Every year during BDNY, the Jamie Stern team has the privilege of hosting one of our favorite annual events, a two-day showroom party for both local and visiting interior designers. Located only a few blocks from the BDNY's home at the Jacob Javits Center in midtown Manhattan, our showroom receives hundreds of visitors for either breakfast, lunch or simply a reprieve from walking the show. 2023 saw the 6th return of our ever-growing event and we couldn’t have been more pleased with its outcome.
Beginning at 8:00AM, we opened the doors and welcomed designers from both near and far. To start things off, we always like to serve a traditional New York-style breakfast which includes a delectable spread of bagels & lox, an array of croissants and pastries, fresh fruit and hot coffee. Also, as BDNY is a party of sorts, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to offer a series of signature drinks. This year’s cocktail selection featured Aperol Spritzes which proved to be remarkably popular as well as a selection of mimosas ranging from the classic (with orange juice) to custom versions made with a variety of juices including peach, passionfruit and guava. We finished the mimosas off with pomegranate seed garnishes for a fun seasonal touch.
The festivities continued into the afternoon when the breakfast spread was replaced by lunch offerings including a variety of wraps, sandwiches, salads and pastas. Of course, the Aperol Spritz and mimosa bar stayed open throughout this period.
Sunday and Monday’s breakfast and lunch sessions were attended by many of the brightest and best interior designers, architects and colleagues in our industry. Longtime friends and truly new faces seemed to visit in equal numbers. While quite a few attendees were New York-based (with some traveling only a singly city block), many had traveled from farther home bases like San Diego and the Bay Area.
Some of the firms from the New York area included the Rockwell Group, Gensler, Stantec, Vocon, Perkins & Will, LeMay Interior Design, TPG Architecture, PMC Commerical Interiors, La Mer, Fogarty Finger and Spivak Architecture to name a few.
Hartman Design Group, RD Jones, Baskervill, OTJ Architects, Thomas Hamilton & Associates and McLean & Tircuit sent some of their best up from Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Representing New England were members of Judd Brown Design, Hacin and CBT Interiors.
HOK Kansas City made an appearance as did Atlanta’s Blue Lantern Studios and MKDA’s Miami office. Retail was also represented by a team from both Louis Vuitton as well as Christian Dior.
For our 6th Annual BDNY Showroom Event, we redesigned many elements of the space. We used this fun event to serve as a soft launch for collections which will have more formal introductions in the coming months. Our Creative Director Tim deFiebre’s all-new Trilogy Stools and Peek Tables were placed throughout, allowing guests to sit, relax and eat wherever they found themselves. The Trilogy Stools also served to showcase one of our latest fabric introductions, the Emilio Collection, a celebration of the timeless appeal of midcentury design. By synthesizing retro-inspired patterns with vibrant, contemporary colors, the four Emilio velvets – Rondelle, Kensington Square, DaVoe and Radiance – offer truly fresh takes on classic aesthetics.
Long-standing favorite pieces like our Jade Sofa in Jasmine Remy velvet and the Jordan Banquette in Provence Ash Grey leather remained in their traditional showroom positions, anchoring the space and enabling significant changes and updates elsewhere. Other noteworthy highlights included a fully revamped leather cuttings wall which featured some of our latest leather introductions including all of the colorways of Avignon, Provence, Honeycomb, Diamond in the Rough, Momentum, Veneto, Formula One and Belmont.
Our recent Algarve Collection was also on display. These five textiles – Alley-Oop, Alter Ego, Beckett, Briolette and Kickback – draw inspiration from the coastal geography of the southernmost region of Portugal as well as the Moorish, Roman and Mediterranean architecture found there. The simple elegance of our Ellie Ottomans served as the perfect showcase for these subtle yet eye-catching fabrics.
Lastly, what would a Jamie Stern BDNY Showroom Event be without a giveaway?! Over the two days, visitors were encouraged to take selfies with their favorite rug from one of our two all-new designer rug collections – Reverie and Paradiso – and post it on Instagram for the chance to win the rug. The winning designer was Katy Ashford from Baskervill, who posted the Laurel rug from the Paradiso Collection. Congratulations, Katy!
We would like to sincerely thank everyone who made it to our showroom during BDNY 2023. We felt it was an incredibly successful and fun event that we very much look forward to expanding next year. If you were not able to make it this year, we hope you will join us in 2024 for BDNY (or any of our other bi-monthly events).
