I made my way over to Javits Center this week for the New York International Gift Fair to check what what some of the Japan-related booths are offering. It’s always an interesting exercise to see what other people think other people will like. The center – if you’ve ever been there you know – is so massive in size that it’s daunting to even consider making the full round. So if I missed you, and I’m sure I did, I apologize. But here are a few items that caught my eye.
The Inatome booth had some unique items such as these music-inspired greeting cards called Etude from design company Handson.
And for anyone who has always had that sneaking suspicion that there was something not right with their く shaped socks… finally! 90 degree socks. No, I didn’t try them on but apparently sock aficionados swear by them.
This was also cool and would have come in handy when I lived in a 400 sq ft studio on the upper west side. It’s a retractable indoor clothes line that works like this.
I also came across my favorite kid-friendly tableware. Looks like they have some new additions to their made-from-bamboo product line since I last checked in 2008.
It was a pleasure meeting Ebihara-san of Gallery 91, who has been actively involved in the NY-Japan design scene since 1983 (the year I moved to Tokyo). It was also nice to see that we share similar tastes. Many items they were carrying had been featured on S&T, such as Terada Architects’ greeting cards and Torafu’s air vase.
The Morihata booth was lovely, as expected. Featured this time around was a healthy collection of Masanori Oji items including his beautiful KAMI cup series, and his Futagami line of bottle openers.
I also loved the idea of using charcoal as a natural water purifier. The perfect solution for replacing that ugly brita filter!
A stop at the MYS Group booth revealed a marvelous find: these rugged shoes simply titled “wood shoes.” I’m not sure of specifics but they certainly look more comfortable than clogs.
Lastly, a suggestion from Yuka-san led me to the handmade section where I found the curious work of UK-based jeweler Yoko Izawa. Her “veiled” jewelry, which is made from wrapping various objects with a delicate fabric, is almost Christo-esque but on a very small scale!
New York International Gift Fair Winter 2011
I made my way over to Javits Center this week to check what what some of the Japan-related booths are offering. It’s always an interesting exercise to see what other people think other people will like. The center – if you’ve ever been there you know – is so massive in size that it’s daunting to even consider making the full round. So if I missed you, and I’m sure I did, I apologize. But here are a few items that caught my eye.
The Inatome booth had some unique items such as these music-inspired greeting cards called Etude from design company Handson.
And for anyone who has always had that sneaking suspicion that there was something not right with their く shaped socks… finally, 90 degree socks. No, I didn’t try them on but apparently sock aficionados swear by them.
This was also cool and would have come in handy when I lived in a 400 sq ft studio on the upper west side. It’s a retractable clothes line that works like this.
http://www.inatome.com/Morita_Pid_Inatome.html
http://www.hxon.net/design/hxon/design.html
http://www.inatome.com/collections-inatome.html
I also came across my favorite kid-friendly tableware. Looks like they have some new additions to their made-from-bamboo product line.
It was a pleasure meeting Ebihara-san of Gallery 91, who has been actively involved in the NY-Japan design scene since 1983 (the year I moved to Tokyo). It was also nice to see that we share similar tastes. Many items they were carrying had been featured on S&T, such as Terada Architects’ greeting cards and Torafu’s air vase.
http://www.gallery91.com
https://www.spoon-tamago.com/2010/05/27/architectural-model-greeting-cards-by-terada-architects/
The Morihata booth was lovely, as expected. Featured this time around was a healthy collection of Oji Masanori items including his beautiful KAMI cup series, and his Futagami line of bottle openers. I also loved the idea of using charcoal as a natural water purifier. The perfect solution for replacing that ugly brita filter!
http://www.morihata.com/
A stop at the MYS Group booth revealed a marvelous find: these rugged shoes simply titled “wood shoes.” I’m not sure of specifics but they certainly look more comfortable than clogs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clog_%28shoe%29
http://msygroup.com/
Lastly, a suggestion from Yuka-san led me to the handmade section where I found the curious work of UK-based jeweler Yoko Izawa. Her “veiled” jewelry, which is made from wrapping various objects with a delicate fabric, is almost Christo-esque but on a very small scale!
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/
http://www.yokoizawa.com/
February 3, 2011 at 6:02 pm
muji carries 90 degree socks.