High Point is the interior design universe’s own Fashion Week-meets-high school prom—both a culmination and a presentation of the season’s finest work. Yet instead of the well-heeled team from E! standing on the sidelines, squawking “Who are you wearing?” we folks at Editor at Large have the pleasure of asking, “Who’s debuting what… and with whom?”
This season’s A-listers—among them, leading lady Bunny Williams and fan favorite Celerie Kemble—are unveiling the latest manifestations of their creativity in collaboration with the interior design world’s top manufacturers.
CURREY & COMPANY+ BUNNY WILLIAMS
Bunny Williams is returning to Market after a five-year-long hiatus and she’s back with a bang. The collection, forged in materials including spun metal, brass, rope and carved wood, spans flush mounts, pendants, chandeliers and sconces, and will light up Market as part of Williams’s first-ever product collaboration with Currey & Company. “Nothing affects the mood of a room more than lighting. It is important to have light coming from several sources: the ceiling, the walls and the tables. Now, with my designs for Currey, I have a lighting collection that combines to create the perfect glow,” says designer Williams of the collection, which draws its influence from antique fixtures she’s sought out for clients. Why was Currey & Company the right partner? “Our private-label furniture line, Bunny Williams Home, has been a leader in the table lamp category for some time, and so it was of the utmost importance to select the right partner when expanding into fixtures,” Jen Potter, COO of Bunny Williams Home, explains of the motivation behind the partnership. “Currey & Company is a perfect fit in terms of quality, craftsmanship and excellence. We’re thrilled to be working together.”
CENTURY FURNITURE + WINDSOR SMITH
Gentle sloping sofas, modern geometric cocktail tables and sexy club chairs all convene in Windsor Smith’s latest for Century Furniture. The collection, which is called Alchemy and evokes that very process, draws on aurora blue stones, silver leopard, whitewashed woods and a range of leathers and hides. For Smith, the process and the materials are more abstract than definitive: “I’m drawn to rich textures in colors so ethereal, their hue is hard to define.”
For the collection, she sought guidance from foreign treasures and landscapes. “I take great inspiration from those estates abroad where the treasures of multiple generations live so peacefully side by side. That commingling can be pure alchemy, forging a power that’s hard to pin down. You can say the juxtapositions of this collection aim for what I try to bring to every room: a balance between something familiar and unexpected, modern and ancient,” says Smith, “Sometimes daring, yet undeniably serene.”
CASTELLE + BARCLAY BUTERA
HENREDON + JEFFREY BILHUBER
THEODORE ALEXANDER + STEVE LEUNG
EASTERN ACCENTS + CELERIE KEMBLE
Celerie Kemble is the third designer, andthe first woman, among Eastern Accents’s designer collaborators (the other two: Barclay Butera and Thom Filicia). Four decorative pillow collections, including outdoor options, and six bedding sets with coordinating sheeting will debut, with notable arrivals including Stratus, a fine linens set in tones the brand calls “soft cloud, petal and daquiri;” the polka-dot–patterned Sweetness; and neutral-and-metallic Bramble. And there’s another first: Kemble’s collection will span the largest amount of space to date at the brand’s Market Square showroom.
FRENCH HERITAGE + MICHELLE WORKMAN
Hollywood native and designer Michelle Workman is launching her first collection, an art deco–inspired line, for French Heritage. She explains of her influences: “It is a reinterpretation of art deco rather than a strict revival and is heavily influenced by my Hollywood roots.” Drawing on exotic woods, as well as brass, copper and chrome highlights, and lacquer finishes, the collection boasts notable pieces. Among them are a bedside table with brass inlay in a stylized palm motif and elegant cast legs in a cabriole form.
Why French Heritage? “Their quality, attention to detail and continuing desire to bring iconic product to the market was exactly what I was looking for,” shares Workman. “It has been a great match and I think the collection shows it.”
HICKORY CHAIR + DAVID PHOENIX
The partnership between Hickory Chair and Los Angeles–based designer David Phoenix was a natural fit. Explains Skip Rumley, vice president and creative director for Heritage Home Group, of the decision to collaborate together, “We were especially taken with David’s philosophical approach to design and his assured accessibility. Phoenix infuses style and luxury into the most ordinary aspects of our day—dressing, relaxing and entertaining. His design point of view is exactly what our customers long for today—livable luxury.” Their wide-ranging offering encompasses classic living room, dining room, bedroom, upholstery and leather goods, as well as decorative accessories, lighting and furniture accents. Also on tap at the Hickory showroom this Market? A preview of Phoenix’s signature fabrics, thoughtfully designed for Kravet.
KRAVET + MABLEY HANDLER
Fabric, wood, grasscloth wallpaper and metal accents are all at play in a 35-piece coastal-themed collaboration debuting from Kravet with Jennifer Mabley and Austin Handler of Mabley Handler, the interior design firm based in the Hamptons. It will also offer seven new quartersawn and cerused-oak finishes. “Mabley Handler’s unique perspective inspired us to create a new look for Kravet Furniture,” shares Mary Ellen Walsh, Kravet’s executive vice president of furniture. “Austin and Jennifer deliver an aesthetic yet to be explored with the Kravet Furniture line by exploring mixed materials that result in a collaboration that is both sophisticated and organic. And as designers, they understand the value of customization and present a lifestyle collection that could easily be tailored to suit any designer’s vision.”