International artist and interior designer Christian Lyon has created two collections that are part of high-end Japanese manufacturer Matsuoka's upcoming debut at High Point Market, Oct. 17-22.

Lyon is the managing director of Christian Lyon Design, an upscale design firm in Perth, Australia. His creations have been featured in magazines around the world, and his experience includes outfitting homes, offices and leisure environments in Europe, America and Asia including a recent commission for the yacht of the Sultan of Brunei.

The collections, Moderne and Metropole, include 50 items for the dining room, living room and bedroom in the new Matsuoka High Point showroom, IHFC-H408. The transitional collections feature expensive Celebes ebony, shimmering pearl japonica, stained bird's eye maple, New Guinea walnut, burl mahogany and other rare woods; and include various cuts of figured Italian marble, mother of pearl, urushi lacquer and jewelry touches of fine nickel.

As with all of Matsuoka’s products, every cabinet is hand crafted from plantation grown paulownia, a green alternative to western cabinetry hard woods. Paulownia is a fast growing sustainable plant that regenerates in 7 to 15 years from stumps of harvested logs and is an ideal substitute for traditional hard woods used in furniture. The furnishings will be completely free of VOC's and other environmental hazards.

"We wanted to partner with someone who would enable us to bring the intensity of Matsuoka's insistence on excellence, attention to detail, superior cabinetry and impeccable finishes to a global context," said Kevin Reilly, president of Matsuoka International. "Christian is a designer with a special sense of artistic integrity and good judgment. His talent and inspiration have shaped the aesthetics of design into a truly international vocabulary. It is neither occidental, nor oriental per se; nor is it fusion in the conventional sense. It is something truly unique."