For New York Design Week, We Surrounded Ourselves With Friends for a Sight Unseen Collection x Petra Exhibition

If there’s one true thing we’ve learned in 20 years of working in the design journalism, it’s that design fairs are better with friends. It’s nice to be able to experience all of the ideas, talent, and stimulation of an event like Salone del Mobile in Milan, or (in this case) New York design month, but without the people we meet, the relationships we cement, and the old friends we catch up with along the way, it can all start to feel like a punishing onslaught of stuff. This is why we’re so grateful that, for the second year in a row, we were able to share our design month activities with people we know and love: When the founders of the hospitality design firm AvroKo, who have been friends of ours for more than a decade, invited us to take over their Soho showroom and events space, Host on Howard, we in turn invited a group of our favorite designers to exhibit their work with us — not to mention co-host a few really fun parties along the way. Four studios trotted out their latest contributions to our Sight Unseen Collection — the furniture and lighting we represent direct to the trade — including Sunfish, Sam Klemick, Cultivation Objects, and Known Work, while Monica showcased nearly 20 new pieces from her hardware showroom Petra by friends like Sally Breer, Elyse Graham, Alexis & Ginger, and more.

For the Sight Unseen Collection, NYC duo Sunfish debuted a whole suite of new pieces, including two tables topped with handmade ceramic tiles, a coffee table with a patchwork leather composition on top, and a stunning copper-paneled room divider that they hand-painted with both paint and patina. L.A.’s Sam Klemick updated some of her best-sellers for the show, including her Bell Chair, which she upgraded with a butterfly-themed brocade upholstery from Pierre Frey, and her Ribbon side table, which is “wrapped” in a carved-wood bow. Known Work also reimagined an existing piece, the Perceptions chair, in a flocked, deer-adorned fabric from Schumacher, while Cultivation Objects not only upholstered a new chair in a rich Dedar velvet, but also echoed the “fabric” theme in a beautiful fumed-cherry nightstand whose doors he hand-carved to look like curtains. All of the pieces are now available to source through Sight Unseen — browse our collection below to feel like you were right there with us.

SHOP THE SIGHT UNSEEN COLLECTION

PHOTOS BY CHARLES BILLOT