NYC–The D&D Building

When I was in NYC last week, my pal, David had a series of meetings in the D&D Building, so while he was conducting business, I took a long wander through about half of the 18 floors of the building. When I arrived at each showroom, I made a point to introduce myself and ask for permission to take photographs. I was granted permission in all of the showrooms except one. The “gatekeeper” was a rather elderly women who said that she didn’t know what a blog was, so I thanked her and went in to look around.

In a way, our day both started and finished at Gracie. As David and I arrived at the D&D Building, we were looking at the various showroom window displays, including one with some of David’s wares, when my head was turned by the lovely Gracie display.I started my exploration on the lower floors of the D&D building and worked my way up towards our hosts for the day, with the first stop in the bookstore of the ground floor. If I had the space, I’d have picked up one of almost every volume, especially this one.I found something to love in each of the showrooms I visited, but since I took almost 150 photographs, I am not going to show you everything!

You might remember that I spent a day looking at passementerie at Scalamandré.  At Clarence House, I found these amazing modern tassels. The detail on these tassels was astonishing.I loved these three-dimensional displays at Clarence House.I think that they might be by Kazumi Yoshida, the Executive Vice-President of Design.  If you’re interested, you might want to read this interview in New York Social Diary with Yoshida.

At Lee Jofa, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this Lily Pulitzer living room.  What you can just barely see on the left of the image, under the ginger jar is a huge boxer dog! He was so friendly and was snoozing while his owner checked out the fabrics.Although I do rail against using books solely for decoration, I love the pop of orange in this Lee Jofa display. I was willing to overlook this transgression because I know this is a transitory space and will be something entirely different shortly. They were very pretty and clever, so they serve their purpose.

At Zoffany, I was gob-smacked by this wallpaper depicting 15th century Rome.Here’s a bit of detail:Then there was a gorgeous fabric with the London version of the Paris map.Here are some of the other fabrics I loved at Zoffany.

I’d frame one of these panels.	First of lots of birds I saw.
They should have ironed this!	Suzani style

I noticed the huge arrangements at Ralph Lauren Home,

and some more birds.

At Schumacher, I was welcomed by this fun window, which incorporated the colours of the Dutch flag, some Delft detailing and a massive pair of wooden shoes.

And then there were the walls of fabrics that were just stunning!

The place where I just wanted one of everything was the fabulous Lora Piana. Between their sumptuous cashmeres and their truly incredible vicuña, which is the rarest, most expensive natural fiber in the world, I was too busy to take more than one photograph. OMG.

I had lots of fun in Anichini starting with this rug that I couldn’t help but touch…Followed by these beautiful shawls, and this sweet little pillow.  And more birds.

By now, it was time to stop for lunch on the 14th floor and then head up to John Rosselli’s showroom, but that’s for tomorrow.