Philadelphia-based brand John Pomp debuted at the Laguna Design Center with Thomas Lavin earlier this month, marking its first foray into Orange County and also the premiere of its vignette showroom format. Thomas Lavin now sells the full John Pomp collection of furniture and lighting, including the latest addition, the handcrafted Bonham Lounge Chair. The maker behind the brand, John Pomp, chats with EAL about the latest move, the new format and his unique line of work.  

This is your first vignette for a showroom. How did you decide to adopt the format? 
It’s always been a dream of mine to create every object in my home myself. Coincidentally, I recently moved into a beautiful new home and had a vision for all of the different pieces that I needed to fill it with. This vignette concept ended up being quite fortuitous and a natural progression for our interiors collection.

What can designers expect from the vignettes? 
My hope is that they will find masterfully crafted pieces filled with inspiration that is my vision for my interiors collection. The vignette format highlights aesthetic elements seen throughout the collection—use of mixed materiality, an acknowledgement of how process informs parts of the design, and the power of thoughtful, subtle details.  ‬

How are Orange County and Thomas Lavin the right fit for you? 
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Thomas. Aside from being a leader in our industry and having an incredible reputation, I personally have always been inspired and impressed with his showrooms. He is an excellent curator. It seemed like the perfect partnership.

Can you share some of the artwork that will appear in the showrooms? 
Whenever I travel to a showroom, I love taking time to explore the city. Travel is such a great source of inspiration. With the art pieces, I wanted to combine an element from our furniture and/or lighting collection with inspirations from the geographic location of the particular showrooms. The first piece was for the Thomas Lavin showroom in Laguna Niguel. I incorporated an element from our new Bonham Lounge Chair with other materials we use here in our studios (glass and metal) and integrated some sand from a local beach, San Onofre, which happens to be one of my favorite surf spots. I want this objet d’art to draw a connection to the collection, the location and the showroom itself.

John Pomp