First Look 2015 at NYDC

Each new generation in our industry continues to experience achievements and challenges unlike previous generations; as we all continue to grow together, one continuing factor to our success is the people; we are the glue that holds the many different aspects of interior design together. There are many events that celebrate the design community, but one of my favorites simply embodies the design community in New York for one night.

The evolution of the First Look event at the New York Design Center (NYDC) in Manhattan has been noteworthy. Occurring annually for 11 years now, First Look’s festive atmosphere and multitude of contract showrooms displaying new product inevitably draws comparisons to NeoCon, which takes place in Chicago a month earlier.

For me, both events are essential to our industry and very, very different. NeoCon is mostly democratic; any manufacturer with enough gumption, a marketing budget and visions of success can participate in this, the largest event of contract furnishings in America. I like to think First Look is where the rubber meets the road. The largest concentration of design lifers in our industry come out to evaluate, discuss and scrutinize the latest product introductions. If NeoCon could be considered a commercial product’s inauguration, First Look is the Broadway stage audition. Next stop: your name in lights.

Kicking off the event was the first-ever collaboration between the NYDC and Interior Design Magazine. Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen moderated a panel discussion with product visionaries Brad Ascalon, Jhane Barnes, Michael Vanderbyl and Ghislaine Vinas.

“We were thrilled to have Interior Design join us for First Look this year,” said Dennis Cahill, director of leasing for the NYDC. “These amazingly talented designers sharing their ideas and insights are the perfect introduction to a night of discovery and networking.”

Indeed, with more than 1,650 industry professionals making their way to this four-hour event, an upbeat anticipation was in the air throughout the many participating showrooms.

“It was invigorating to experience such great support from across the New York design community,” said Matt Levine, VP of sales for Levine Calvano, representing such brands as Krug, Naughtone, Stylex and Watson. “Hopefully, this event will remind everyone that NeoCon is not the beginning and the end of our design season; New York City matters. Every contract showroom at the NYDC looked fantastic and the products on display prove that independent manufacturers are leading in design and innovation.”

Historically, the design community has been an avid supporter of small businesses and independent, creative thinkers. It is refreshing to see how First Look naturally brings out the small town feel in the biggest city in the country.

Just as in Chicago in June, the hallways were overflowing with people travelling between the showrooms and stopping at the numerous libation stations on each of the five open floors at 200 Lexington Avenue. Food and drink were flowing freely, and it was wonderful to bump into old friends and to see just who or what was around the next corner. Attendees ranged from designers new to the industry all the way to the who’s who of the design world, including company presidents and owners. Hats off to the event management skills of Leah Blank and Alana Moskowitz at the NYDC.

Three brand new showrooms opened just in time for First Look: Italian manufacturer Alea, quick ship specialist AMQ Solutions and local surfacing company Kinon. Represented locally by Primason Symchik, Alea has been winning some big projects recently, including almost 3,000 workstations for Bayer in New Jersey. I have always been a big fan of its clean and simple design, as well as the ease of installation.

AMQ’s value proposition is to deliver a complete open plan furniture solution in only five days. As expected, customization options are limited, but in New York, the need for fast and affordable furniture, especially with height adjustable capabilities, will never go out of demand.

Kinon may be a new brand name to some, but for discerning interior designers, there is nothing else quite like it. Each large-scale resin panel is cast and finished by hand, some taking upwards of one week to be fabricated in panels up to 5×12 feet. Similar to the aesthetic properties of stone and wood, no two panels of Kinon will ever be the same. Over a large panel each image showcases numerous shades, tones and textures, and the high gloss surface has incredible depth that lends itself to millwork and furniture applications.

“Many of the architects and designers who visited our showroom during First Look were very engaged and interested in our products, which was a new discovery for most of them,” said Les Satz, president of Kinon. “We were thrilled with the showroom traffic. I am really looking forward to following up with designers at firms both small and large with active projects. The grand opening of our first showroom in New York was a complete success.”

Industry veteran Ken Gibson and his team at Gibson Interior Products were in an especially good mood for First Look.

