BKLYN DESIGNS™ 2010, Now in its Eighth Year, Brings Innovative Talent to DUMBO

Thousands of guests from around the globe come to Brooklyn to celebrate a diverse array of the hottest designers in the borough

(May 27, 2010, Brooklyn, NY) BKLYN DESIGNS™ once again brought Brooklyn-based contemporary furnishing and home accessory designers together to showcase the borough’s burgeoning creative talent. The three-day showcase, held May 7 – 9, and presented by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, attracted thousands of attendees from Brooklyn and beyond, all of whom were witness to the development of Brooklyn’s reputation as a hotbed of new and established designers in the home sector. Over 45 designers presented their wares over Mother’s Day weekend, including 10 brand new exhibitors.

Held at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, the event catered to those looking for the most innovative and creative designs available. BKLYN DESIGNS expanded its demographic even further this year, presenting some exciting new names in children’s furniture design. Featured were designers like April Hannah, new to the lineup at BKLYN DESIGNS. Hannah won Inhabitat.com’s Best Kids Design / Newcomer Award for her modern kids furniture made entirely from sustainable materials.

“BKLYN DESIGNS was an amazing experience that exceeded my expectations,” Ms. Hannah said. “It gave me the unbelievable opportunity to launch a new collection of children’s furniture — as a new designer — with an international audience built-in.”

Also curated for the first time was the BKLYN DESIGNS™ Kids Lounge, featuring fabulous and functional furniture. In addition to children’s furniture, the BKLYN DESIGNS Kids Lounge hosted activities all weekend long, including face painters, craft workshops, balloons and book readings from children’s author and Brooklyn Heights resident, Melanie Hope Greenberg.

BKLYN DESIGNS not only introduced guests to the hottest trends in furniture design, but unveiled vast resources to designers looking to expand their companies.

“BKLYN DESIGNS measures success by not only how many people come to see the show, but also by the business opportunities that the event creates,” Brooklyn Chamber President and CEO Carl Hum said. “I’ve already heard that our exhibitors made meaningful connections that will help them grow and launch their businesses on a profitable trajectory.”

First-time exhibitors Jessica Banks and Andrew Laska of RockPaperRobot took advantage of these opportunities, presenting their gravity-defying designs this year, all of which are produced locally from materials found around their neighborhood.

“BKLYN DESIGNS was the perfect venue to launch our company,” Ms. Banks said. “We custom make all of our designs locally so the exposure from the exhibit proved invaluable for establishing business connections and getting recognition within the borough and the city at large.”

One of their signature designs, called “Float,” is made up of 64 cubes of polyvinyl chloride covered in zebrawood veneer that repel each other with magnets built into each cube, held together by 1,200 tiny tensile steel cables.

While there were plenty of new faces to look out for at this year’s event, the returning designers put forth their best and most forward-thinking designs this year, as well. UM Project, for example, exhibited their multifunctional designs, including the U.M.O., or Unidentified Magical Object. This piece, which appealed to children and adults alike, cleverly transforms from a coffee table to a chair, desk or bench by simply rotating it on its side. Another returning crowd favorite was Uhuru that demonstrated how something old can be made new again with their Coney Island Line. With several pieces made up of planks pulled from the recently demolished boardwalk, the Coney Island Line pays tribute to the amusement park, ride-by-ride. Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge said, “It was great to see designers like Uhuru honoring the heritage of Brooklyn and finding a way to combine the past with the present.”

In addition to the wide range of design talent on display, visitors were treated to the fabulous New York Magazine-sponsored opening night party on Friday hosted by The Brooklyner, the borough’s new high-rise condo residences. This year’s BKLYN DESIGNS proved to be the go-to event to find the freshest, most exciting designers in the borough, wonderful entertainment for parents and children, and terrific parties to boot.

Sponsors for BKLYN DESIGNS™ 2010 include Pratt Institute, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC), Two Trees Management, aptsandlofts.com, One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Artistic Tile, Benjamin Moore, Vespa Brooklyn, and Con Edison, and media partners Interior Design, New York Magazine, Dwell, and Inhabitat.com.

BKLYN DESIGNS receives additional support from Speaker Sheldon Silver and the Brooklyn Delegation to the NYS Assembly, Speaker Christine Quinn and the Brooklyn Delegation to the NYC Council and the NYC Department of Small Business Services.

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For photos, additional information, and to schedule interviews, please contact Auster Agency at 718.243.1414.