Maison + Objet

I just returned home from an afternoon scouting around the twice annual design salon, Maison + Objet. I hit the fair on Friday when it opened and spent about four hours cruising around to check out the situation. It is an enormous fair that includes heavy hitters like Villeroy & Boch, Le Creuset, Esprit, Alessi and way more, as well as younger, smaller or mid-sized designers featuring everything from textiles to candles to spa to everyday. It was my first time with this fair as it is only for professionals. But the big news is that I am now officially an LLC and on my way to opening an online retail store to be called, Vitrine! Despite the global economic crisis (another possible name), I am starting a boutique online only-with a presence in Europe and the USA, to feature objects for the home and accessories such as scarves, artists books, and paper, by independent designers from around the globe whose approach to their work and design is tactile, thoughtful and smart. Most of the work will be handmade, but not all, and much will take into consideration a sustainable or low-impact approach. Most of the designers will work in a limited edition or small scale production.

In the next few weeks as I make the push to get this baby up and running I will be blogging about it and soon this blog will be filtered into the new website to include features about the designers I will work with as well as other topics from travel/food/culture. For now, some highlights from the show were my engaging and encouraging encounter with Normann Copenhagen, meeting the designers from Adonde?, who I blogged about awhile ago, and gushed around them like they were George Clooney or something, the yummy textiles of Donna Wilson, and the great line of dishes at Hana Blomst. These are just a few of the people I hope to be working with on thevitrine.com in a couple months!