“This event has evolved over the years to become a major opportunity for us to show not only our new product introductions, but the depth of our client resources,” said Mr. Gibson. “Our sales team has weeks of appointments set up with existing as well as new clients, all of them working on sizeable projects. Several of them called us days after First Look for presentation requests. Very exciting!”

Representing AMQ Solutions on the 13^th floor and Arcadia, Encore, Tayco, Interstuhl, Office Master and Enwork on the 14^th floor, Mr. Gibson’s lines are all stylish and affordable. I especially liked the flag storage configuration in Scene, the new furniture system by Tayco. With a staggered user configuration, flag storage delivers accessible storage as well as often-needed lateral privacy in a dense environment. Looks like a good system for this market.

 

Also on the 14^th floor, I was greeted by Bob Lefferts at Aristeia Metro. “This has been a terrific year so far,” he said with his trademark toothy grin. “We saw many of our old design friends and had the opportunity to meet some new ones. The manufactures we represent supplied a host of wonderful new products for us to show. We also acquired a new line in Snowsound.”

Deriving its name and inspiration from the properties of fallen snow, Snowsound is a line of special acoustic panels for interiors. Winning a silver Best of NeoCon award last month, this is only the second time Snowsound has been on display in the US. Their patented technology is based on the use of a variable density sound absorbing material. Each panel achieves selective absorption at different frequencies, yet everything is made of the same material and can be recycled.

Also in the Aristeia Metro showroom was designer Anne Lindberg. Ms. Lindberg just finished working on the wildly successful Pulse pattern for the Digital Glass Portfolio by Skyline Glass. Bringing her belief in the symbolic and psychological power of color to a large scale, the internationally acclaimed artist creates designs that appear to be threads of color suspended in glass. At First Look, she was busy sharing her joy of the play of intensities, layers and transparency that glass as a medium provides.

Next door to Aristeia Metro is Decca Contract, also represented by Mr. Lefferts in New York. Decca was one of the few showrooms I also had a chance to visit in Chicago for NeoCon this year, and I was impressed to see how the manufacturer tailored their new offerings for this market at First Look. The monolithic Ratio table all the way in the back of the showroom was truly stunning; able to span massive lengths with just four legs, it is certain this table will find its way to corporate conference rooms throughout this market soon enough.

Further down the hallway at the popular Gordon International showroom, I struck up a friendly conversation with company president Peter Spalding, who was very enthusiastic about the event.

“I think First Look continues to remain a leader in the regionalization of new product design events,” he said. “I love this platform for showcasing new products, and attendance is outstanding this year.”

On the 11^th floor, at the timeless Keilhauer showroom, I checked in with Alan Primason, our local sales representative.

“This particular First Look welcomed a younger crowd of interested dealers and designers,” said Mr. Primason. “I see this new generation as a great opportunity for us to broaden our brands and target specific projects with our diverse furniture lines.”

With such lines as Andreu World and Prismatique, among others, Mr. Primason and his business partner Carol Symchek continue to offer smart and innovative products and service to designers on any project budget.

Down the hall at Darran, company president Jeff Hollingsworth noted, “We had a lot of momentum leaving NeoCon this year and First Look gave us the perfect opportunity to bring that excitement to New York. I felt attendance was up this year. Dealers and designers, everyone really, was talking about how busy they are. It was obvious to us because we had quote requests from attendees the very next day.”

Over at the Versteel showroom, which was filled throughout the night with curious attendees, Pam Mathias, VP of sales, remarked, “This was unquestionably the best First Look. I’ve attended every one of them and the positive energy and outlook from the designers and the amount of traffic was unsurpassed.”

As the evening drew to a close and I made my way down to the Bright showroom on the ninth floor, I ran into Bright rep Chris Adam, who was hosting several talented designers on a wonderful mohair couch.

“We have had such a great opportunity to spend the evening with many wonderful clients tonight,” said Mr. Adam. “Meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones is what First Look is all about for me.”

Indeed, it has all come full circle. People are what make this industry fun and exciting, and for the abundantly happy design professionals at First Look, it was just another day at the office.