Speaking about the well documented interest in- and popularity of- all things related to one’s home AND the colliding worlds of design (both of which were subjects of my most recent New York Fashion Industry Report). New York Design Week kicked off this past weekend, and there are no fewer than three events around town that are dedicated to the decorator that lurks inside us all. The Target Open House, which opened on Saturday (and brought out fashion designers turned home gurus Isaac Mizrahi and Cynthia Rowley) runs through Tuesday, May 17th, and is being held at the Trinity Lot on Grand Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Five modular 500 square foot dwellings are set up, each with its own design theme. And the best part is should you find an item or two you wish to purchase, there are booths set up that enable you to do so. Also kicking off on Saturday (and going through Monday, May 16th) was ‘Downtown’ (www.designdowntown.com), being held at the Drive-In Studios, 443 West 18th street between 9th and 10th avenues.
The International Contemporary Furniture Fair (www.icff.com), which The New York Post called “The Mother of All Shows”, opens to the public on May 17th and is being held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 W. 34th street.
And as if to drive ‘home’ (pardon the pun) the point about the blurring of the lines within the worlds of design, The New York Times Magazine this past Sunday, May 15th, was called ‘The Architecture Issue’ and it’s ‘Style’ section, featured a story called, “People Who Live in Glass Houses”. Amongst those photographed were iconic fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester and her husband in their house in the south of Antwerp.
Also included in Sunday’s The New York Times was yet another one of their ‘Style’ Magazine supplements, “Travel Summer 2005” whose cover spoke volumes about straddling several worlds of design all at once. Photographed by Raymond Meier and styled by fashion editor Tina Laakkonen on Harbour Island in the Bahamas, it prominently featured a zebra patterned Ralph Lauren bikini (you only see the bottom half of the model with her perfectly manicured feet playfully extended across the white beach). One could just as easily imagine this cover being used for Sports Illustrated’s annual ‘Swimsuit Issue’, any one of the many health and fitness magazines, or a tony fashion magazine for that matter.
Marilyn Kirschner
