Maison & Objet
The best fashion and trend information from Europe's premiere home furnishings show.
The top dogs of home textiles
If you want to get spoiled for the rest of your Paris show trip, start at the top. I did and am glad for it.Too early to call trends, but so much is clear so far from visiting showrooms as part of Paris Deco Off.Watch out for whites both the pure and the creamy kind. Most often seen in modern designs, printed, woven and embroidered. Also seen mixed with black and gray for an urban geometric story... Read More
Comments (1)Paris Deco
As far as home textiles are concerned, there is no hotter ticket here than the showrooms of high-end specialists who open their doors to professionals and the public alike only in January of each year. Outside the halls of Maison & Objet, it's a world all its own and an event not to be missed if your business is the world of interiors and you enjoy the best of couture fabrics, trimmings furniture... Read More
Comments (1)The Priorities
As I rev up my expectations for what Maison & Objet will bring when it opens on Friday, I lay out my priorities for coverage ahead of time. While yours may differ from mine, I hope this to be an informal if highly subjective guide to working the show.Given the audience of HTT, naturally, my first stop will always be home textiles. In Hall 2 the focus is on finished home products: bed, bath, kitche... Read More
Comments (0)Anticipating Maison
Advance information has it that despite Europe's economic woes, Maison & Objet is ready for its close-up. Most striking are the show's continuing and evolving efforts to make this the most complete showcase for all disciplines of living by embracing, integrating and blending all of what impacts our daily lives now - and who and what is seeding our future. What started little more than a decade ago... Read More
Comments (7)It's Not About the Stuff
"It's Not About the Stuff." That was the provocative message delivered to an industry audience by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, founder of Apartment Therapy, at an early breakfast meeting during High Point Market last week. Maxwell founded Apartment Therapy in 2004 after realizing through blogging just how much consumers needed a helping hand and no-nonsense personal advice when remodeling an... Read More
Comments (3)Dessert Modern blooms in High Point
A style movement that has been steadily developing over the last two to three seasons, thanks to Ralph Lauren now has a name: Desert Modern.As seen at the High Point Market, it is rustic, quite substantial in scale, expressed in rough hewn woods with lots of grain action and boxy modern in shape. Textiles draw on textures and leathers for emphasis, and accessorization is spare.The collection is ga... Read More
Comments (4)French Twist
The Made in the USA campaign at this week's High Point Market notwithstanding, this market is seeing a major revival of French furniture, historically the most popular style in America. What's different this time around is that these new pieces have none of the dead generic quality of mummified reproductions but are energetic take-offs and reinterpretations of a certain bourgeois genre.In other wo... Read More
Comments (2)From Maison to Maison
It's never been easier to draw comparisons between High Point, now in full swing here, and Maison & Objet, which closed in Paris just a month ago. The distinction is especially clear in the home textiles on display here this week, which are well diversified in style, color and texture - the latter having been largely absent from the Paris show. Suppliers, such as Valdese, Circa 1810 (a div. of Val... Read More
Comments (1)Hot in High Point
First the good news: The Market opened on Saturday here to enthusiastic crowds, hungry for "fresh meat," new looks and extended product lines. All are offered in abundance. Here are a few highlights having emerged in just the last two days: Ten must haves for seekers of trend-right and innovative merchandise: Satin - Shine and gloss are back in many collections, imparting a glamorous glo... Read More
Comments (0)A last look at Maison & Objet
Looking back at this month's show, one of its less visible but valuable aspects goes beyond product and interior design exhibits - and that's special services provided for M&O visitors to enrich their fair experience.First, there is the Inspiration Trend Book published each season. It can either be purchased on site or be ordered even after the show from M&O's website. This month, the overall umbr... Read More
Comments (0)Two Views of Living
Maison & Objet closed on a less than exuberant note. Although attendance seemed to be heavier than at any other time I can remember, what was on view was not riveting or as stimulating as in previous seasons. While it makes sense that suppliers were holding back given the economic uncertainties - which don't bode well for the immediate future for anyone in the Euro-zone - there seemed to be more t... Read More
Comments (2)Maison & Objet - The Sporting Life
Each season, the organizers of SAFI commission - some of the most influential designers and thinkers of our time - project their concepts of what they foresee for the future onto the stage at Maison & Objet. I must admit that I approach those presentations with caution, if only because many times their execution falls short of the concept headlines. However, there is one - among roughly a half doz... Read More
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