Trendsetters: Furniture makers unveil new designs, but will they have

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 8, 2004 | by Bradford McKee New York Times News Service

Besides all that trim minimalism, one must have some texture, like that of the new Dry Stack lamps from Natural Light, based in Panama City, Fla. The floor lamp, at 69 inches tall ($680), is made of hundreds of bronze-ish cubes of stone. The effect is arresting, like one of Giacometti's frozen nudes.

At the very high end, the London interior designer Nina Campbell, who released her first line of upholstered furniture in 2003 (www.ninacampbellfurniture.com), brought over three versatile new wood tables. One is a coffee table with two nesting tables, $5,005 for the set. She also brought one new upholstered chair, the Cornelius, a Napoleon III-era adaptation with a high, rolled back and rolled arms that stand detached from the back ($2,615 plus fabric). Campbell envisions the chair at home in "a sort of low, squashy, comfortable area."

She showed the chair, also available as a bench ($3,420), in an asymmetric-striped fabric of butterscotch and cream with beaded trim along the bottom. "Obviously you don't have to do that," she said. "You could have something more formal or less formal."

Oscar de la Renta seemed no less timid copying favorite artifacts, especially those of Asian origin, for the 23 new pieces he introduced with Century Furniture (www.centuryfurniture.com).

The Asian influence "was something used a lot in English furniture in the 18th century, like Chippendale, not that I compare myself to Mr. Chippendale," de la Renta said. Subtlety and craftsmanship carried the collection's new items, but among his most eye-catching pieces was a chinoiserie bedside chest ($1,800), based on a tray he loves, painted green and then hand-painted exuberantly with magnolia branches, vines, birds and at least one butterfly.

De la Renta admitted, "I am a control freak." In nearly every detail his controlling hand was evident. More money does not always produce better design, and even when it does, better design takes more than money.