Final Week of WNWN 2020 Recap

There were panel discussions, webinars, CEU courses and Instagram lives. This past week was filled with engaging and insightful discussions from designers and industry members that helped close out What’s New What’s Next and left us all with hope and insights to think about as we make and create for the rest of the year.

We kicked off the week with a video series from Profiles highlighting some of the makers and designers who work with the showroom showcasing how the ecosystem of the design community works together. We then dove into an insightful discussion presented by Lee Jofa in conversation with Robert Rufino and the founders of Carrier & Company, Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller. They discussed what it is really like behind the scenes of a photoshoot and what goes into creating picture-perfect room shots. We then enjoyed a delightful and delicious presentation from Jiun Ho at Dennis Miller NY followed by the fifth floor’s “Live on 5” event featuring designer Keita Turner on her designer tips and picks from the floor. Tuesday, we continued with a riveting discussion presented by Luxe Interiors + Design magazine in partnership with the Bright Group followed by a CEU course from Kravet on the Pairing of Fabric to Frame. Wednesday was a jam-packed day filled with Instagram Lives, panel discussions and CEU courses. The day began with new product highlights on Instagram live from Sonneman followed by a CEU course on the Deconstruction of a Chair from Century Furniture. We then listened to two interesting discussions in partnership with Luxe Interiors + Design. The first in partnership with Sherrill Furniture Brands speaking with designer and maker Christiane Lemieux in conversation with Luxe Interiors + Design Home & Design Editor Grace Beuley Hunt. Christiane explained “The secret to a happy home is feeling good in it. It is more about how it makes you feel, how it smells. It’s about your perfect 360.” After Sherill Furniture Brands’ talk, Luxe presented an interesting discussion on luxury lighting in partnership with Dennis Miller Associates. Luxe Interiors + Design Markets Editor Sarah Shelton discussed luxury lighting and design with Justin Orlansky of Dennis Miller Associates, lighting designers Kevin Kolanowski and Matthew Fairbank and interior designer Mikel Welch. The day concluded with a CEU course from Verellen and an Instagram live from Amuneal featuring Amuneal’s CEO Adam Kamens and CEO & Founder of IPPOLITA, Ippolita Rostagno. We ended What’s New What’s Next with an interesting program from Hickory Chair in partnership with Luxe Magazine followed by Cocktails & Conversation with NYCxDesign. We toasted 200 Lex’s partnership with NYCxDesign and paid homage to both parties New York City roots. 200 Lex’s own CMO was joined by NYCxDesign’s Valerie Hoffman and designers Alison Rose, Sara Bengur, Rodolfo Agrella and Marie Burgos. We discussed this year’s NYCxDesign “An Ode to NYC” campaign inspired by Milton Glaser’s “I LOVE NY” design. NYCxDesign worked with artists and designers to create a campaign that would promote all things NYC with a goal to create a message that would blanket the city with love and hope.

This year’s What’s New What’s Next event filled us with inspiring and informative key takeaways that have left us all thinking of how we can apply these learnings to our work and be even more creative than we ever were before.