Stand Alone Mirrors at NYC Design Week
Five designers free the mirror from its wall-mounted constraints
The idea of round hanging mirrors with thick leather straps may have blossomed with modernist designer Jacques Adnet’s “Circulaire” mirror—the result of a partnership with Hermés in the 1950s—but over the past two years we’ve seen it bloom even further, becoming both a design fair favorite and coveted home furnishing. What’s the next logical step for forward-thinking designers? Taking the mirror off the wall altogether, and giving it a more permanent space within the room as a stand-alone piece of furniture. With this in mind, we found five designers who unshackled the mirror at NYC Design Week this year.
Ladies & Gentleman Studio
The Seattle-based studio knocked themselves out by debuting seven new products at five different events during NY Design Week—they even managed to turn wind chimes into a thing of beauty. We loved a lot of their new pieces, including the Maru Hand Mirror. The round, unfinished geometric mirror with a copper-plated handle set into a wood base that allows it function upright as well as face down.
Pat Kim
Best known for his playful products like the solid walnut Rocket and Big Quist, Little Quist nutcrackers, we were pleasantly surprised by Pat Kim’s more sophisticated showing at Noho Next. His hefty, solid copper hand-held mirror and minimal tabletop mirror made from a thin circle of polished copper resting in the simplest of wooden frames are conceptually rich yet appear effortless.
Professional Associates
Part of a collection that includes one of the aforementioned strap-hung mirrors, Outpost is a two-piece mirror that functions primarily as a light source, but was so different from anything we’d seen so far we had to include it here. The cast-iron tripod floor lamp—with a perforated, geometric shade that resembles something NASA might send to Mars—shines down onto an octagonal mirror that lies on the ground, beaming the light out into the surrounding space. So, technically you could use this as mirror, too, as long as you don’t want to use it to check your look before you head out the door.
O&G Studio
For their collaboration with fellow RISD alum, Andrew Mau, O&G’s founders Sara Ossana and Jonathan Glatt created two new mirrors, a minimal but more traditional wall-hung option and the simple yet sturdy leaning Paniolo mirror. On the one hand; it’s reduced to the absolute essentials, doing away with a third support leg, but it also comes equipped with a handy hook on the side for hanging those “plan B” outfit choices.
byAMT
We’re always on the lookout for byAMT, so we were pleased to see some new designs debuted by her. Part of her Peasant Collection—a markedly pared-down series of furniture made primarily from Birch wood—the All Is Vanity standing mirror is held together with a leather strap and simple hardware. The general form was inspired by an easel, which—we suppose—makes your reflected image the work of art.
All images courtesy of their respective designers
