New York, one of the world’s great financial centers, and the venue for one of the most important fairs in The United States for home decoration, accessories, and gifts from February 2nd to 5th. For the first time, Spain held a space with seven companies that participated under the name Interiors From Spain, along with the support of the organization ICEX and the Spanish Economic and Commercial Office in New York.
At the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the latest in Spanish design was combined, among other things, with a drive and commitment to sustainable values. An example of this is the company Govou Fabrics, which makes bags, backpacks and home accessories made from 80- to 100-year-old recycled material brought in from Eastern Europe. “Our main goal is sustainability,” said Emese Meresz, the brand’s manager.
For their part, the managers at Isol Barcelona, Isabel Lorente and Olga Rodríguez, have taken a similar approach, presenting their new collection ‘Bauhauss’, characterized by inspiration taken from the famous German school of design. “We focused on the positive message that the school was sending during the inter-war period, and that is what we used as a basic foundation for our collection, whose fabric was made with plastic from the Mediterranean Sea,” explained Isabel.
Similarly, the company Soruka manufactures its bags using recycled leather obtained from the factories’ excess production, in line with the concept of ‘upcycling’. Josep Riera, the brand’s manager, explained that that’s why “each piece is unique within a certain design, as each person has the only version of that bag in the world.”
That excellence and good work ethic form part of the company’s DNA at Abracadabra, a company that also manufactures leather gifts mainly for corporate clients or even hotels. In this sense, both Inés Bultó and Bruno Oliver, the brand’s managers, highlighted the incredible results they got from going: “We’ve made very good contacts and we’ve already closed deals with some American firms.”
In fact, as far as results go, the vast majority of companies ended up very happy. This is the case, for example, with Hemisferium, which manufactures old scientific objects: “The experience so far is very positive, we’ve had quite a good response. Of course, we intend to come back for at least a few consecutive years, and if it’s with ICEX, so much the better,” detailed the brand’s managers, Joaquin Carrasco and Adriana Benshimol.
Likewise, Ana Mirella González and Marina Diéguez, from Pico Pao, a company that produces toys and wooden designer pieces, talked about how much they loved the fair. “The people are wonderful, we had a really great experience, and we got orders. We had a great time and we can’t wait to go again next year,” they said. Lastly, Erik De Leeuwerk, from the publishing company Grupo Erik specializing in designer stationery, felt that in spite of not being in the best location, having a presence at the fair with ICEX “was a very good choice economically speaking, in order to gain a foothold here in the American market”.