By Rachel Fasciani
High Point Market, The Design Social, and The Ticking Tent all occurred between April 24th and May 2nd, spanning eight days of design. It was a concentrated moment of design energy. The designers, the makers, the learnings, and the events are integral to DNN’s approach and reporting.
Covering three markets across eight days made one thing clear: they can’t be viewed in isolation. Each serves a distinct audience, yet clear throughlines emerged—across movements, approaches, and designer priorities. Settle in, there’s a lot to share.
Color Makes Its Comeback
Color didn’t just return – it asserted itself with confidence. If there was any doubt about moves away from millennial gray and tonal ivories and beiges, these markets answered the question. Loudly. The most dominant colors were aubergine purples moving into burgundies. These hues appeared consistently used thoughtfully throughout DuVäl’s collection with Sherrill, in rugs at Eichholtz, Four Hands Aurora, bullion-fringed swivel, and art from Raoul Morren, also shown at Four Hands.
Meanwhile the many shades of green ran from mossy to mint to hunter greens. Most notably, the fully redesigned Eichholtz showroom, where green took center stage across walls, upholstery, and accents. The hue carried through at Bernhardt and in seating, rugs, lighting, and art across all three markets. Some smaller makers of note, such as Casa Branca, who showcased green at The Ticking Tent through a collection of French pottery and at The Design Social, where Cortney Bishop’s extraordinary fabrics and furnishings took center stage.
Quieter but important movements were the rise of a coral, lipstick red, Best exemplified by Alfredo Paredes’ Liliana coffee table in a lacquered red and Barrie Benson for Highland House’s floral chaise. Asked about the inspiration behind her line with Highland House, Benson shared, “We’re always designing for different houses … we’re doing a lot of custom pieces and a lot of them inform the pieces we bring to Highland House.” She added, “We find vintage pieces that we would put in three different places, and then we know.”
Lastly, blue. Always an American favorite, it’s making a wider comeback in product and design. Some favorites were Century’s fully upholstered outdoor chaise in cornflower blue, House of Hackney, showing at The Design Social, Artist’s Stripe wallpaper in Byzantine and Narcissus (sidebar, those color names, to die for), and Barbara Alper’s iconic photo with Marsha P. Johnson with a breathtaking blue fan shown at Four Hands.
The Market Makers
Before we dig into the movements across the markets, there were a few pieces across High Point Market in particular that made them exceptional. At Pooky, owner Regan Iglesias showed off their ingenious, cordless shelf lamp that attaches to a shelf using an adjustable mechanism. Four Hands brought it with a softer, more nuanced chrome across lighting, and a bookshelf light with a 10-foot cord for flexible placement. Furniture was a winner for Cortney Bishop at The Design Social, where she showed a number of pieces. The most notable being a sculptural, mid-century modern sofa softened by her artisanal upholstery and a relaxed sensibility.
Prominent Movements Across the Markets
Taken together, these movements reflect a broader shift toward design that is more expressive, layered and materially driven.
Art-Deco Resurgence
Art Deco reigned as a renewed movement at High Point, especially. This influence showed up most strongly in lighting, case goods and wallcoverings. Corey Damen Jenkins lighting collection with Eichholtz leaned in heavily to the movement with his Victory Collection, as did York Wallcoverings’ A Street Prints Allenby Black Flocked wallpaper (a favorite of Regina and Robin Reaves, brand ambassadors) Century’s Thatcher collection newly released 8-drawer dresser and Arteriors Tebaldi Chandelier.
Materiality and Ridged Forms
Always important, texture, evolved further across product verticals this spring. Furniture, in particular, integrated new elements that added visual and textural contrasts. An exceptional example at High Point is Studio Dixon Rye’s Varnell Vitrine by Abner Henry. The piece draws on layered textures between the wood grain and lacquer. Four Hands was another maker investing in new product technique for added texture. Pieces such as their new console with a stamped crocodile pattern, and super silky faux fur on a new chaise reinforced this direction. Bernhardt, among the larger manufacturers, displayed contrasting textures in their Marca bed while Revelation showcased advanced technique in their Louis Phillippe 3-draw chest shown in blue. The 1820s design is updated for the 21st century using a layered approach of oak, beech, Mapa burl and a satin lacquer finish.
