This week in design, luxury jewelry brand Bulgari is taking a note from the realm of architecture with the debut of a new collection inspired by an art nouveau masterpiece in Rome. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, recommended reading and more.
Business News
Charles Cohen may have settled his $187 million personal guarantee with Fortress Investment Group, but the lender isn’t backing down just yet. As Crain’s New York reports, Fortress immediately began attempting to recover an additional $30 million, alleging that the billionaire landlord transferred ownership of his Connecticut estate and yacht to his wife in order to protect the assets. To that end, Fortress has subpoenaed members of Cohen’s family, including his wife, son, daughter and sister. In response, he filed an affidavit earlier this month accusing Fortress of “heavy-handed litigation tactics of harassment and intimidation,” claiming that the lender is attempting to “force an unreasonable and premature settlement (bordering on capitulation).” To make matters worse, Cohen is also embroiled in real estate drama at his Park Avenue co-op, as residents are seeking to evict the landlord’s storefronts, which have accumulated $1.6 million in rent and fees.
French luxury conglomerate LVMH saw sales increase by 3 percent to $22.2 billion in the second quarter, buoyed by strong demand from U.S. consumers, Reuters reports. The group saw the strongest growth among the U.S. market—which recorded a 6 percent sales increase, doubling the 3 percent growth in the first quarter—attributed to newly created wealth among Americans benefiting from the recent AI boom. By contrast, sales in Europe were flat over the same period, following a decline in the first quarter as the conflict in the Middle East dampened tourism in the region.
For the first time, Miami has surpassed New York as the city with the highest cost of living, House Beautiful reports. According to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Miami’s cost of living has exceeded New York’s by roughly 5 percent—breaking the latter’s four-year streak. The outranking marks the evolution of a steady rise over the past seven years, during which time Miami’s consumer price index has increased 36 percent. Along with a growing reputation for high-end real estate, the city’s cost surge is fueled in part by high home insurance premiums, which continue to climb amid increasingly damaging hurricane seasons.
Michigan-based retailer Gorman’s Home Furnishings & Interior Design is consolidating operations and closing two showrooms in the process, Home News Now reports. The shuttering of the Troy and Southfield storefronts are expected to lead to layoffs for 31 of the retailer’s 71 employees—though locations in Novi and Farmington Hills will remain open. According to a statement from the company, the decision was made in hopes of shifting toward a “more sustainable operating structure” and to secure Gorman’s future.
A growing number of Etsy sellers are leaving the platform, citing rising competition from AI-generated knockoffs, Wired reports. Since the debut of major generative AI platforms in 2022, sellers have seen sales decline—with one artist reporting a 30 percent decrease that year, followed by 50 percent the following year, and another seller noting a 98 percent decrease over the last year alone. Since Etsy affirmed that it would continue allowing the sale of AI-generated work on its platform in 2024, complaints from sellers on the platform have only grown, leading to the creation of new sites like Fybe: an online crafts marketplace banning AI-generated content and drop-shipping, set to debut on August 1. Despite dissatisfaction on the part of sellers, consumers appear to be indifferent to the site’s shifting product offerings, generating $2.9 billion in revenue last year—a 2.7 increase year over year.
Asset management company Blackstone has reached an agreement with its lenders to settle a $975 million mortgage default tied to 16 showrooms in High Point and Las Vegas, Furniture Today reports. The deal was confirmed by Bob Maricich, board executive at Andmore, a Blackstone portfolio company that owns multiple showroom properties in High Point and Las Vegas Markets. The resolution comes after the mortgage—which covers roughly 9.5 million square feet of showroom space—entered special servicing following a maturity default in June. According to Maricich, the default and negotiation of the agreement have not impacted Andmore’s day-to-day operations or the “overall financial health of the business.”
Launches and Collaborations
Chasing Paper has debuted a new collaboration with multidisciplinary fine artist and designer Meredith Kinney, who is based out of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The collection of five wallpaper prints and one tile decal design draws inspiration from Kinney’s original paintings, as well as exploring flower motifs through the incorporation of botanical shapes, abstract florals and vinelike forms.
Custom drapery brand TwoPages has teamed up with Brexton Cole Interiors for the launch of a new collection. Featuring six patterns each available in a variety of colorways, the assortment brings to life a vision of countryside living, offering a curated mix of block-print motifs and vintage-inspired botanical imagery.
Showhouses
New York’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House has announced the designer lineup selected to reimagine this year’s Greenwich Village home at 80 West Washington Place. The 22-person cohort includes designers Chad Dorsey, Nicole Fisher and Peter Dunham. The space will be open to the public starting September 16 for a monthlong run, with proceeds to benefit the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. For more information, click here.
Recommended Reading
A properly staged home can make all the difference in sealing the deal with prospective buyers. An AI-staged space, however, can run the risk of presenting a listing that seems perfect online—leading to a major letdown when it’s time for an in-person viewing. For Curbed, Matthew Sedacca writes about how these virtual tools are impacting the housing search in markets like New York, where the mayor has even proposed an AI-disclosure requirement for real estate listings.
When Brooklyn interior designer Jocelyn Ullman took home several rugs—which she assumed had been discarded by their owner—from her neighbor’s front steps earlier this month, she never expected to find herself in police custody several days later facing charges of theft. For Gothamist, Catalina Gonella unpacks the saga, which hinges on the murky etiquette of the time-honored tradition of stooping—the practice of setting discarded furniture and other items outside, where they are free for the taking.
When Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s colorful, curvy glassware hit the market in 2020, it quickly became a cult favorite among design enthusiasts—and in fact, the squiggle motif has become so synonymous with the designer that she’s had it tattooed on her wrist. For The New York Times, Lindsay Gellman profiles the Brooklyn designer at a time when her work is evolving beyond her earlier crowd-pleasers—beloved by her “West Village girl” and “Upper East Side mom” fans—and into a more mature and refined aesthetic, as exemplified by her disco-themed collection released at this year’s edition of Salone del Mobile.
When Margaret Grade—the purveyor of the celebrity-favorite Manka’s Inverness Lodge—passed away in 2024, the responsibility of restoring the Northern California retreat to its former glory fell upon designer Ken Fulk, who had purchased the property from his friend Grade two years prior. Today, that dream is far from realized: The inn and its sister properties remain largely dilapidated, are facing foreclosure, and are tied to more than $17 million in debt. For The San Francisco Standard, Sam Mondros unpacks how the once-great Marin County destination fell from grace, embroiling Fulk in extensive litigation that he says has cost his business $76 million so far—and could possibly endanger his vast boutique hotel portfolio. According to a spokesperson, Fulk is currently working toward a resolution with Fairview Partners Investment Management, a Seattle real estate debt fund, and does not expect Manka’s to be sold at foreclosure.
Cue the Applause
Apartment Therapy debuted the winners of its New/Next List, which spotlights designers and decorators whose work represents the future of design. The inaugural honorees include Gabriel Yuri of New Operations Workshop; Julia Chasman of Julia Chasman Design; Daniela Araya of Daniela Araya Color + Design; Ariene Bethea of Dressing Rooms Interiors Studio; and Kristin Wiens Keyes of Kristin Keyes Interiors. To learn more about the winners, click here.
