Design Miami/Basel turns 10 years old this week. Many will remember the fair in its nascent phases as a savvy marketplace in the Miami Design District – a destination event that drew a niche following from SoBe to mainland Miami. Now a decade later, in partnership with Art Basel Miami Beach in December and Switzerland in June, the concept fair welcomes thousands of visitors and embraces industrial designers, bold brands, and leading creatives from around the world. More than a sales platform, Design Miami and Design Miami/Basel have fostered thought-leadership, successfully leveraging their position to attract some of the brightest architects and labels in building an evolved Miami Design District.
Photo: Design Miami/ Basel 2015
Design Miami/Basel sought to celebrate its tropical roots with a special anniversary collaboration with the textile designers of Maison Pierre Frey. Inspired by the flora inherent to South Florida’s landscape, Frey proposed a camouflage-inspired print, pieced together from a variety of looks from its extensive library, to create a graphic identity for the fair. Pulling from an archive of some 7,000 wallpaper and fabric designs, Chromatropic is a re-occurring theme that shows up in variety of places worth visiting.
Photo: Design Miami/ Basel 2015
Namely, fairgoers at Design Miami/Basel should see the capsule collection created by fashion label Hentsch Man. Their rendition of a Chromatropic limited-edition hat, sports jacket and sneakers, and a pocket square by J. Crew, will be available exclusively at JUNE BASEL – an on-site pop-up store featuring objets d’art, collectibles and Swiss goods. This concept boutique is all-new to Design Miami/Basel, created to spotlight fashion, unconventional souvenirs and hand-picked items that bridge the gap between Miami and its “sister city.”
Photo: Design Miami/ Basel 2015
A series of Design Talks will for the first time take place in The Collectors Lounge “Outpost Basel,” such as Pierre Frey – From Then to Now, which discusses the interpretation of historical textile designs for contemporary living. Additional panels worth attending include Modular Architecture with Design-at-Large curator André Balazs (The Standard Miami, Sunset Beach, The Mercer); Rethinking the Material with Tony Chambers, editor in chief of Wallpaper* Magazine, and the winners of the inaugural Swarovski Designers of the Future Award; and Made in China: Public + Private Partnerships and the Future of Design and Architecture in the Pearl River Delta.
Photo: Design Miami/ Basel 2015
The Collectors Lounge/“Outpost Basel” by Olson Kundig is another highlight of Design Miami/Basel. Those in attendance at the December edition in Miami Beach will remember Kundig’s elaborate wood-framed space, made from salvaged glulam beams. Perrier-Jouët will once again be flowing en masse, but this time in a reimagined lounge rooted in Kundig’s own Swiss heritage, with aesthetic links that bind his hometown of Seattle with Japan.
For a full schedule of events, panel discussions, and galleries, please visit www.designmiami.com. Design Miami/Basel opens June 16 – 21 at Hall 1 Süd, Messel Basel, Switzerland.
