Retail Observer

DECEMBER 2016 RETAILOBSERVER.COM 11 furniture, lighting, kitchen & bath and more presented their most recent collections. Participants included Rich Brilliant Willing, USM, Roche Bobois, Missoni Home, USM, Calligaris, Jenn-Air, Almo (Liebherr, Tecnogas SUPERIORE, Capital, Faber, Sharp Home Appliances, Alfresco), Fisher & Paykel, DCS, proximity kitchen systems and many more. Other WestEdge highlights included the popular MADE: MODERN section, sponsored by Design Milk, which showcased more than 40 independent designers; the Outdoor Lounge, outfitted by Roche Bobois and Southwest Greens; and the Interior Lounge, a collaboration among several international design brands. The Interior Lounge, anchored by Mah Jong sofas from Missoni Home and Roche Bobois, featured Bolon, Farrow & Ball, Vondom, Green River Stone, Smith & Stephan, and, last but definitely not least, Los Angeles designer Matt Gagnon's towering Alder wood sculptural installation. The space quickly became the central spot for attendees to mingle and gather throughout the weekend. "As an exhibitor at WestEdge for three years, I was thrilled to see the growth of the fair this year. I connected with so many top residential and commercial design firms. The show has evolved so beautifully – it's the best opportunity to meet west coast trade and keep in touch with current clients", said Brenda Houston of Brenda Houston Design. The WestEdge programming line-up this year included several new additions to inspire and entertain guests, and allowed us to continue bringing new industry partners into the WestEdge mix. We were thrilled to re-establish our alliance with Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) who launched the first West Coast version of Picnic By Design with us at WestEdge. We know DIFFA well from our days working with them in New York during our Architectural Digest Home Design Show tenure, and had been encouraging them to bring a fundraising event to California. Picnic By Design, which is already well-established in New York and Las Vegas, was brought to life in the WestEdge Outdoor Lounge, and included a live auction of unique picnic baskets by leading architecture & design firms, coupled with an exclusive picnic gathering of delicious food and wines. We also launched an all-new Culinary Pavilion sponsored by Fisher & Paykel where guest chefs hosted continuous live cooking demonstrations and tastings. We've always had an interest in following the burgeoning food and restaurant scene in Los Angeles so figured why not tie in chefs to show and talk about their skills and offer tips and tricks (and of course, tastes) that guests could emulate in their own home kitchens. One of the highlights of the Culinary Pavilion schedule was a full Sunday of Italian cuisine. We partnered with the Italy America Chamber photo © Moe Lastfogel photo © Moe Lastfogel photo © Moe Lastfogel

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