Blog

Back by popular demand, we were excited to once again host one of our favorite annual events, the Jamie Stern Rug Design Contest. From September 1^st to October 1^st, interior designers and architects from all over the United States and Canada were encouraged to create an original design and submit it for the chance to have their work transformed into a beautiful wool area rug by our Rugs & Carpets division. From each of four regions (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest and West), a Grand Prize Winner and two runners-up would be selected by our all-new panel of esteemed judges from the interior design community.

Caroline Kepley is the co-founder and lead designer of Comma, an industrial design firm with a central focus on interior projects. Drawing inspiration from a self-described transient upbringing in which change was the only constant, she places great value on the power of evolving environments and projects with a true sense of freshness.

Reverie for Jamie Stern represents Kepley’s first collection of natural fiber rugs. The three designs – Visage, Celine and Terre – are born out of her love for novelty, a fascination with human connection and a constant search for beauty. Her commitment to crafting distinct experiences, evoking emotions and inspiring connections through design is as present and undeniable in this collection as it is in the rest of her work.

Read our interview with Caroline Kepley below to learn more about her creative process, the inspirations behind the Reverie Collection and the designer herself!

Kenzie Leon Perry is the founder and Creative Director of the Miami-based Ze Haus Design Studio. A native of The Magic City, Perry seeks to create art and designs inspired by its black and Afro-Caribbean culture and historic neighborhoods like Coconut Grove. A lifelong love of nature also informs his work with coconut trees, palms and flowering tropical plants serving as frequent motifs.

Paradiso represents Perry’s first foray into designing a collection of area rugs. While each of the three designs - Mira, Palmetto and Laurel - is bold and distinctive, an emphasis on handmade production techniques, all-natural fibers and an undeniable sense of Miami flair seamlessly ties this singular collection together.

Read our interview with Kenzie Leon Perry below to learn more about his inspirations, creative process and the designer himself!

Located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, the Moody Center is a new 15,000+ seat venue that hosts a variety of sports, entertainment and family events. The stadium is home to both the women’s and men’s basketball teams and attracts top acts from every popular genre of music.

On a recent trip down to Washington DC from our headquarters in northern New Jersey, we took some time out of our day to stop by WineLAIR in the city’s West End neighborhood - just east of Georgetown. This private, membership-based lounge and bar serves as a community for DC’s wine enthusiasts and can be found next to the Ritz-Carlton. The location represents the first US-based expansion of the popular European WineBANK concept which has locations in Hamburg, Vienna, Frankfurt, Basel and Cologne.

From February 1^st to March 5^th, we called on all interior designers in the United States and Canada to submit an original lounge chair design for the chance to win a fully upholstered prototype. We had run similar competitions the past three years with our ever-growing Rug Design Contest and thought it might be fun to expand this concept, the end result being the Inaugural Jamie Stern Furniture Design Contest!

Mitra Moshari is the founder and principal of the Brooklyn-based interior design firm, Moshari Studio. Growing up on three continents, the Swiss-born Persian designer developed a love for vibrant, diverse approaches to art, architecture and design.

As we head into 2023, we wanted to take a moment to look back at the past year and all of our exciting endeavors. We were fortunate enough to work on many inspired projects, collaborate with some amazingly talented architects and designers and introduce a great deal of new products that we are truly proud of.

Below are just a few of the highlights from the past twelve months.

First of all, why design a custom leather? Interior designers come to us with custom leather requests for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a leather is out of stock, discontinued or just too expensive. Sometimes they need a more durable version with extra protection for a high-traffic area. Sometimes they have a specific vision for a leather but it doesn’t seem to exist.

Whatever your reason may be, creating a custom leather shouldn’t be a daunting process. At Jamie Stern, we believe it should be an engaging, hands-on experience that puts the designer in the driver’s seat.

Whether you’ve worked with us before or are exploring the world of custom leather for the very first time, our team of experienced project managers and artisan leather finishers will help you bring your vision to life in the form of a beautiful leather sample (or strike-off). The kicker? This process is complimentary and only takes one week!