Downtown--New York's Premiere Design Event Announces New Location!

Furniture World Magazine

What is Downtown? Downtown—New York City’s premiere design event during ICFF (May 14-15-16, 2005) is a showcase for select international design companies and product manufacturers. The three-day design event has moved to a beautiful new venue, Drive In Studios, in West Chelsea since it has outgrown the Chelsea Hotel. Downtown is a viable, alternative platform for designers to present their products to the thousands of design professionals who attend New York Design Week. The new venue offers the design community and expanded presentation of designers, protoypes and trends. Why was Downtown established? When attending the shows in Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo and Cologne, the most interesting products and presentations are found at the off-site venues. The “why” became evident—there was no off-site culture in the U.S. While there are design events taking place around the ICFF, nothing has been created to generate business for young companies, hidden design gems and emerging talent. Who attends Downtown? Last year over 5,000 interior designers, architects, retailers, press and savvy consumers attend Downtown to preview over 100 international product lines, many of which are shown in the U.S. for the first time. What goes on Downtown? The relaxed atmosphere of Downtown, where participants temporarily create specific environments to present their lines, has proven to be an innovative, enjoyable way to do business in the world’s largest design market. In addition to promoting and supporting design talent, Downtown highlights include press previews, trend forecast seminars and nightly cocktail receptions. Downtown has become a “must-see” event during New York Design Week and has garnered extensive media coverage. What is New York Design Week? Each year in May, New York City becomes an exciting and vital design destination which has lead to an increase in demand for alternatives to the “convention center” approach to marketing. Downtown has taken the lead in presenting the target audience of design leaders, retailers and press with the opportunity to discover the great design talent. Our goal is to assist in building an exciting New York Design Week that rivals the success of the European markets...or even our city’s own Fashion Week. For more information go to www.designdowntown.com or email abe@spacedowntown.com.