Last year, the first Designers' Residency from New York-based strategy firm and design space Colony was launched for the first time. Founder of Colony, Jean Lin works together with art director Madeleine Parsons to find emerging talent to connect them with a space that elevates the international design market. In turn, Colony will help subsidize shop space and employ the artful residents at the gallery -- this gives them a professional studio and curation experience.
Parsons notes, "From the start of the selection process last spring, we were drawn to the authenticity of these designers’ distinctive voices and curious about how they might influence one another throughout the design process. While the collections presenting this June stand very much apart from each other aesthetically, they embody The Designers’ Residency Program’s collective power. Support, research sharing, and critical conversations accelerate the process of building something as personal as an eponymous studio. The work is only as beautiful as the community that created it."