Interior Design Show 2013

January 28, 2013

By Jill Adams

Photography by Aleyah Solomon

Last Thursday, more than 5,500 guests attended the opening VIP gala of the Interior Design Show in Toronto.

It’s “the biggest design party of the year” and an event anticipated by many in the city. It is also host to international and Canadian design stars, such as Karim Rashid, and a very well-dressed crowd, each year.

Iconic designer Karim Rashid with his mother Joyce Rashid at IDS13.

Guests enjoyed a sneak peek at what IDS13 had to offer: eye-catching installations and new products by more than 300 innovative exhibitors. An intricate, brightly coloured balloon display, designed by Chicago multimedia artist, Willy Chyr, was hard to miss; the thought-provoking installation, As Luck Would Have It, was suspended in the air near the entrance of the show. Another unique display was a wall of black-and-white handbags hanging from the ceiling, almost reminiscent of a woven blanket.

Throughout the night, guests also took part in sampling gourmet foods from various local restaurants and drinking champagne or cocktails, available at the venue. Many enjoyed live music, as well as a live DJ and dancing.

A fashion highlight at the event was a collection of 20 “Real Good Chairs” by Blu Dot. Each chair was one-of-a-kind and digitally reinvented by artists, fashion designers, furniture studios and graphic designers, including Gary Taxali, Charles Pachter, Moimoi Design and others. The chairs were auctioned in support of ONEXONE children’s foundation and guests were able to bid on the unique pieces until Sunday.

Just a few of the ONEXONE chairs on display.

The 15th annual show, held again at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, ran from Friday through Sunday. The show’s account director, Talvi Kuld, said that they expected the weekend’s attendance to be well over 50,000 guests and that ticket sales for the opening night and the trade sale on the weekend exceeded last year’s sales.

Toronto-born, Oki Sato of Japanese design studio Nendo, was this year’s International Guest of Honour and designed a stone garden in collaboration with Caeserstone. The installation consisted of overlapping stone tables that looked as if they were floating – they were suspended by metal rods.

The weekend-long show also offered a variety of talks and seminars, presented by renowned designers and industry experts, on topics such as increasing the value of your home, the “art of collecting”, and new style and colour trends for 2013.

Other highlights of the show were the Designboom mart, a pop-up shop with works by emerging designers from around the world, and Studio North, a mini-show featuring products by over 60 rising Canadian design talents.

Every year, the Interior Design Show attracts some of the most creative and talented people in the industry, and without fail the crowd is always exceptionally well-dressed.

Once again, FAJO Magazine spotted this year’s Best Dressed guests at IDS13.