Jen Roberts

The launch of Design Miami/ Paris was such a seminal moment for our team this year. Paris is a key landmark of contemporary creativity, art, fashion, architecture, and design so the French capital seemed the natural next step for the fair. We hosted the Paris edition at the iconic L’hotel de Maisons, known to many as the former home of Karl Lagerfeld, which provided the perfect backdrop for our artists to present their works in direct dialogue with the incredible 18th-century surroundings. Many of our loyal exhibitors in both Miami and Basel are based in Paris, so the opportunity to host the fair in their home city was key to celebrating our unwavering commitment to our long-term collaborators, in addition to our hopes to contribute and expand the Parisian cultural scene.

We always challenge ourselves to exceed expectations. Over almost two decades, we’ve built a history we are very proud of – and we are now pleased to be recognised around the world as the global forum for collectible design. With that comes a self-expectation to continue to innovate and expand our offering for our loyal and growing design community. This year, we are delighted to welcome over 60 exhibitors to our Miami Beach fair – across our Gallery, Curio, Partner and Special Projects programs, as well as many wonderful speakers who will enliven our Design Talks Program. Of course, producing an event on this scale requires meticulous planning to ensure each and every presentation can shine and tell a unique story of its own – collectively continuing to surprise and inspire our audiences year over year.

My career evolution has been organic, but always inspired by my strong interest in the history of furniture and the decorative arts, as well as my awareness of the evolving market. While antique furniture and ceramics were my initial interests, as the market shifted, so did my focus. I studied fine and decorative arts in a graduate program at Christie’s Education, London, and went on to work in antiques in various positions. It was at The Magazine ANTIQUES that I started to grow an interest in 20th century design and architecture which led me to launch MODERN Magazine with Ryan Brant. It was while publishing MODERN magazine that I developed a particular appreciation for fairs and their crucial role in facilitating personal relationships between gallerists and collectors which then led me to co-direct the first few years of The Salon fair in New York and on to Design Miami/.

Our theme this year was chosen by our Curatorial Director, Anna Carnick, who conceived the theme as a celebration of design inspired by place, identity, and heritage – exploring the role of design in reflecting and responding to the world around us imbued with a sense of hope and optimism. We felt this narrative was timely and relevant to our present climate, and we look forward to seeing the ways in which our historic and contemporary galleries will explore the theme in new and differing ways. Looking to the past, our historic galleries will highlight some of the iconic works from the past century, while our contemporary galleries will place a spotlight on innovative design concepts which aim to break boundaries within design and invent new ways of living. Ultimately, our unifying message this year is one of hope and optimism, and we cannot wait to be a part of the fascinating conversations this theme is bound to ignite among our visitors.

We consider all of our fairs, in Miami, Basel and now Paris, under the same umbrella of our global forum for collectible design. However, each and every fair is reflective of our exhibitors and visitors – they are the leaders behind the evolution of our ever-changing design landscape and what makes every edition so uniquely special. We are so privileged to have an incredibly international audience in attendance at each of our fairs and we are frequently meeting with emerging collectors and designers who hail from all over the world. Over the years, we have noticed a growing number of luxury brands and designers from creative disciplines engaging with collectible design which has beckoned new faces and audiences.

 It has always been at the core of Design Miami’s mission to share the best of collectible design with audiences around the world. As the global forum for collectible design, we take responsibility to offer a platform that is as open as possible to our ever-growing community of design collectors, professionals and enthusiasts. This is a commitment that we will continue to honor into our exciting future with Basic.Space, which offers so many possibilities to expand our audience and share great design in new and exciting ways.

Of course, I am always drawn to rare and beautifully preserved historic pieces which tell the story of the iconic design codes that have unfolded over the decades. At every fair, I know that our historic galleries won’t fail to surprise and delight with the pieces they’ve uncovered – striking for their rarity, and the deep research efforts that are often involved in sourcing them. I’m then equally as keen to discover unique contemporary works that are continuing the legacy of the past design greats by continuing to challenge how we live and interact with the world. Whether that be through novel technologies or by reviving and repurposing ancient crafts, I always look forward to seeing where the story of design will take us next. So to answer your question, I am most drawn to pieces that inspire and surprise me through their significance to design history, and history in the making.

This year, we are thrilled to welcome a diverse group of exhibitors across our gallery, Curio and partner programs as well as introduce a range of exciting, new projects from first-time exhibitors. Mumbai-based gallery æquō – India’s first collectible design gallery – will make its debut with a curated selection of sculptural pieces while Ukrainian artist and designer Victoria Yakusha, will present a Curio offering titled The Land of Light adopting an ancient Ukrainian craft, yalkuvannya, to create objects from a live material, ZTISTA – a sustainable blend of clay, hay, and recycled materials, creating objects that exude a living energy and capture a strong sense of heritage and place. I am also excited to see the broad array of impactful brand presentations come to life, including from returning partner, Maison Perrier-Jouët, who will present The Pollination Dance in collaboration with renowned Mexican artist and designer Fernando Laposse.