Has Interior Design Become The New Fashion?

HUR TABLE GUESTS

Jun 14

Has Interior Design Become The New Fashion?

With Maggie Holladay, Jordy Murray, Nora O’Neil, Josefine and Hanne Berzant

By HURS Team

There’s no doubt that the pandemic has influenced the 284 million dollar furniture and homeware market. As we spend more time at home, many of us invested into creating a space that reflects our lifestyle. Global spending on furniture and homeware grew from 208 million dollars in 2020 to almost 250 million dollars in 2022. And we weren’t the only ones investing. Being stuck in their homes just like the rest of us, interior design became a newfound interest and content opportunity for many creators, influencers and celebrities who would normally focus on other markets like fashion, food or travel. Suddenly, the newly purchased designer bag was less relevant than whether you owned that Pierre Jeanneret (knock-off) chair.

Social media has long been the propeller of change. Anyone can access anything from anywhere. Making it easier for people to navigate the interior space. Where five years ago most people wouldn’t be able to make the distinction between Vincent van Duysen and Rose Uniacke, people have now become experts within the aesthetics they care about. Additionally, the explosion of smaller homeware brands and the rise of the high street homeware line has opened up the market to those who weren’t able to afford or get into contact with the real thing (or the fake version of the real thing).

The real question is whether interior design should be moving at the pace and prices it currently is. Is the industry moving into the same throwaway pace as its high street fashion counterpart? What you allow into your home should be under careful consideration. But from where I stand, it’s almost become formulaic. Rather than a means of creative expression, are we using our homeware purchases as a means of showing off how in-the-know we are?

We asked five industry insiders whether the interior industry has become too fast paced, the impact of the democratization of knowledge around design and most importantly what’s next.

MAGGIE HOLLADAY
Maggie Holladay founded classic contemporary vintage and furniture design company Claude Home in 2018. Holladay began her career in fashion, but quickly developed a curatorial eye for vintage furnishings and striking interiors. She immersed herself into work as a designer, seller of vintage wares, original commissions, unique housewares and furniture.

JORDY MURRAY & NORA O’NEIL
Founded in 2020 by Jordy Murray and Nora O'Neil, Friends of Form is a Brooklyn-based collectible furniture and interior design studio. Their work navigates the evolution of tastes with the enduring desire for quality materials and unexpected forms. Drawing inspiration from a decade in the fashion industry, they apply an ingrained editorial approach to furniture and interiors.

JOSEFINE BERZANT & HANNE BERZANT
Tadaima is a Copenhagen-based store and design universe founded in 2020. After careers in the creative industry, founders Hanne and Josefine Berzant, partnered to create a platform for genuine and meaningful craft. All items are created by makers with a rich variety of expertise, including ceramic, glassware, textiles, fragrances and artwork.

We spoke with three industry insiders operating at the forefront of influence to hear their take on whether influence has been democratized, how brands’ approach to talent and influence has changed and most importantly what’s next.