Freddie Mercurys Personal Collection Heads to Auction, a Racist Showcase Disturbs Milan Design Week, and More News – Architectural Digest

From significant business changes to noteworthy product launches, theres always something new happening in the world of design. In this biweekly roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.

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Racist caricatures at Milan Design Week

This years edition of Milan Design Week unfolded as it normally does, in a rapturous series of showroom visits, Negroni-fueled parties, and eye-opening installations. Yet there was one disturbing appearance that fiercely threw the boisterous event off course. InCampo Base, a group exhibition curated by Federica Sala, architect Massimo Adario presented an array of appalling 1920s glass figurines that reinforce crude racist stereotypes of Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indigenous people.

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These offensive, out-of-touch caricatures were first called out publicly byHello Human publicist Jenny Nguyen, designerStephen Burks, and Wava Carpenter and Anna Carnick ofAnava Projects in a collective Instagram post. Such decorative motifs have a long and shameful history in our field. It was shocking to see this history so casually evoked in a contemporary design project, they wrote.Adario claims that harm was not his intent, which only cements the realization that the industry desperately needs to engage in widespread dialogue to illuminate why this show was so upsetting for so many and how something like it must never come to light again.[Editors note: For a deeper dive on antiracism in the interiors space, we recommend Sydney Gores article Interior Race Theory Is a Creative Way to Decolonize Our Homes.]

A preview at some of the 1,500 pieces from Freddie Mercurys collection that will be sold through Sothebys come September.

Sothebys to present monthlong Freddie Mercury exhibition and auction series

When he wasnt on stage donning a flamboyant costume, Queens Freddie Mercury was likely holed up in Garden Lodge, the Georgian-style brick villa in Londons Kensington neighborhood that he snagged in 1980. For the last three decades, Mercurys longtime friend Mary Austin presided over the abode, which remained filled with the musicians thoughtfully curated stash of Victorian paintings, glass objects, and Japanese fabrics.Some 1,500 of those items will now be displayed in Sothebys 16,000-square-foot London gallery (August 4 through September 5, what would have been Mercurys 77th birthday) after highlights from the collection make their way to New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong throughout June.

Following the traveling exhibition, the pieces will be auctioned off in six separate sales in September. Along with treasures like Mercurys red velvet and rhinestone crown and handwritten working lyrics to We Are the Champions, there is an assemblage of exuberant decor, including an early-20th-century enamel desk clock set with Faberg gems, a 1980s Bakelite rotary phone, and an Art Nouveau glass lamp decked out with a tasseled shade designed by Mercury himself.

In addition to presenting an array of stylish homewares and accessories, Crafting Dreams offered select guests the opportunity to commission bespoke trunks.

Louis Vuitton takes over a stylish LA abode

On April 12 in Los Angeles, Louis Vuitton opened the doors to Crafting Dreams, a complete immersion into all things LV. Transforming a private residence, the maison presented its beloved Objets Nomades, iconic hardsided trunks, fine jewelry and watches, baby goods, sporting waresincluding an incredibly chic take on a ping-pong tableplus rare examples of Capucine and Keepall handbags. Visitors were also treated to an early look at Cabinet of Curiosities, Louis Vuittons newest collaboration with Marc Newson, which later saw its official debut at Salone del Mobile in Milan. In another area, red carpet diehards have their own special display to look forward to, with gowns worn by Ana de Armas, Gemma Chan, Jennifer Connelly, and others making an appearance. Cabinet of Curiosities is open through May 3, and can be visited by appointment only.

Dreweatts to sell private collection of Robert Kime

The late London designer Robert Kime, who dreamed up classy, comfortable interiors for the likes of King Charles III and Andrew Lloyd Webber, was also a passionate antiques dealer and collector. His vast trove of objects, accumulated over the years from sojourns in English country estates to the Middle East alike, is the focus of a forthcoming sale organized by the auction house Dreweatts. On October 4 and 5, the public is invited to bid on Kimes tasteful array of furniture, rugs, textiles, ceramics, artworks, and books.

Pig of the Earth (2020) by Misha Kahn

Misha Kahn solo show opens in LA

Last weekend, Friedman Bendas LA gallery unveiledStaged (through June 2), an exhibition showcasing New York artist Misha Kahns creatively divergent, mesmerizingly chaotic oeuvre. Among his maximalist works are the undulating Ammonoid Delta chair fashioned out of bright cotton velvet and bronze, the Hold the Line lamp featuring intertwined painted plastic curves, and Windswept, a round dining table melding glass gems and stainless steel that embodies Kahns predilection for fusing design and technology.

Toast ventures across the pond to the Hudson Valley

British lifestyle brand Toast makes its mark on the US this spring with Renew, a pop-up in Hudson, New York, located at 415 B Warren Street. In addition to perusing Toast clothing, accessories, and homewares between May 6 and May 29, guests can take in a group exhibition curated in collaboration with Kate Orne of the regional publicationUpstate Diary. All the pieces, from local artists Sam Falls, Kat Howard, Kieran Kinsella, Kiva Motnyk, and Dana Sherwood, reimagine existing materials, dovetailing with a lineup of workshops dedicated to such crafts as kintsugi and patchwork quilting.

Tiffany & Co.s newly renovated New York flagship

A spiffed-up Tiffany & Co. enlivens Fifth Avenue

Dubbed The Landmark, Tiffany & Co.s iconic New York flagship at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street now exudes a rejuvenated eleganceand a rooftop additioncourtesy of AD100 Hall of Fame architect Peter Marino and OMAs local office, led by partner Shohei Shigematsu. Past the faade flaunting the restored Atlas statue and clock is an abstracted ceiling installation reminiscent of a skylight, mirrors that morph into video walls projecting views of Central Park and the citys skyline, and artworks from Julian Schnabel, Rashid Johnson, Anna Weyant, and Daniel Arsham sprinkled across 10 floors. There are several beautifully rendered odes to the past too, including wood parquet flooring that mimics the original 1940 version and a spiral staircase accented with rock crystals that calls to mind the organic forms of Elsa Peretti, who designed some of Tiffanys most groundbreaking jewelry collections.

The Lake Como collection by Mrs. Alice

Mrs. Alice debuts Lake Como-inspired collection

Italys magical Lake Como, in particular the luxe resort Passalacqua, served as muse for Alice Naylor-Leylands latest Mrs. Alice designs. Revolving around vivid yellow, orange, and sky blue hues evocative of summer, the whimsical tableware range spans hand painted Melograno plates emblazoned with botanical motifs, turquoise embroidery-edged Fleur placemats that take the shape of an eight-petal bloom, and the Valentina tablecloth (named for the Passalacquas chic owner) covered in an intricate pink paisley print.

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Freddie Mercurys Personal Collection Heads to Auction, a Racist Showcase Disturbs Milan Design Week, and More News - Architectural Digest