IDS 2011

this past weekend was the annual international design show here in the frigid city of toronto. it was held at the toronto convention center which in my twenty one years living in this country i have never been to. it's sandwiched right smack in between the financial district, the entertainment district, and club land. basically all the places people from the suburbs go to when they say they're going "downtown". obviously being someone who actually lives downtown, i never ever venture around that vicinity. anyways, the place was immense. and by immense i mean oprah's bank account immense! and it was packed with about a million people. not a good place to be on a sunday with a slight hangover. it almost did my head in.
okay fine, i was an IDS virgin so i really didn't know what to expect. what i really wanted to see were independent local designers promoting the things they made with their own hands, which there were some, but the brunt of it were high-end stores featuring all the products that are always featured on interior design magazines. fuck if i wanted to see artemide lights i could've just stayed home and perused design*sponge all afternoon.
there were some gems at the show. the first three images above are from a section of the exhibit entitled "studio north". a showcase for up and coming canadian designers. i usually tend to be very critical about canadian artists because i find that they're always trying to compensate their insecurities by trying to do what creative minds from other countries do. especially when it comes to fashion. with furniture design however its a whole different story.
they embrace the things that are always associated with canadiana. like shawn place's interpretation of the classic windsor chair with its high spindles made from maple. maple flag, maple syrup...can't get more canadian than a maple.
canadian designers weren't the only ones to get some shine. on the other side of the building was a showcase highlighting works of carribean industrial designers. i would've taken more pictures of that exhibit but people were sitting on all the chairs just lounging and being in my way so i only got to take a picture of the leather bowl which i instantly fell in-love with because i've been looking for the perfect fruit bowl forever! but i was way too shy to ask how much it was cause i reckon things sold at these events are not very conducive to my bank account.
well it wouldn't be toronto if it didn't shove its few famous, or in this case, local celebrities a lot of torontonians want to believe are world famous but are most definitely not, in your face. so they've asked some designers from all discipline to interpret their own version of verner pantone's classic "S" chair. most of them were terribly offensive to one of the most iconic piece in design but there were some brilliantly executed ones. i especially like the one with the criss-cross lacing at the back and the one with the arm rest is pretty fucking mint!
if you've been following my blog i think you'd probably know which piece i wanted to run home with if i was superman and could carry anything then fly to get away. the union jack chesterfied sofa of course! me and henry cavill can have so much fun on that thing.
and speaking of hot guys such as henry cavill, O-M-G!! industrial/furniture designers are some of the hottest babes on the planet. they are like every gay boy's wet dream. scruffy, well dressed, semi-dorky, and straight. it was hard looking at those furniture without imagining them undressed on it.