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Brooklyn’s Global Influence
Locally grown but internationally known furnishing designers showcase at BKLYN DESIGNS
Bear and Lion’s Eva Bench, part of a collection of modern and environmentally sustainable furnishings
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The annual BKLYN DESIGNS showcase, presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, has grown into a fair that represents some of today’s hottest contemporary furnishing designers. This year a celebrity jury consisting of influential tastemakers, like BMA’s Arnold Lehman, Guggenheim Museum’s Christina Yang and Grace Bonnie from the popular blog Design*Sponge, hand-selected 45 Brooklyn-based designers to showcase modern furniture, lighting, super cool wallpaper, accessories and eco-friendly furnishings.
The selection process was difficult and the jury raised the bar “for accepting exhibitors and selectively choosing designers that keep an eye on sustainability while escalating their material in response to the changing marketplace,” says juror and founder of Alternative Designs, Courtney Sloane. More than half of the 45 selected participants are returning vendors, including veteran Eric Manigian, who’s been part of BKLYN DESIGNS since its inception (www.ericmanigian.com). “Eric continues to come back because he makes most of his sales for the year at BKLYN DESIGNS. So when we hear this, that means our show is a success,” states Karen Auster, President of Auster*Events. Known for his green designs, using discarded and recycled woods as well as repurposed trees, Manigian will be debuting his most ambitious project yet, the beautiful Buddhist-influenced enso table.
This year’s showcase will also feature young, cutting-edge designers like RISD graduate Matthew Fairbank (www.matthewfairbankdesign.com), who has a background in interior design and creating contemporary furniture. He’ll be premiering several pieces, including a leather and pickled oak wood chaise lounge. Two other brand-new companies that will be debuting lines at the 7th annual BKLYN DESIGNS are Bear and Lion (www.bearandlion.net), an environmentally sustainable company, and Hugh Haden Designs, a producer of “fun, innovative, and intelligent furniture for kids and adults.” A showcase of works from recent graduates of Pratt’s Industrial Design Program rounds out the lineup, as does a self-guided tour of six distinctive homes presented by Dwell Magazine.
Chamber of Commerce President Carl Hum sums it up best: “We, at the Chamber, thought a lot about how to present a show that took into account what”s happening with our nation, economy and planet. To that end, we created a more modest show; selectively featuring the most innovative, up-and-coming designers that need larger format shows to exhibit their work to the rest of the world.” Auster adds, “What I like about visiting BKLYN DESIGNS is that the exhibitors are at the booth, so all weekend long you get to meet them and understand the product more. People come from all over the world to visit BKLYN DESIGNS to see what’s up and coming.”
St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water St., DUMBO, Brooklyn
www.bklyndesigns.com
May 8–10, 2009