Kartell Opens Its New Flagship Store with a Texas Design Week Flourish: Plastic Never Looked So Good

For those few unfamiliar with Kartell and its high-style home furnishings and accessories products, the red-themed debut party in the new Houston flagship store (the first in Texas) was an eye-opener. More than 100 poured in at the River Oaks Shopping Center emporium to celebrate Texas Design Week and to peruse the house’s colorful, creative offerings.

Emphasis on all things red.

All would agree that plastic never looked so good as in Kartell’s high-quality product line, all crafted in Italy. Consider the Philippe Starck Louis Ghost chair, for example, or Ron Arad’s Bookworm shelving system. In fact, Starck’s wildly popular Ghost chair and Masters chair welcomed guests as they passed the showroom’s main window.

Kartell USA managing director Henrik Hjorth flew in for the fete and joined Kartell Houston business partners Vassili Tsipianitis and Adrian Dueñas (who also serves as BeDesign CEO) in welcoming the design-heavy throng.

Guests perusing the colorful collections found plenty of fuel for the design outing in the form of specialty Kartell cocktails courtesy of Deep Eddy Vodka and vino from Duchman Wintery and Fall Creek Vineyards. Assuaging any sugar cravings were store-branded macarons from River Oaks Shopping Center neighbor Macaron by Patisse.

Design Mavens: BeDesign lead designer and partner Marcelo Saenz,  Artist Nicola Parente, Nina Magnon, Andres Vanegas, Gin Braverman, Barbara Davis, Yigal Kass, Anne Breux, Micahel Pearson, Caroline Starry LeBlanc, Alecia Harris, Yvonne Cormier, Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, Christian Boham, Stefanie and Malo Elias, and Tiffany Halik.