Thanks to everyone who joined us for the inaugural Contemporary Wine in Design. We had a huge day with hundreds of people through the doors through out the day. It was wonderful to see the industry come together to celebrate our shared passion for good design.
Early birds braved the rain to join us for a unique 'high tea' breakfast, accompanied by our wine partner Flying Fish Cove's Sparkling Pinot Noir, to hear Sasha Ioppolo from Fanfare Media discuss the changing face of the media landscape and the importance of new media to building a brand.
Sasha's insights were captivating and the breakfast styling demonstrated how far the corporate space has come from the boring cubicles of the 1980's.
Following breakfast was the ‘West-Side Stor(e)y’ discussion panel. An examination of Perth’s design culture, the discussion panel had guest speakers looking backward but moving forward.
Moderated by Lantern Creative’s Clinton Matthews, with panelists Suzanne Hunt of boutique architectural firm Suzanne Hunt Architect, Perth councillor and overall design and city advocate Jemma Green; and Benjamin Braham, the principal of Braham Architects. It was a most lively, and heated at times, conversation about the importance of Perth’s identity and how architecture plays into this.
Lisa Quinn-Schofield from Featherhorse then took us through "styling through a lens'. Our Flexform Soft Dream Sofa was given three unique looks showing how versatile a neutral classic sofa can be. All the while Lisa took us through her journey to becoming one of Perth's most respected stylists. We then took out our phones to gain perspective on how working in two dimensions requires a whole new viewpoint and is so very different from styling to live. A captivating session and it was a wonderful to see Lisa work her magic. We were lucky enough to have art by Waldermar Kolbusz to compliment the space.
Our hospitality space was next, Gabrielle Scott and Siobhan Blumann designer and owner respectively of numerous hospitality venues, including Mrs Brown's, Propellor, The Dominion League, Flipside, Young Love to name a few, took us through the process from inception to completion of a successful hospitality space. It was a fascinating insight into this highly specialised facet of our industry. The discussion was accompanied by a wine tasting of three different reds from Flying Fish Cove with Winemaker Brett House joining us to take us through the diversities of the wines. This session was standing room only.
Our day wrapped up with an exhibition of photographic artworks from renowned WA photographer Jody D'Arcy, 'Quintessential Rottnest' in our brand new outdoor furniture space. Jody shared with us her diverse career path and how she came to be one of Perth's celebrated and loved photographers. Her aerial photographs of Rottnest taken from a helicopter, with the door off, captured the exquisite beauty of our favourite island. A number were snapped up on the spot. The artworks sit beautifully against our brand new Ethimo outdoor range from Italy and when accompanied by the two Rose styles from Flying Fish Cove it was the perfect ending to an incredibly successful day.
