpler ways of living on the earth, and a renewed appreciation for its resources and their possibilities. Through different approaches and outcomes, each artist asks us to slow down and connect with their work, explore its details, and liberate our senses and minds.”
Events
New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Dinner Showcases Exceptional Floral Works
Last night, the New York Botanical Garden staged its Orchid Dinner at the Plaza Hotel. The event was intended to celebrate the return of the Orchid Show: Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope. The evening featured a sale of rare orchids, as well as table arrangements by a host of exceptional florists and landscape architects. One example? The two tables created by Grace Fuller of Grace Fuller Design in conjunction with beauty brand Guerlain.
Spring’s Industry Event Lineups Are Announced
As the design world cautiously reenters trade fair and event season, lineups for several industry happenings are being unveiled. In New York, the annual Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Spring Gala, which invites more than 40 designers to decorate spectacular tablescapes, returns after a two-year hiatus with the idyllic theme of “A Garden of Earthly Delights.” Participating designers and tastemakers include Alessandra Branca, Kesha Franklin of Halden Interiors, Michael Del Piero, among others. Elsewhere, the roster of 30-plus international galleries set to participate in Design Miami/Basel in June has been revealed. Many established galleries will make their return—Friedman Benda, Carpenters Workshop, Dimore Gallery, and Hostler Burrows included—while Paris-based Galerie Negropontes makes its debut at the fair’s 16th edition.
