The Outsider at the Design Fair
A lowly mortal enters the realm of the design elite. (It's me.)
A few days ago, I headed down to NYC’s Financial District to attend Collectible, a design fair that describes itself as “experimental.” I really didn’t know what to expect because:
a) Despite being a “design editor,” I’ve actually only been to a couple design fairs. (It’s called editorial budgets, m’dears.)
and b) I really had very little context for Collectible other than what I was being served on Instagram, which told me that I NEEEEDED TO BE THERE to be conversant with the hip design kids.
When you go into these things, as a writer with no assignment, you’re automatically an outsider. These events are largely targeted at “the industry” — it’s designers; art collectors; rich people looking at things for their homes that are not homes but are museums; and other decor/furniture designers — and so if you’re just trying to low-key look at some furniture stuff with no objective, it’s just like, “How do I explain my presence here?” I can’t fill the criteria of an exhibitor’s ROI: I’m not here to buy something. Or to tell someone else to buy something.