IDS Vancouver is a highlight for the gang at Flüff, we were looking forward to some fun!! The design community in Vancouver comes together annually to share, connect and learn from one another. Here are some of our favourite parties, exhibits and artist from the weekend.

Exhibits

The best part of a local design show is seeing your friends and peers celebrating their talent and success. We love Jess from Power of My People. Not only is she insanely talented and creative but she happens to be an amazing human. It was great to see her booth at the show and drool over her amazing handmade shirts.

Also representing locally were two more of our friends and colleagues, Epic Art Decor and Meme Brooks. Meme curated the booth for Epic and the collaboration was lovely. David from Epic has such a keen eye for art and Meme for style so these two made a great team.

The Tokyo Exchange was one of our very favourite parts of IDS Vancouver this year. A truly subtle combination of design and function was highlighted by talented Tokyo designers – we+ and Design for Industry, and curated by Design Milk. The magnetic sand used to tell time was quiet and hypnotizing. The glass coffee table could be arranged in a variety of ways with different results. The mirrored sections created endless reflections that could be highlighted using sculptural objects placed on the shelves. Not to mention the two artists at opening night were so gracious and friendly while explaining their work. It was totally cool!

Some of the other exhibits we saw and loved included the Jan Kath rug gallery which showcases the companies latest breathtaking designs, the SMEG booth which displayed their amazing line of appliances, including a one of a kind hand painted Dolce and Gabanna refrigerator, and our favourite prototype winner from last year, Chopvalue. Chopvalue has expanded their line of products to include wall panels, tiles and other home finishing essentials. We loved the subway tile made from recycled chopsticks.

Artisits

We were impressed with Artist Simon Fleming’s work (see above photo) which was new to us. Something about his loose, almost but not quite, abstract paintings attracted our entire team. The colour and composition were unique and striking, we look forward to investigating his work further.

Parties

The Caesarstone exhibit is always a fun feature at IDS, especially on opening night. We thought the addition of performance tied in nicely with the surreal, almost circus inspired exhibit they created this year in collaboration with renowned Spanish designer Jaime Hayon called; Stone Age Folk,. It didn’t hurt that they were serving sangria for the party.

Another favourite was the Gray Magazine party hosted annually at the Jan Kath Gallery in Railtown. Turkish cushions lined the floor and surrounded giant hookah pipes for a relaxed atmosphere. It made for some excellent conversation and introductions. This is such a great space for parties and this year it was better than ever as the attendees unwound after a busy trade day.

Frankie taking in the amazing rugs at Jan Kath/The vibe/Swag from the Gray Magazine event

We thoroughly enjoyed many more of the sites at IDS this year but there is so much to cover, you should really go and see for yourself. See in 2018!

~The Flüffians