New York International Gift Fair Winter 2011 | japan edition

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 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.

Kids Design Award 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.

http://www.gallery91.com

Air Vase by Torafu Architects

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/

1 Comment

  1. muji carries 90 degree socks.

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