Finding Inspiration at the New York International Gift Fair
One of the things we do at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is develop, what we feel, are really good quality products for you to enjoy in your homes. We look to many places for inspiration. I, personally, am never without a camera and whenever I see an object that impresses me, I take a picture to share with our product developers and designers. Of course, there are many trade shows that we attend both here in the United States and abroad. Every season we scout gift shows, house wares shows, fancy food shows, and other interesting trade shows. Recently, I was joined by Patsy Pollack - Senior EVP Merchandising and Kevin Sharkey - SVP, Exec Edit Dir, Dec & Creat Dir, Merch, as we strolled through the New York International Gift Fair held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. This is one of the prime gift shows, featuring an astonishing display of the world’s most impressive gift, home, and lifestyle collections in one very well organized marketplace.
1 The New York International Gift Fair was held recently at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and we visited it for a couple of hours. This is the very colorful Sferra napkin wall.
2 I really liked these cotton herringbone napkins.
3 And especially these cocktail napkins in a vast array of hues!
4 The Nouvel Studio from Mexico was showing some lovely glasses.
5 These domes are a unique new shape - what to put under such a dome is the question.
6 I love French Pillivuyt porcelain cookware and tableware and we spoke to the manufacturer at length.
7 There were lovely new shapes.
8 There was so much to look at and think about.
9 Benoit Lockhart was manning this booth and was very knowledgeable about the factory and its capabilities.
10 Bauer Pottery is an old company that is still making all kinds of great new things.
11 I know Francesca and Sharkey would love these pink doggie bowls!
12 The show was very well set up and the signage was excellent.
13 There was so much whiteware of all kinds.
14 And lots of flatware in different finishes
15 These Japanese stoneware dishes were intriguing but the finish was a bit rough for our taste.
16 These fabrics were very beautiful and were woven in Wales, I think.
17 The weaver of the fabric is Eleanor Pritchard, who has a studio in South East London.
18 In the September issue of Martha Stewart Living, there is a photo of Jude's toy car on page 100, just like the black one on the shelf. I told the lady to look for it.
19 These Kontex organic cotton towels manufactured by Morihata in Japan, were some of my personal favorites at the show.
20 My other favorite towels, also woven in Japan of fine, fine cotton were manufactured by Uchino.
21 Paper thin Japanese glasses were another favorite.
22 These were some beautiful metallic objects, also Japanese.
23 Jonathan Adler's 'Junior' display was very colorful and cute.
24 Bellocq Teas have become very popular. The quality is beyond reproach and very tasty. Bellocq is an award-winning tea company dealing with evocative artisan blends.
25 This was a well edited and lovely store with great products.
26 Kevin loved these polar bears, an old 1920's sculptured design, now being made anew.
27 Butterflies! How amazing!
28 We really liked these adorable piggy banks at the Pearhead exhibit.
29 Donna Karan has a wonderful line with Lenox that is modern, contemporary, and pretty.
30 Walking through, we met up with some of our designers - Ben Broerman, Dan Grossman, Kevin Sharkey, Patsy Pollack, and Gianni Zanin.
31 Teresa Alecrim sells really beautiful baby clothing and other wonderful products.
32 We found wonderful pillows and throws at Pehuén, who specialize in the natural fibers of Patagonia, Argentina.
33 Fresco Towels is a company engaged in the design and production of Luxury Artistic Towels. They are known for good weaving and colorful textiles.
34 As you can see, the towels have amazing depth of color.
35 More charming baby and toddler things.
36 Since Jude and now Truman arrived, I am drawn once again to the world of babies and children.
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Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Karen | August 30th, 2012 at 1:36 am
The world of babies and children inspires the world to better things, and Fair
had wonderful things.
Posted by: ann | August 30th, 2012 at 5:24 am
How fun it must be to attend The New York International Gift Fair and all the trade shows Martha. There are some beautiful products being made. I especially liked the pictures of the whiteware, which I now almost exclusively use. I hope you found some inspiration as we count on you to bring us beautiful, functional, and well made products!
