Manceeeeeeep

(GEMMA)

Nothing High Point offers is truly new-there are sparks of fresh things-an accessory line, a furniture maker & alas-the next season -that will be what you see everywhere. There is a real problem with creativity in today's furniture world. It's copy, dilute, reduce.

A few things that have been OD'ed on are the spare look of iron or other & reclaimed wood. The stories about this coming from this place- a school house in Belgium, a barn in Sweden. Who knows? What looked fresh last market is now watered down to the point of mud puddles.

Another sad thing was the shock of ORANGE in the Global Views showroom. Wow talk about overkill. Orange got squeezed into every possible nook & cranny- and on every possible body type. In order to drive home the Orangeness of the place-all the sales reps. appeared to be wearing orange-as My companion said & not the most flattering color. I broke out my orange Hermes Kelly Bag for this trip & it seemed to become a shrinking violet in the midst of the Orange Sea. Poor HKB just kept gasping -
"get me out of here, I have been defiled, debauched- I never want to appear in public again."
Who could blame to little thing? Carrots in vases of water, candy corn, oranges in containers, stacked and every orange thing imaginable. I order from this company-I know how to navigate their website & they have some sweet, neat vases of all shapes, sizes & design. What fails me in the showroom is the grouping together of ALL the Greens, ALL the Oranges (but I've told you about that), ALL the Black, ALL the Turquoise. Are you getting the idea? It is a product push- a mentality of selling an entire Color Collection- No, I protest. This is the problem with design today. It translates to fashion in the form of a Burberry hat, bag, watch, scarf, umbrella. I love Burberry- three of my favourite coats are Burberry but Don't walk as an advertisement for any label unless you are getting paid well.

if you can put blinders on good things can be found. A good looking storage box from Global Views.

One company that gets my Love is MADE GOODS. I have had them in my sights for awhile now. MADE GOODS make MIRRORS. They make MIRRORS very very GOOD.

It is no easy task to rev up a mirror, but founders Oscar Yague and Chris De Witt have gotten it right. I am impressed with the line, the concept, the quality. Go here to peruse their great website. De Witt took a hip route to Mirrors from marketing and merchandising brands like Levi's Nike, Urban Outfitters & Free People. Yague, from Barcelona, moved to the States in '99, working in product development for Anthropologie and Oly Studio. These two make dynamic partnerships at home and at MADE GOODS.

The concept is to meld materials and production techniques to create mirrors that are original, familiar and timeless. Take a look at some of my favourites in their Interhall space at Market & their website.

good orange
BROOKE
Real full grain leather with double rows of stitching inspired by vintage leather accessories and luggage

GORKA. Here, shown in antique gold & in a monumental size 44 x 60. Wood covered in metal-hammered & etched with intricate floral patterns. Circles of tiny mirrors in increasing sizes encircle a central mirror.

GORKA in its 36" round size. Here in silver. Love both sizes. The larger GORKA is quite something!

KATHERINE is an intricate mosaic of cut shells -all hand applied. 37" x 48". Wouldn't this be spectacular in a powder room? The design is translated into a drum chandelier with a sleek cream linen drop shade inset.

ERATOS is made of aged velvet with hand beading in a Greek Key design made of natural color bone beads.

SOPHIE is a Made Goods take on the Trumeau. Shown in grey linen with hand embroidered flower appliques & hand stitched leaves with a few accents of glass beads of course. One of the prettiest.

MADENA is made of rows & rows of matchsticks. I love this one.

EDITH a realistic looking shagreen in Blue, bordered by a Palladian shape inset with a narrow sycamore wood edge.

LILIAN-a 28" diameter drum light made of real shells, heat pressed to create a tortoise look. MADE GOODS also does a mirror in the same finish. I would use this in a library to great effect.

XIMON is a series of scallop edged bone and resin geometric patterns. Diamonds and star shapes are alternately place creating an exotic mirror. This would be a perfect twist in a traditional room paired with an 18th century chest.

The chandelier shown at the heading of the post is by MADE GOODS. GEMMA is made of mother of pearl butterflies and capis butterflies suspended from coco beads. This piece has me thinking about the 1920's, a touch silk charmeuse, eglomise & shagreen.

The only other look in the MADE GOODS Showroom was by MARJORIE SKOURAS DESIGN.

I photographed her Silvio Juan Carlos Chandelier in lapiz lazuli. See more of her things here. Really quite something and she does it in turquoise too.

MARJORIE SKOURAS as seen in the MADE GOODS Showroom at Market.