Flower flashes have been bringing some much needed colour, natural life and joy to the concrete jungle of New York, transforming trash cans into larger-than-life flower vases and embellishing the subway system.
The beautiful flower arrangements come courtesy of floral designer Lewis Miller and his team who create what they call “Flower Flashes” very early in the morning, which they aim to get finished before the daily stream of commuters hits the streets.
In addition to repurposing trash cans as flower vases, Lewis Miller Design have also used flowers to decorate a public phone booth with an abundant flow of blooms making their way on to the street.
Lewis Miller came up with the concept of flower flashes to “create an emotional response through flowers” and to “gift the people of New York the same experience he gives his paying clients”. All of the blooms used in the installations are repurposed from his company’s events. Passers-by are encouraged to admire the display and take a flower if they desire.
Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyles including sustainable and green living. She also offers content services to businesses and individuals at Rosamedea.com
Queen of the Curve,” the late architect will be remembered for her bold, fluid designs. She is one of my favorite women in architecture.
I almost did step into the world of architecture. I had got an opportunity to spend a week in Columbia University to see if architecture was something I would be interested in. But it wasn’t for me. I have always been fascinated with creation and creating things. I thought at some point chemistry was something that will help me create to what I wanted to create. Loved equations, experiments, science. But then even that didn’t move my soul. And I finally ended up with textiles and art my soul and passion. Architecture and textiles have a lot in common. One of them being both are 3 dimensional. The love for architecture never left me as the architect of my life lived within me. Hence, I became the architect of my own life. ・・・ “Up to even twenty years ago people did not anymore believe in what I always call the fantastic, they did not think that world is possible – some people still don’t think it’s possible – and, it is!” Zaha Hadid
For most of its existence, the home textiles business—sheets, comforters, towels, et cetera—has been all about more. That took the form of everything from ever-higher thread counts (defying any known weaving technology) to bed-in-a-bag put-ups that approached the triple digits in their number of pieces, and towels that outweighed some bantam-weight boxers. More was better.
But recently, as evidenced by the wares on display at September’s New York Home Fashions Market, the industry has started to go in the opposite direction. After decades of excess, the business is finally discovering that less is, in fact, often more.
The twice-yearly trade show, held mostly in closed showrooms along Manhattan’s lower Fifth Avenue, is where big-box stores like Walmart, Macy’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and their retail brethren start buying next season’s goods. While shows in traditional market centers in Atlanta, High Point, Dallas and Las Vegas all feature higher-end soft home resources and bedding products, it is in New York where the bulk of the business in this $25 billion market segment is done.
Over the past few seasons, this sector has been in transition—working to bring to market products that appeal to the new generation of shoppers more concerned with attributes like sustainability, transparency and naturally sourced materials. It’s been an ongoing evolution, but the fall show made it apparent that the industry is heavily drinking this new Kool-Aid. In market introductions from suppliers large and small, several themes prevailed, reflecting these new sensibilities in core bed and bath products.
Sustainability and circularity: Bed and bath products have always gotten a bad rap for using too many natural resources in their production—water and land primarily—but the industry is making a concerted effort to move to a more sustainable model that emphasizes both recycled final products and individual components. Circularity, based on renewable resources as well as recycling, was a buzzword heard often in many showrooms, even if not everyone clearly understood what it meant.
Traceability: With the vast majority of home textiles products—at least 90 percent by most estimates—coming from the Asian production powerhouses of China, India and Pakistan, understanding the manufacturing chain for home textiles has often been a challenge. Using DNA marking, RFID tagging and other new technologies, vendors are now able to trace the raw materials in their products back to the growing fields, giving retailers and consumers alike a look into the entire production process.
Certification: Because there are no real regulatory or safety standards governing most soft home products, it’s always been a free-for-all on certifying products. Now, some international third-party organizations like Oeko-Tex and Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) are gaining traction, often at the urging of retailers who want to offer a point of differentiation for their products. None of these labels are as well-known as established ones like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval or consumer electronics certifications, but they are rising in market prominence and placement.
Natural fibers and fabrics: Even though synthetic materials like polyester and memory foam are industry staples (suppliers and retailers have been wildly successful selling “micro-fiber” bedding even though it is essentially a descendent of polyester double-knit fabrics from the disco era), the raw material spectrum has dramatically increased recently, with tree-derived cellulose, linen, bamboo and other natural fibers. Cotton still maintains its overwhelming market share—but there, too, differentiators like Supima, Egyptian and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) offerings are gaining in importance.
CBD: As part of a broader effort to jump on the health-and-wellness bandwagon, several companies introduced bedding products containing CBD extracts, either applied topically to the fabric or infused into the fibers. Without making explicit health claims—still very much illegal under U.S. laws, even as CBD itself is legal throughout the country—companies certainly implied that these products were good for you. The first wave will hit the market possibly as early as this holiday season, giving the industry a better read on consumer acceptance.
All of this attention to technology, innovation and product performance stands in stark contrast to earlier eras. Yes, there was fashion and, yes, there were plenty of designer names, but today the industry clearly is taking a different tack—one that strips products down to their essential elements, prioritizing origin and ethics over thread count or frills.
In fact, the only real exception to the less-is-more dictum came in the form of a novelty fad product, the weighted blanket. Countless companies showed heavy-weight blankets and comforters that supposedly promote better sleep. In that case, more is more. But nearly everywhere else, the less the better.
Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. He was also a guest on the BOH podcast, and his Market Watch columnsoffer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.
