A Thing of Beauty Is…Selective Indulgence
Surrounding themselves with bright color is one way for
consumers to deal with the vagaries of life today. Acquiring
beautiful things is another say the experts. “I think with
everything going on in the world, people feel unsettled,”
offers Smoak. “While I’m not a fan of the term ‘cocooning,’
we are seeing a retreat into the home and with that I’m
sensing a return to elegance, and civility, really.”
“Obviously, budget is a consideration for most now, and I
think it will be forever more,” relates Rachel Ashwell, founder
of the iconic Shabby Chic® brand, who is launching a new
line of licensed home furnishings products this Market at
Guildmaster and Miles Talbott. “People have gotten used to
spending differently, in a more respectful way. Fads are not
going to have a big future in the home furnishings industry.
In fashion maybe, but in home furnishings people are looking
for things that really last, not only in terms of quality, but also
from the standpoint of just being wonderful to live with.”
After enduring a few years of economic turmoil, many
consumers, it seems, are yearning for special. Luckily,
retailers and designers will have plenty of opportunity to find
it for them across the Market, from glamorous headboards,
mirrors and spectacular one-of-a-kind lighting introductions
in the newly refurbished Christopher Guy showroom (the
uninitiated may recognize his design work from “Casino
Royale” and “The Devil Wears Prada”), to new furniture
collections from interior design superstars David Easton and
Larry Laslo at high-fashion house Ferguson Copeland.
“There seems to be a growing appreciation for having
something of quality, and something beautiful to look
at,” says Barbara Plott, president of Added Oomph, who
specializes in European antiques. This season, she has filled
her High Point showroom with garden urns, statuary, and
grand architectural elements such as chateau doors from
the early 1800s hand-painted with birds and butterflies. “In
buying antiques, the appeal for some is the sense of history
in the pieces, the footsteps that have already been taken
down the same pathway.”
Unfortunately, when it comes to some of today’s newer
furniture designs, “people are getting frustrated with the fact
that so much production has moved to the East, and overall
product quality has been lost,” remarks Megan Yorgancioglu,
creative director at Dorya, a high-end interiors brand which
still produces fine furniture entirely by hand and will show
for the first time in High Point this Spring. “There are so few
companies left that are truly hand-made. Something rare has
been lost in the world.”
