Miles Redd - The first lecture I attended was that of Miles Redd, renowned interior designer and current creative director of Oscar de la Renta Home and most importantly a total dreamboat. I learned that Miles's roots are firmly planted in the South, specifically Georgia, where he was raised. The charming and smartly attired Miles traced the evolution of his storied career starting with his early experiences working for an antiques dealer, getting hired by designer Bunny Williams, to his current experiences owning his own design office and working for Oscar de la Renta. His mix of high and low; bold colors and modern gestures are enticing. His lecture was one of the more inspirational, even for someone not directly involved in interior design.
Design Blogs Panel (Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge, Carrie Culpepper of Culture Fix and Katie Runnels of The Constant Gatherer) - A fairly droll panel discussion. A lot of the lecture dealt with how, if you are an artist, to get your art mentioned on other peoples blogs or to start a blog of your own to showcase your work. This of course didn't interest me one iota. Plus two of the three bloggers are relative unknowns, who haven't even been blogging for all that long. I expected more, lets just leave it at that.
Alabama Chanin - Arrived at the lecture minutes before it was set to begin. At that point it was standing room only. Then a woman got up from her seat in the front row and asked if I'd like to take her place, turns out it was fashion designer Natalie "Alabama" Chanin herself. With a focus on slow design and sustainability, all Alabama Chanin garments are hand stitched and constructed by individual stitchers in rural Alabama. I was captivated and moved by every single word this woman uttered. She makes you want to do more and be more.
India Hicks and David Flint Wood - I have to admit that although this was the one lecture out of the four I attended that I was the most looking forward to it actually ended up being the most disappointing. India, in head to toe gold lame, spoke for a mere 15 minutes at most. She pulled out a sheet of paper and proceeded to read her biography word for word. She of course made mention of her father, David Hicks, her modeling career, her foray into photography, meeting David, their life in the Bahamas, and their interior design philosophy. Then she sat down and let her husband equivalent take the floor. In his stocking feet no less. If you hadn't read Island Life, then David's portion of the lecture might have been a little more stimulating. He showed photographs found in the book and told stories taken directly from its pages. In addition to the lecture itself being a total flop, we were supposed to receive gift bagsfrom India's line of bath products for Crabtree & Evelyn, but they never arrived in time. Although the lecture was a bust, I still stood in line to have my book signed. Then I told them to come by the shop I buy for. Since we carry India's products for Crabtree I thought she might be inclined to stop by. And stop by they did the next day. They both totally redeemed themselves by being very gracious and complementary about the store. They bought a few items, took a few pictures, and asked for one of my business cards. It turns out that in addition to being in town for the lecture India was also in town scouting shops for an article she's writing for an upcoming issue of Vogue. So perhaps we'll get a mention. Now more than ever I'm desperate to plan a trip to Hibiscus Hill on Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
