WithIt Hosts 1st Annual New York Design Scene Grand Tour Weekend

Furniture World Magazine

The Metro/Northeast chapter of WithIt (Women in the Home Furnishings Industry Today), will host the first annual New York Design Scene Grand Tour Event, May 17 through May 20. Scheduled to coincide with the premiere design trade exhibition ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair), WithIt’s four-day long event will include attendance at the Fair located at the Javits Convention Center, access to special guest speakers, shopping tours, museum visits, and entry into the season’s downtown design party circuit. “New York is such a great place to be in May with the ICFF and spring-season shopping and museum exhibits. We’re excited to share the design scene here with everyone,” says Jena Hall, Vice President of aspenhome™, WithIt Founding President and New York Committee Co-Chair. The event will kick off with a welcome reception Saturday night, hosted by the European contemporary furniture store Lignet Roset, where attendees will be greeted and enjoy a special presentation on Retail Merchandising Trends by Executive Vice President Laurie Messman. Highlights of the days to follow include a visit to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and attendance of the ICFF where members will see the latest trends and products in global design. On Sunday evening, attendees will attend the “Sunset Soiree” Dinner & Cocktails Event generously hosted by Pamela Scurry in her notable Fifth Avenue apartment. Interior designer and Owner of the Madison Avenue boutique Wicker Garden Design Studio, and designer of several children’s furniture lines, Pamela is aptly known as the Renaissance Woman. She was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Victoria Magazine and featured in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Masters of Retailing” issue. Her coveted apartment and terrace gardens have been featured multiple times in the country’s top magazines and newspapers including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, House & Garden, Arts & Antiques, Country Living Gardner and New York Times. It’s not a design event without shopping at some of the city’s premiere destinations for home and fashion. Guided tours of New York’s hot retail shops and trade showrooms will mark Monday’s activities. The tours will launch with a breakfast event, hosted by the New York Design Center, with special guest interior designer, Libby Langdon of HGTV’s Small Spaces: Big Style. Libby is a notable New York-based designer, designing spaces for some of New York’s hippest boutiques and restaurants and venerable homes around the nation. The breakfast will be followed by a tour of the showrooms and day of shopping in New York’s hot shopping districts. Attendees will have a choice to shop one of three shopping routes, including Uptown, Nolita and the Lower East Side, and the Flatiron and Meatpacking Districts. Tours will be led by long-standing members Jena Hall, Aspen Home; Jana Platina Phipps, Classical Elements; and Deborah Klein, Inside Designer “WithIt is dedicated to creating opportunities and growth for women in the home furnishings industry. This event will be a wonderful opportunity for our members and non-members from around the world to network with peers, and to get a first-hand look at leading retail and design trends coming out of New York,” says Tiffany Mullis-Britain, WithIt President and Director of Communications for Vanguard Furniture. The event invites all industry peers to attend. Registration for the entire weekend is $175.00 for members and $200.00 for non-members, $50.00 for student members and $175.00 for non-student members. Non members will receive a credit of $25.00 towards their annual membership if they join WithIt before April High Point Market. One day registration is also available at $100 for members and $125 for members. A limited number of specially rated rooms have been made available at the Affinia Dumont, located on East 34th Street. For more information or to register, visit www.Withit.org WithIt, the premiere international organization dedicated to the support and development of female professionals in the home industries.