A Day at the Fair

Shopping with an interior designer for furniture is one thing. Ferreting out global trends with four local design pros is quite another. Sarasota Magazine did just that at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City last May, tagging along with an ASID professor, partners in a leading design firm and a retailer of classic Danish furniture.

Impressed that our savvy experts make the pilgrimage to ICFF every year, we watched and learned as they uncovered new sources, quizzed manufacturers and kicked the tires of conceptual products at what journalists describe as an international design bacchanalia. “I prefer to call it a smorgasbord of worldwide design,” says Marilyn Morgan of Sarasota—and she should know.

THE PROFESSOR

Morgan teaches a course called the History of Interior Design at the Ringling College of Art and Design. She’s written Modern Architecture, a tome used by architects and designers for continuing education credit to renew their licenses. Her master’s degree is from Columbia University’s School of Architectural Preservation and Planning. So what’s a history buff doing at a contemporary furniture show? She loves the stuff.

I quickly learned that extreme knowledge of the past uniquely qualifies Morgan to predict the fate of new designs. “Sit in that chair, it’s really comfortable,” she instructs as we approach Douglas Homer’s exhibit of futuristic-looking contraptions. “It’s a clever use of vintage chairs,” Morgan explains. Homer finds old Harry Bertoia chairs (designed for Knoll in the 1950s), fixes them up, powder coats the frames and ties on 2,500 sponge cords to create the whacked-out look. I love the chair and its witty name, Hairy Bertoia. Morgan tells me she bought a Baby Hairy Bertoia in yellow at last year’s show for her granddaughter. Hmmm, what’s 40 percent off a retail of $850?

Defying the maxim “those who can’t…teach,” Morgan is lead ASID designer for Sternberg Interiors. She came to ICFF armed with swatches from current jobs and a punch list of booths to visit. At Kinnasand, a favorite fabric source, we discovered a carpet line from Ruckstuhl of Switzerland. It combines soft and hard surfaces with alternating strips of sisal and flexible wood held together by zippers. “It’s great for a divorce,” quipped the representative. “Just unzip your half and carry it with you.”

Morgan lauded Amuneal’s new brand, 2, for its unique twists on classic furniture designs. She marveled at their “photo chairs,” with photographic images printed onto fabric that’s wrapped around the entire chair (including the frame). Any photo the client chooses can be applied. The display chairs featured a portrait of Leon Trotsky, boxers Jersey Joe Walker and Floyd Patterson, and children fleeing Bilbao during the Spanish Civil War—all around one table.

As we peruse Kenneth Cobonpue’s sculptural fiber furniture, Morgan says she might specify the dog crib—a work of art that changes the meaning of the dog house in my mind forever. Next she takes me to see David D’Imperio’s new high-tech lamps: a desk model called La Brea and various permutations of the curiously wiry Diadema. “I like to use D’Imperio lighting because it’s different—industrial, architectural and very well made,” she explains.

“I love the energy at ICFF,” Morgan concludes. She likes the hands-on approach, the fact that everyone is free to interact with really good contemporary furniture. “People are afraid of modern design because they don’t understand it,” she says. “They fall back on the idea that it is uncomfortable and cold, which is untrue.”

THE RETAILER

No one agrees with that philosophy more than Kim Nielsen, founder of dkVogue. His stores are showcases of mid-century Danish design, oozing with furniture that combines the best of both form and function.

Touring ICFF’s Danish pavilion, it’s hard to miss the classic reproductions displayed museum-like in Nielsen’s store. But the show also presents an unexpected amalgam of innovative work by newly discovered talent as well as iconic designs updated with chic new fabrics. Clearly, the Danes are not resting on their mid-century laurels. And neither is dkVogue.