DM 15th Anniversary: Looking Back at Trade Show Highlights
Happy birthday to us! Our 15th anniversary celebration is underway! Stay tuned for more special 15th anniversary content and fun surprises as our celebration continues!
I can’t recall how or when I found out about furniture trade shows, but I remember walking the floors of Dwell on Design in 2008 and being both excited and inspired by what I was seeing. I quickly added ICFF and NeoCon to my list of shows to explore and, ever since, the DM team and I haven’t stopped globetrotting in search of the coolest stuff.
As the trade began to recognize Design Milk as a resource for great design, we started receiving invitations to participate in various trade show and design week experiences – from curating sections of a show, to creating memorable pop-up shops, to supporting emerging designers, leading talks, and even leading juries.
We are so grateful to those trade show team members who reached out, invited us to participate and collaborated with us through the years. We’re looking forward to going back to trade shows IRL soon!
Here are a few of our favorite collaborations:
NeoCon
Our media partnership with NeoCon is continuing to grow and we love seeing the modern design explosion coming out of the ever-changing contract furniture market. Every June, we’re never disappointed with the innovation that comes out of the Merchandise Mart. Keeping tabs on how the way we work is evolving is constantly delightful and fascinating!
“We love partnering with Design Milk and their innovative team. Design Milk has worked with us to produce several custom initiatives, which have been incredibly valuable to our commercial interior design audience, as well as the NeoCon brand. The Design Milk team are absolute pros and partnering with them helps us provide the NeoCon community with engaging and unique content. We have loved watching Design Milk grow over the years and are proud to call them a partner! Happy 15th Anniversary!” -Lindsey Martin, Director of Marketing, NeoCon
Interior Design Show Vancouver + Toronto
Our friends to the North have no shortage of great design to share, and we’re grateful to have been a part of both IDS Vancouver (with pavilions and talks) and IDS Toronto (where we had our first international Milk Stand)!
“Collaborations with Design Milk started as early as 2015 and have consisted of co-curations in the form of dynamic installations and panel discussions. Along with Design Milk’s impressive reach, truly it’s Jaime Derringer and the team’s authority on design and eye for accessible but contemporary and even leading edge ideas and brands that has made them the right partner over the years.” -Jody Phillips, former Brand Director, Interior Design Show (IDS)
SuperPAC exhibition at WestEdge 2014
WestEdge Design Fair
Since its inception, Design Milk has been a strong supporter of the growing SoCal WestEdge Design Fair. We love how they bring modern design from all over the world together with local SoCal brands to create a fun mix of art, design and California lifestyle. We’re grateful for their continued support of Design Milk!
“Design Milk has been a media partner of WestEdge since our launch, and has been such an important partner in our shared mission of supporting and offering a platform for creatives. We love how innovative and inclusive they are in highlighting so many established and, perhaps even more importantly, lesser known talents through their content, advocacy and e-commerce. Congratulations Design Milk on your anniversary and thank you for your ongoing support and partnership!” -Megan Reilly, Co-Founder, WestEdge Design Fair
WantedDesign Jury and Winners 2019
WantedDesign
Emerging design, small global brands, student designers, oh my! WantedDesign has long been one of our favorites for many reasons, but the biggest reason we love working with them is Founders Claire Pijoulat and Odile Hainaut’s love of discovery. Both our brands have always been aligned to find and highlight young design talent so we’re so grateful to be helping their featured young designers get as much exposure as possible.
“It has been such a fruitful and creative partnership to work with Design Milk for multiple programs including our Conversation Series and the WantedDesign Launch Pad program. Since 2014, we grew the Launch Pad program and expanded our international recognition for the platform. We’ve had very interesting success stories and thanks to Design Milk, the designers were able to get such a great exposure. Jaime has been leading the jury for Launch Pad every year since its inception. Beyond being a media partner, Design Milk and WantedDesign work closely all year long to bring original content to both audiences. It is a true pleasure to work with Jaime and her team! Congratulations for your 15th Anniversary!” -Claire Pijoulat and Odile Hainaut, Founders, WantedDesign
KBIS 2019 DMMTalks Lounge
KBIS
At the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) we’ve participated as a media partner, speaker and more recently, a curator and organizer of the KBIS DMMTalks Lounge. It’s been such a fun experience working with the KBIS team and White Good to bring more innovative design and exciting conversations to KBIS.
“We’ve had the joy of working with Jaime and the Design Milk team on a number of our Emerald Expositions trade show clients. A longstanding partner of the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) owned by the NKBA, Design Milk brings a fresh take on programming content, amplification strategies and rising new design talent. On it and organized, we count on Design Milk to extend our reach, delivering smart, savvy audiences who relish all things design.” -Sherry Qualls, CEO, White Good MARCOM Agency
A heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the industry shows that have helped keep Design Milk on the cutting edge! We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