When Felice House moved to Texas from Massachusetts, she quickly fell in love with “Western” culture.
Photo by Timothy Douglas, used with permission.
House, a painter and artist, moved to Austin to study for her master’s degree before becoming an assistant professor of painting at Texas A&M University.
At first, the culture shock was fun. House says she quickly became infatuated with the Western genre: the outfits, the cowboy boots, the music.
“But when I actually got around to watching Western movies,” she adds, “I was horrified by the roles for … anybody except white men basically.”
The stoic renegades played by John Wayne, James Dean, and Clint Eastwood stood in stark contrast to the helpless damsels they shared the screen with. The empowered and the powerless.
House had spent much of her career painting women in ways that clashed with media representations, so she decided to tackle the male-dominated Western genre.
She put out a call for models and was quickly overwhelmed with women who wanted to participate.
All images by Felice House, used with permission.
House says many of the models already knew which iconic cowboy they wanted to portray.
Virginia Schmidt became “Virginia Eastwood.”
Then there was “Liakesha Dean.”
And “Rebekah Wayne.”
House first photographed the models in Western getups, then painted from the images she captured.
She also says practicing the facial expressions and body language was the hardest part for the models.
“Women are kind of trained to make coy, approachable facial expressions,” she says.
Turning these women into iconic and powerful heroes meant stripping away any remnants of the “sexy cowgirl” trope.
The paintings themselves are larger than life. Roughly 1.25 times larger, to be specific.
“When you see them in person, people are surprised by the scale.” People aren’t used to women towering over them, House says.
And that’s exactly the point. House wanted to start a conversation about who is assigned power and how we view it.
In that sense, the timing couldn’t have been better. “Issues with gender and power in the U.S. are kind of in the forefront of people’s minds, ” she says.
In the very beginning of the project, House says she simply digitally clipped one of the models heads and put it on John Wayne’s body.
“It looked ridiculous,” she says with a laugh. “But then I thought, what if I could find a way to give this same sense of power [that iconic male heroes have] to women?”
With a brush and a few massive canvases, she managed to do just that, and she hopes it’ll make a few people think differently about how we define who can be a hero.
In the meantime, and despite her criticisms of the films of yesteryear, House says pop culture is getting better at representing women. Projects like this one definitely help.
After all, it was John Wayne himself who once said, “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.”
The high quality multi-coloured leno fabric Nexus is extremely durable. It is being accentuated by metallic shiny, dark yarns in the warp and has an elegant soft drape. In choosing the colours our designers were inspired by metal tones such as Silver, Grey, light Copper and Brass. Nexus DELI LIGHT is available in a width of 300 cm and in 6 colors.
Wedding: A brides dream. A bond between two hearts. A promise to cherish, respect, understand eachother in the ebb and flow of life. A new beginning filled with love, laughter and happiness. I love the colors and the excitement it brings as it should to a celebration.
For custom paintings for any and all occasion call Nisha Desai at 702.622.8321 or email for more information to nisha@nishadesigns.com
The Feminine: It represents creation, abundance and owning ones feminine power. It enhances our first three lower chakras. Root, sacral and power. She is dynamic, intelligent and this painting calls her attention to be centered, grounded, balanced within to experience her truth.
For custom paintings for any and all occasions call Nisha Desai at 702.622.8321 or email for more information to nisha@nishadesigns.com
Be Yourself: No matter what we do, where we at we must learn to own who we are. I wanted to do something inspiring with words for a 12 year old beautiful, witty, innocent and a charming young girl. Guardian of Gaia, lover of animals, nature. This painting will give her hope, strength to not give up and will always pull her back to who she is inside when she finds herself lost in the ebb and flow of life. I loved painting her style, her imagination and her thought process.
For custom paintings for any and all occasions call Nisha Desai at 702.622.8321 or email for more information to nisha@nishadesigns.com
The Door: The door symbolizes a new beginning, when one door closes other opens. A focus is brought to the sacral and heart chakras. Orange represents joy, creativity, success, encouragement, change, stimulation, sexuality, freedom, expression. And green represents renewal, nature, growth, environment, money. These custom paintings speak to you and only you. This painting tells her that she has the ability to choose and change any situation or circumstances without struggle.
For custom paintings call Nisha Desai at 702.622.8321 or email for more information to nisha@nishadesigns.com
One of my Favorite Paintings I have done to date. Presenting “The Lady in Red” Yes she is Love. She is passion, understanding, strength, knowledge, will, sensual, a warrior, a beautiful companion, friend, a mother and a leader of her own creations. She is the soul within us. Getting ready to be fully manifested to owning, accepting who she is, taking charge to serve the greater good of humanity and the balance as she walks the path of her truth. Wherever she goes there’s beauty and creation, freedom and joy, wonder and magic, stability and abundance. I bow to her presence and style. She becomes who she is. She is not a dream. She is Real. She is the light, The Divine Soul- The Lady in Red ❤️
One of my Favorite Paintings I have done to date. Presenting “The Lady in Red” Yes she is Love. She is passion, understanding, strength, knowledge, will, sensual, a warrior, a beautiful companion, friend, a mother and a leader of her own creations. She is the soul within us. Getting ready to be fully manifested to owning, accepting who she is, taking charge to serve the greater good of humanity and the balance as she walks the path of her truth. Wherever she goes there’s beauty and creation, freedom and joy, wonder and magic, stability and abundance. I bow to her presence and style. She becomes who she is. She is not a dream. She is Real. She is the light, The Divine Soul- The Lady in Red ❤️
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