The final recap for Market and I have saved the best for last! Bill & I visited Hickory Chair early into market and got the grand tour. Hickory Chair is one of our go to lines at The Mansion but it was great to see all of the products & options in person. Just a few highlights of the company include the capabilities to apply 69 finishes on almost any of their furniture pieces. This can dramatically change the look of a piece of furniture. They also have a made to measure program which allows you to pick the size of an upholstery piece. It is so remarkable how customizable Hickory Chair is for you which is why as I designer I love the line! If I can dream it up they will help us make it!
The new introductions this market came from Alexa Hampton. As the daughter of famed designer Mark Hampton it is no surprise her collection embodies detail and perfect balance. It was an honor to meet Alexa & listen to her speak about her collection. I really respect Alexa as a designer and have followed her work for a long time and I was equally impressed in person! Alexa has a passion for timeless forms from different periods and areas of the world including Anglo-Indian, Swedish, English reproductions and modern adaptations. Each of her items have great versatility & flexibility into a design & can be completely personalized by the craftsmen of Hickory Chair.
Later into market Laura Holland of Hickory Chair & the blog Made invited me to come back to a Blog Breakfast & special tour. I was pretty excited to attend because I am so new to the blogging world. I got to meet and talk to many blogger's who I have been following for months so it was really exciting! Some of these blogger's include Tobi Fairley, Traci Zeller, Life in a Venti Cup, La Dolce Vita, & Designer Detective. Here are some more highlights of the tour:
Alexa talking passionately about her new collection. Her style as well as her energetic personality is exciting to be around. Her eye catching collection is beautiful, sophisticated, and even more importantly, comfortable. Alexa has a strong reflection of classicism. She joked that when she was pregnant with her twins that Thomas O'Brien asked her if she was going to name them Neo & Classical to which she cleverly replied "No Vintage & Modern" ( a tag line designer Thomas O'Brien is known for) Another example of Alexa's great personality was when she was talking about proportion and scale, which is very important to her designs. She was referring to what she calls a "chofa" or a sofa that is so terribly out of scale that it takes away from the beauty of a room with tall ceilings.
These chairs were one of my favorite's from Alexa's collection. They are called the Grant chair and the proportions and grace are beautiful! What is even more wonderful is with Hickory Chair we can customize the wood finish so imagine the possibilities of this chair in 69 different finishes! I'm already incorporating these into a project!
Another room scene of pieces designed by Alexa. These are both items from her new collection and one's she has had with Hickory Chair for awhile. The bed is upholstered in a fabric that she designed for Kravet which will be debuting next Spring.
Moving on in the Showroom was the collection designed by Suzanne Kasler. This debuted last fall but they updated her pieces with the use of Orange. Quite Stunning! Suzanne was so down to earth and wonderful to listen to. She released her new book earlier in the week and was having book signings throughout market. It's a beautiful book full of great ideas!
I loved this room and it really shows the custom options with Hickory Chair. On the Apron of the table is a line of Swedish gray stripe that brings in the soft palate that Suzanne is so well known for.
Suzanne in her beautifully designed room talking about her inspiration.
This is a shot of a mix of pieces from all of Hickory Chair's collections. It really shows how well they can go together. I love the white Carved Chests bunched up together.
These are pieces from Mariette Himes Gomez's collection. These pieces were all introduced last Spring. Mariette is well known for her refined style. She has a true skill in creating beautiful, serene, sanctuaries for people.
The last section of the Showroom was from the collection of Thomas O'Brien. He has had two collections with Hickory Chair and a third to come out next Spring. Thomas is a designer, merchant, collector and tastemaker. He is known for his warm sense of modernism.
Thomas was gracious enough to take photos with us after his presentation. Here I am with Thomas O'Brien.
The bookcases in the background are the Davis Cabinet he designed in his TOB collection. It is quite striking how they alternated the finishes on them.
I think this is a nice example of the way Thomas collects & layers items in his designs.
I hope you were inspired as I was throughout market! The exciting thing is now taking all these great ideas back home and incorporating bits of them into my designs!
For more information on purchasing any of the Hickory Chair pieces contact The Mansion.
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