This week in design, some designers are opting to think outside of the box (and off the ground) when it comes to selecting a Christmas tree. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, events, recommended reading and more.
Business News
Sotheby’s laid off more than 100 employees last week—roughly 6 percent of its 1,800-person team—and closed regional offices in Moscow and Bangkok, The New York Times reports. The cutbacks reflect a broader decline across the art market over the last two years, with Sotheby’s reporting a 25 percent decrease in auction sales for the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. Despite laying off about 150 employees this year (50 were let go from the London office in the summer), the auction house has spent the past 12 months directing funds toward brick-and-mortar expansion, with a new headquarters in Paris and new building purchases in Hong Kong, Riyadh and New York.
MillerKnoll announced that starting in May 2025, all of its North American products will be free from added PFAS—also known as “forever chemicals” because they are nearly impossible to break down. Commonly used in textile products for their water- and stain-resistant qualities, these manmade chemicals have been linked in recent years to a variety of health hazards, such as increased risks of kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, decreased fertility, thyroid problems, and decreased immune response to vaccines in children. Alongside a growing body of legislation seeking to curb use of the toxic chemicals, an increasing number of brands—including Ikea, Home Depot, Crypton and Sunbrella—have begun phasing PFAS out of their product lines. For MillerKnoll, the goal is to eliminate the chemicals from its global product suite by fiscal year 2027.
New York–based collectible design and art fair Salon Art + Design has announced a new Dallas edition, set to debut next year on March 26. The five-day event will take place across two floors of the Block House venue in the city’s East Quarter, and nearly 40 dealers will offer a variety of furniture, ceramics, art and jewelry. According to the fair’s organizers, Dallas was selected as the site of the newest edition for its growing cultural scene—more than 50 galleries have opened there over the last five years.
Google released its annual Year in Search, revealing 2024’s top trending searches. The U.S. results are broken down into categories like Entertainment, Sports, Music, and Food & Lifestyle. For the Interior Design Styles subcategory, the top five searches included biophilic, modern colonial, mid-century, art deco and Japanese Scandinavian (Japandi), while in Architectural Styles, biomorphic, Spanish Revival, French Gothic, Classical Greek and Colonial Revival topped the list. The search engine also highlighted the most searched-for aesthetics—a group that included microtrends like “mob wife,” “Nancy Meyers” and “brat.”
A new industry group made its debut late last month: the International Vegan Interior Design Association. As Designers Today reports, the group is the brainchild of Australian interior designer Aline Dürr—an outspoken vegan advocate with experience organizing industry events such as the virtually held Vegan Interior Design Week. The association currently has 25 members and plans to grow in the coming years through networking and educational events, ultimately using its members’ power to petition suppliers for animal-free furniture and decor.
Launches and Collaborations
Ruggable has debuted its second collaboration with designer Nina Takesh. The Persian-inspired collection features four styles—two new patterns, and two existing designs in new colorways—and incorporates art deco motifs reimagined in rich, earthy hues.
Tulip has teamed up with New York–based fashion tailoring shop Eva Joan Repair for a collection of handcrafted shades designed to be easily installed onto overhead lighting. The resulting Eva Joan Collection, Presented by Tulip was crafted from vintage materials with traditional hand-stitching techniques—each piece is embellished with its own unique design.
Thanks to a partnership between biotechnology company MycoWorks and French design house Ligne Roset, the first furniture pieces covered in a material created from mycelium (a leather-like material derived from the root structure of mushrooms) will hit the market in 2025, Women’s Wear Daily reports. The plans for a wider rollout of the product, called Reishi, come nearly one year after MycoWorks opened a large production facility meant to handle orders at scale.
Showhouses
The 2025 Lake Forest Showhouse & Gardens will be held next spring at the historic Pembroke Lodge. Designed in 1895 by architect Henry Ives Cobb, the 15,000-square-foot Georgian-style Illinois estate includes 30 rooms, a pool house, a tennis court, a reflecting pond and English walled gardens. The space will be reimagined by a cohort of around three dozen designers, including Amy Kartheiser, Maggie Getz and Aarti Shah. The event will be open to visitors from April 26 through May 25, with proceeds to benefit the Lake Forest chapter of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.
Showroom Representation
Los Angeles–based lighting brand Thomas Cooper Studio, led by Jason Kai Cooper and Sally Thomas Cooper, will be available in luxury furniture showroom A. Rudin starting in 2025. A. Rudin’s New York, Los Angeles and Chicago showrooms will carry the brand’s diverse offerings, which implement materials ranging from mouth-blown, flash-cracked glass to carved marble, bronze and crystal.
Recommended Reading
Among the rows and rows of white paint colors lining the displays at home improvement stores, with names like Vintage Linen, Frost and Bakery Box, there’s one pale Behr shade with a moniker that has left shoppers stumped: Climate Change. For Curbed, Adriane Quinlan investigates how and why the paint manufacturer selected the environmental issue to represent a certain off-white hue—and along the way, falls down the perplexing rabbit hole that is the paint-naming process.
Some movies set the standard for what homes should look like around the holidays—think: the cheerful, stately charm of the Home Alone house, or the cozy English cottage in The Holiday. For The Washington Post, Rachel Kurzius consults the designers who crafted those interiors on how their concepts (“Colefax and Fowler, the famed British fabric and wallpaper company, only with a Midwestern flair,” for example) translated to festive spaces that stand the test of time.
In Memoriam
Su Hilty, a longtime marketing veteran for a variety of fashion and home brands, passed away late last month at the age of 77. Her career spanned nearly four decades in the tabletop, gift and design industry, with roles at major retailers and brands like Bloomingdale’s, Gucci and Liz Claiborne and at the New York Gift Building. Hilty’s achievements were widely recognized throughout the industry—earning her the 2011 Retailer Lifetime Achievement Award—as were her philanthropic contributions to organizations like AIDS Walk New York and the Global Give Back Circle. “Su was IT. To know her, collaborate and work with her, and to be her friend was a highlight of life,” Hilty’s friend and colleague Laurie Burns, executive director of the Gift & Home Trade Association, told Home Furnishings News. “Her macro view and attention to the smallest detail touched anyone who knew her. We have lost a special person who propelled business and philanthropy equally.”
