High Point Furniture Market Highlights

The first time I set foot in High Point, North Carolina was in 1994. My father took me on a working trip before I started freshman year at the University of the Philippines hoping that  I will imbibe the furniture culture. Growing up in the industry inhaling sawdust and chemicals, I took some of it for granted. The HP landscape left a lot to be desired  too that some of us jokingly called it Low Point. Over the years,  it proved to be my training ground as much as the factory floors. I still recall the times I would pick a suit to wear so I would look like I fit in with the men and dress it up with stilettos , tag along while lugging material swatches and sketches, listen, absorb and cram everything while fighting the jetlag. It seems eons ago now. Various experiences have shaped me and I've come to take on furniture market more confidently, curate it to my focus and priorities and make it more fun. Thankfully, the lodging, amenities and restaurant options have improved some after being suspended in its own time warp.

Joining the dynamic Withit (Women in the Home Industries Today) organization enabled me to meet amazing women in the industry and attend educational events too.  A week ago, Tobi Fairley, discussed about Building Your Celebrity Design Brand through Social Media. Being business | design | tech savvy, Tobi, was the perfect personality to enlighten the packed room about all the different social media outlets.

Tobi Fairley's Top Tips for Social Media

 put yourself out there

like anything in life, take the risk

avoid taboo topics you avoid in real life

transparency and authenticity are cherished online

become the expert and find your niche

you must give your followers a reason to want more

style and substance are no longer separate

practice what you preach

I started following Tobi, one of  2009's Top 20 Young Designers in America, on Twitter months ago so it was truly a charm to finally meet her and put a voice to the face. She cohosted the Tweetup with Ed Marin and Jennifer Balest of Soicher Marin at their new showroom. Friends who came were interior designer and adjunct professor of visual arts @nyycarl07 , @johnstrauss who also showed his fine furniture at Interhall, Charlotte interior designers @StarrMiller @WandaSHorton  with sweet husband Roger, design, licensing and patent lawyer  @jerry_cohen, and social media mentor and interior designer @ProsperbyDesign   We all marvel about how Twitter has brought us like minded individuals together and feel like we've known each other longer than we actually have.

Withit cohosted their Competitive Intelligence event with  Leif Petersen, Inc. showroom  and presented one of my biggest design crushes (evah!) Karim Rashid! Stephanie Lowder, Withit president aka @RareBirdCreativ, interviewed him and it was as real as can be. Before I knew there was a  KarimSpace book signing after, I got an autograph as he drank a capuccino. I know I'm so cheesy but just had to! He so rocks his signature all white and pink ensemble and wore a diamond and pink sapphire band that just made it even sweeter.

 

Random Notes from Karim Rashid's Interview

design emotional experiences instead of physical

designing is shaping our evolution

contemporary shapes the future

nothing lasts forever

world is more ethereal and visceral

technology has empowered us to become creative

design is about denoting how we live

we live in the casual age mentally & physically

furniture will be softer and lower

excited about bioplastics

he envisions an all plastic chair in sugarcane or corn

the US consumes 30 million H20 bottles a day

1 out of 20 people write a letter

Adorno mortality

never checks a bag when travelling

he never reads fiction and would rather see a film

retail will die eventually due to the Internet

being inspired to create is in his DNA

innovate or die

People ask me why he is my Design Crush?

I just love his philosophy!
And of course, I had to have our photo taken together!

High Point is never the same without hanging out with my Cebu posse Richard Stolzman and @cornelchiriac. Casa di Cornel has been my home in High Point for awhile now and it is made even sweeter that he just married his sweet @rodikamk. I've encouraged them to get more active on Twitter and they are having fun with it. These two spoil me with healthy delish meals and algae pills which has been keeping me flu free and uber healthy for 2 years now. No one believes this until they see it but the princess&thepea mattress of choice at la Casa is this  fashionable oversized bean bag! It comforms to my back like no other and I do my yoga stretches on it. No one can ever replace dear Adele, the in house masseuse at my Dad's home, who puts me to sleep faster than a pill but this Paris Mon Amour kept me recharged during Market!