Posted by: Cindy F | August 30th, 2012 at 7:58 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 30th, 2012 at 8:23 am
Hi Martha, You and MSLO develop the most fantastic products for all of us to enjoy wherever we are! It's easy to see how inspiring it is for you and your group to discover the greatest ideas in New York and all over the world! The photos and information about the things you discover and take photos of fabulous items to share with MSLO members and all of us followers is absolutely thoughtful and fabulous to see! The New York International Gift Fair that you, Patsy, and Kevin visited is one of the best I have ever seen! That is one of the prime gift shows and they certainly do have a huge variety of wonderful gifts! All of your photos and comments are extremely worthwhile you found a tremendous amount of ideas in only a 2 hour visit! Can't wait to see the ideas you come up with viewing these tremendous gifts! I love the napkins, towels, cookware, doggie bowls, the whiteware, flatware, fabrics, toys, paper thin glasses, metallic objects, Bellocq Teas, the polar bear sculptures, the butterflies, piggy banks, Donna Karan's Lenox, pillows,and baby clothes! All of them look so beautiful! Thanks for another delightful tour today! Loved seeing you on the Today Show Yesterday and especially loved the vegetables you baked! Hope you have another great day! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 30th, 2012 at 10:10 am
I would have been like a kid in a candy store! Too many to choose...too many flavors, textures, colors! All lovely.
Posted by: Nantucket Daffodil | August 30th, 2012 at 10:57 am
So many nice things to look at and we all know it takes an experienced eye like yours to know what will and what won’t work for your company and ultimately for us. Those fabrics in picture #16 are all very beautiful but I would have a hard time choosing any of them although that light gray pattern in front would look nice on a table with yellow or red Christmas plates. Lately, I have this thing for gray, yellow and white. I like neutral colors because I can always add a splash of something bright depending on the occasion.
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I remember The New Leaf article in the March 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living http://www.bellocq.com/collections/recent-press/products/martha-stewart-living-a-new-leaf about the Bellocq Tea Atelier and the three founders, one being a former food editor of MSL, and I wanted to try every one of the teas they had on display. Their tea names sound so sophisticated like Le Hammeau and Majorelle Mint, and mysterious like Dragonwell. I think those ‘dunce hat’ shaped domes in picture #5 would look great over a stack of cupcakes or cookies or colored eggs with a bow tied at the top of the dome for the holidays. People like things that are different and those domes are different. I like the real thin Japanese glasses too but I’m like a bull in a china shop – they wouldn’t last a week around me! Remember those Jenaer Glas bowls you sold in your catalog – I bought a set of four and have 2 left.
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Well, thanks for a nice walk-through of this impressive gift fair and now I’ll be wondering what you might have chosen for us to enjoy. Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 30th, 2012 at 11:10 am
I used to look forward to traveling to this Fair twice a year. That was 20 years ago...omg how time flies! The memories are great. It is awesome to see that the innovation has continued.
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | August 30th, 2012 at 11:20 am
I was at my son's house last night amd missed this Blog for some reason..not enough time, I guess, but...it is great. I wish there were events like that around here, that a person could afford to go to. It is all so beautiful.
Thanks for taking us along.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | August 31st, 2012 at 1:53 am
l have a flowershop and home decor store in Whitehorse, Yukon and get the nickname marthastewart of the north anyway my granddaughter layna was born in New York City aug 7,2012 and l could not get there at the time because my back went out so l was delighted to read your blog thank you
Posted by: fay | September 5th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
I used to go to the Los Angeles gift show when my husband was in charge of a small art gallery gift shop. I'd always look forward to the show and we'd spend about two days going to the different venues. However, because I'd enthusiastically stop at everything that caught my eye and thus engage the company representatives hoping to write up an order we'd have to continually explain that the merchandise wasn't appropriate for our store. Then the vendor would try to convince us that it was. Awkward. A window shopper's paradise, though.
Posted by: jw | September 6th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Hi Martha,
I am going to the fair this year to get some ideas for my business. I invite you to visit my website at http://www.alliseverlastingfloralarrangements.com and let me know what you think. I am going to send you a sample of my products for your opinion. You are so creative i know you will appreciate what I am making. I look forward to hearing from you.
Renee Heyden
Posted by: renee heyden | January 5th, 2013 at 7:35 pm