Materiality evolved further into repeated linear relief across surfaces. This construction was evident across larger manufacturers such as Century, in their Capri bed and side tables, as well as in DuVäl’s collection with Sherrill where it was used in his cubed ottomans.
At The Design Social we found a wealth of texture across smaller, mostly woman-owned makers. A standout was Varnish Collection’s new wicker bed. Co-owner Mary Lovett Beck showed her commitment to design integrity by limiting the sizes the bed was created in, as offering it in a king would compromise the design. Evidence of a true and committed maker.
“Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking.”
The statement made famous by Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly was on repeat for me these past two weeks, but not because I agree with it.
The floral explosion across markets exhibited thoughtful, layered compositions that transformed the way we use and think of florals in design. A clear standout was Honeychurch at The Ticking Tent. Founder Carolyn Piccirelli brought it with her Fête de Fleurs Linen tablecloth, made from French linen and printed in Portugal, and her decoupaged collection of plates from Spain.
Also presented at The Ticking Tent were The Green Vase’s assortment of high-end paper flowers and plants. Created in an impressionist tone, they are one-of-a-kind and vary from stem collections to potted pieces to kits for the brave of heart. The final floral favorite at The Ticking Tent? Helena Simon. Her handmade, luxurious floral brooches are intended to be worn. However, we appreciate them as a luxe touch to a book stack, a coffee table vignette or even as an addition to drapery tiebacks.
At HPMKT, Nourison’s Brushlight rug and York Wallcovering’s Florian Pink mural, while Revelation’s painterly sculpted tulip vessel kept things smaller but impactful.
More literal interpretations also appeared. Those were in abundance via faux florals from Abighail Ahern in the 313 Space, Kalalou in Suites at Market Square, and Eichholtz, who created their assortment when clients began asking for the arrangements used in their showrooms.
Menswear Influence
Among the prevailing phrases across High Point Market were “Ralph Lauren” “New American” and “Menswear-Inspired”. In sharp juxtaposition to florals, menswear and plaids have carved out their place in upholstery, wallcoverings, rugs and even art. Danny Shafiian of French Accents showed distinctive plaid rugs in a tufted wool at High Point while sharing that, with tariffs decreasing, his higher-end line of rugs was doing well. DuVäl x Sherrill Furniture introduced a striking settee that was recognized by Style Spotter Rhobin DelaCruz, and York Wallcoverings showed a vast array of menswear and plaid offerings for their Ronald Redding Private Reserve collection. Chief among the collection is the Elkan Stripe Navy Herringbone.
Lastly and most uniquely, DinnerpARTy, an art source showing at The Ticking Tent. Owner Shelly Alter procures the majority of her art in Paris, through a gallerist who collects through Spain with a focus on etchings and aquatints, and explained, “These are very well-listed artists from the 40’s through the 90’s.” She pairs these pieces with 18th-19th century oils of damaged paintings in which she cuts out, if worthy, she notes, the interesting elements of men’s clothing. “I love the men that have beautiful bow ties, big puffy collars . . . and I can put it in a beautiful 19th century frame. People love it.”
The Great Outdoors
We would be remiss not to call attention to the continued evolution of outdoor product. From Four Hands’ ingenious outdoor koosh ball table to Century, Bernhardt and Eichholtz’s expanded offerings of fully upholstered outdoor furniture, the inside is truly moving out. This category continues to blur the line between indoor and outdoor living, both in comfort and material sophistication.
Sectionals Get Serious
Finally, we arrive at one of the most dominant industry currents—both in scale and presence at High Point Market – sectionals. Across scales, they were an important part of almost any furniture showroom we visited. American Leather showed off a design that has been part of their line-up for several years, made more user-friendly through the engineering of new foam bases that keep the cushion’s form and bounce back after being seating. Large, room-scale and almost serpentine versions were shown in Eichholtz with their modular Grand Avenue sofa and Coley Home, while DuVäl for Sherril’s model utilized a thoughtful approach in which each piece is the same size, making it easy for designers to use.
Across eight days and three distinct stages, one thing holds: design is moving beyond restraint and into expression. Whether through color, craftsmanship, or scale, the industry is embracing a richer, more confident language—one that invites both individuality and intention into every layer of the home.
