Gothic Glamour and New Antiquarians — Scenes from Day 3 of Texas Design Week Dallas 2023

Texas Design Week Dallas 2023 was a week-long celebration of design with 41 designers and architects in panel discussions, illustrated talks, book signings, cocktails, and dinners.

This year’s sponsors include Monogram Luxury Appliances, HN Capital Partners, Dallas Design District, New Orleans Auction Galleries, Frontgate and Cosentino.

What: Benjamin Moore presents The Art of Color, a talk with Mark Sikes, Rivers Spencer, and Jan Showers, moderated by Chesie Breen

Where:  Jan Showers Showroom

Moments: An elbow-to-elbow crowd gathered in Miz Showers’ glamorous showroom for morning eye-openers and a salon talk with Mark Sikes, Rivers Spencer, and Jan Showers, who shared their thoughts on the power of color, sponsored by Benjamin Moore and moderated by Chesie Breen.

Spotted: Benjamin Moore’s Lauren Corbin, Lance Scott, Janet Gridley, Tracy Hardenburg, Carlie Boone, Kristin Mullen, Elaina Fagan Darden, Mary Marron, Sharon Lee Clark, Cearan Henley, Kathleen Hutchinson, Shelby Wagner, Sue Jones, Nazira Handal, and Trish Sheats

— Billy Fong

What: Cocktails, Salon Talk, and Books signing with Bobby McAlpine

Where:  JD Staron

Featuring: Bobby McAlpine

Moments: The design-savvy TXDW guests gathered at the new JD Staron showroom to celebrate the poetic architect Bobby McAlpine and the launch of his fourth book, McAlpine: Romantic Modernism (Rizzoli), which features residences that convey an array of architectural languages ranging from Elizabethan and Dutch to colonial Caribbean and agrarian American. During his illustrated talk, McAlpine shared homes from  Atlanta to Los Angeles to the Bahamas. “The Bahamas house was for an ex-model and a plastic surgeon who wanted their interiors to resemble a Chanel ad,” he notes. Check. Given the beachy locale, McAlpine also wanted a nod to the “castles that the fish swam through in the aquariums” he had as a child. Check.

Spotted: Chic JD Staron owners Gosia and Jakub Staron, Brant McFarlain, Ellett Miciotto, Barry Williams, Kendall Travis, Kate Beebe, Lloyd Princeton, Richard Davis, Dana Miller, Pete West, Susan Hannah, Martha Justice

— Billy Fong

What: Mischief, Cocktails, Illustrated Talk and Book Signing

Where:  David Sutherland

Featuring: Blackman Cruz Founders Adam Blackman and David Cruz

High Point: Creative visionaries and designers Adam Blackman and David Cruz chatted up PaperCity editor-in-chief Billy Fong, sharing gorgeous, gothic interiors with pedigreed furniture and lighting. With a keen eye for evocative design, the duo has been delighting audiences in their Los Angeles showroom (once an infamous gay nightclub) with their passion for acquiring show-stopping furniture, lighting, decorative arts, artifacts, and iconography for over thirty years. Gravitating toward the rare, dramatic, and playful, these purveyors of “life enhancers” create environments with objects that captivate with their multi-sensory design aesthetic and unusual provenance, with an A-list clientele that includes Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lopez, and Adele to name drop a few.

Further solidifying their Hollywood bonafides, Ryan Murphy co-wrote the forward of their book, Beauty & Mischief: The Design Alchemy of Blackman Cruz (Abrams), which takes you into the duo’s homes in Los Angeles, Ojai, and San Miguel de Allende.

Spotted: Ann and David Sutherland, as well as Emily Summers, Joe Minton, John Bobbitt, Tracy Hardenburg, Javier Burkle, Janet Gridley, Lance Scott, Tanner Moussa, Julia Duke, Mackenzie Moussa Lewis, Rob Dailey, Victoria Johnson, Anna White, Shawna Kuykendall, Lloyd Princeton, Michelle Renault-Rutt, Jennifer Lloyd, Debra Nelson

— Caitlin Clark

What: Champagne and Book Signing With Patrick Frey, Son of Founder Pierre Frey

Where: Culp Associates

High Point: Flutes of bubbly fueled those awaiting an introduction to Patrick Frey, scion of the iconic French fabric house Pierre Frey. It was well worth the wait — each guest left with a long, thoughtful inscription in Patrick’s latest book, Pierre Frey: Textiles, Wallpapers, Carpets, and Furniture (Flammarion), a fabric resource designers feel passionate about. “If you come here to see me, I think it’s nice to say thank you,” Frey notes.

Of the new tome, Patrick explains that his goal was to highlight the work that goes on behind the scenes. “When you look at fashion, you know everything about the design,” he explains. “In our industry, it’s more mysterious. I wanted to do a book where I explained my job. Behind even very simple fabric in a showroom, there is a long story.”

Spotted: Culp’s Cammie Marrs, Karen Rogers-Still, Jessica Salmons, Fiona West, president Pierre Frey, Beth Holman with Sanderson Design Group, Javier Burkle, Mackay Boynton, Dana Miller, Joshua Horton, Yvette Gonzalez, Jonathan Sanders, Preston Harman, Grace Schultz, Shelby Wagner, Mary Pat Wallace, Priscilla Sandlin

— Caitlin Clark

What: Cocktails and Conversation: The New Antiquarians, Established Connoisseurs, and the Future of Antiques

Where:  OKA

Featuring: Michael Diaz-Griffith and OKA Founder Sue Jones

High Point: The two design world darlings seemed as if they had known each other forever. Diaz-Griffin is executive director of the Design Leadership Network, and previously served as associate executive director of The Winter Show — America’s most prestigious and longest-running art and antiques fair and was executive director of Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation. A collector himself, he was also given the distinction of being included on House Beautiful’s list of “Visionaries” for his tireless advocacy of historic art and preservation.

His new book, The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors (Monacelli Press), an inspiring compendium featuring residences on both sides of the Atlantic — artists, fashion designers, gallerists, architects, and interior designers including Pablo Bronstein, Adam Charlap Hyman, Emily Eerdmans, Jared Frank, Andrew LaMar Hopkins, Kyle Marshall, and more.

Spotted: OKA team Morgan Boswell, Sadie Baker, as well as Mackay Boynton, Ed Hill, Javier Burkle, Jack Levy, Jennifer Klos, Michael Dewberry, Liz Sutton, Ashley Cathey, Brenda Houston, Melissa Monroe, Katie Lewis, Scott Cook, Joy Pedroza, Pearson Moore, Rupal Dalal, Sarah Marek, Michael Kaplan.

— Billy Fong