This spring we saw the launch four beloved new designers.
Scheibe Design, Nate and Tres (Nate's dad) from Nashville first came into my periphery back in 2018 when we did our Coast to Coast tour with Design Milk. To be honest, Nate wasn't quite ready for the Colony stage at that point. But persistence, an appetite for critique, and a positive perspective got him here five years later, and I couldn't be happier for it.
SSS Atelier is the first self-produced furniture collection from Sarah Sherman Samuel, an absolute force of a woman who, as I can't help but constantly remind her, is kinda famous. Before meeting her, I was mystified by her unstoppable trajectory. But the mystery has since been solved. Sarah works hard and demands perfection. Her pieces reflect this rigor but they are also a portrait of the joy that Sarah brings to her work. The furniture is beautiful and undeniably approachable, and I think they are impossible not to love.
And then there are Alexis & Ginger and Marmar Studio, our most ambitious experiment to date. Since August, 2022, we have been hosting Ingemar Hagen-Keith, Alexis Tingey and Ginger Gordon for our inaugural Designer's Residency. Alexis and Ginger were fresh out of RISD with masters in furniture design. I was invited to teach a semester of their grad studio, and Alexis and Ginger shined. Their exuberant talent, their work and their work ethic made it an easy decision to ask them whether they wanted to join us as our first ever designer residents.
We first met Ingemar in 2017 when they were a student at RISD as well. I did a remote lecture and appreciated the sounds of approval that were coming from just off my screen. "Whoever was sitting *there" (pointing just down and right of my screened head) I said. "Thank you." An email came a few weeks later from that person I couldn't see, applying for an internship. They were a lovely intern, so much so that we hired Ingemar back full time a few years later. As much as I valued Ingemar as our employee, I was excited to offer the residency to them and give them the opportunity to fulfill what I knew was their dream to start Marmar Studio in earnest.
At Colony, we have a foundational imperative to support and celebrate emerging independent American designers. In recent years, my work in design education as a professor at both Parsons and RISD has inspired me to explore new ways to provide a bridge from designers in their nascency to professional practice. Starting one’s own studio is an enormous undertaking both creatively and financially, and a privilege that is not always afforded to many immensely talented designers. My hope is that this program allows more voices to shine, and more young designers to feel supported enough to take the leap into creating work that is wholly their own.
If you are a designer with dreams of starting your own thing, I encourage you to apply for our next Residency. You can learn more about it here and you can download the application here.
I continually told the Residents as we were nearing the finish line to their show opening, this wasn't the end, it was just the beginning. I am so excited to share everything that's to come with you all. Thank you, as always, for following along our journey of growth here at Colony.
-Jean Lin
