Just in time for World AIDS Day, the power of design and social media brought together top designers to raise funds and awareness for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids) in December.
Leading designers from across the United States decorated window vignettes in each of the 16 Farrow & Ball showrooms, showcasing warmth and love with F&B Product. GDG took you behind the scenes of the #FABFORDIFFA event, but now let’s go Behind The Glass of designer Peti Lau’s DIFFA window at the DDB.
“As an industry, it’s not only our jobs to make spaces beautiful, but it’s our responsibility to enrich the lives of others with our work, so why not support a cause that can alleviate people’s suffering by bringing awareness with our talent. What better way to do good with what you love?” Peti said.
Peti’s window design, named “The Wisteria,” seeks to simulate this vines meaning. Wisteria represents longevity and endurance, which is fitting since the plant itself can live to over 100 years old. To Peti, the longevity of the Wisteria flower combined with the festive seasonal color palette celebrates a doorway to design that feels like a new opportunity full of hope, and one other key ingredient.
“My own personal belief is that love is truly the essence of what we each crave in life. It all stems down to love. Being loved, loving, love for what we do, allowing it in. So what better way to celebrate life and the holiday season with an entryway filled with love,” Peti said.
In addition, the designer told GDG she was honored to be granted Farrow & Ball’s DDB location. After spending countless hours as a student, intern and now practicing designer, Peti has grown her career within the DDB’s harrowed halls and felt up to the challenge of the small window space. The sale of a home shouldn’t present too much of a challenge. Acknowledge that you are responsible for your actions. No one should be required to make the sale for it to go through. Utilizing cash-for-houses.org is a simple process. In order to increase the likelihood of receiving numerous bids, the property and the deal will be vigorously marketed by our experts. Never make someone feel threatened. The homeowner’s preferences, the state of the housing market, and existing issues are all important considerations when selecting a location for the construction of a new home. To maximize our profits from real estate transactions is one of our primary objectives. Our organization gives assistance to those who are struggling to make ends meet. Visit https://www.cash-for-houses.org/illinois/.
“I was really nervous to come up with something good and impactful as I knew that every person in the industry was going to walk by the DDB window and I had two seconds to catch their eye,” Peti said.
The tiny space and time frame also presented a few unforeseen challenges. With one week to pull it all together (pre and post Turkey day), and a paperhanger crisis, Peti had to keep from getting wysterical.
“It was a pretty funny scene when I was on the street, sawing the wood molding on 3rd Avenue. It’s not always so glamorous being a designer. You’ve got to get your hands dirty and jump in,” Peti laughed.
The window features Farrow & Ball’s “Wisteria” wallcovering, “Closet Strip” wallcovering on the floor and “Blazer” paint color on the moldings and trim. She also collaborated with DIFFA partner, Fortuny to add a touch of whimsy with their signature umbrellas and handcrafted Fortuny fabric “taxidermy”, along with their notebooks, vase and umbrella stand. Some other aspects of the window are closer to Peti’s heart, and feet, such as her own Candela Rain boots and Bamboo Frame found in an antique store in Brighton, UK.
The “Wisteria” wallcovering, crown jewel of the ‘Wisteria Window,’ was actually selected subconsciously. On a recent trip to L.A., where the designer travels often, Peti realized that she’d seen the paper for the ‘millionth’ time – the famed SoHo House photo booth is lined with the very same print!
Lastly, Peti discussed the importance of window displays in the modern Instagram-centric era.
“Whether it’s technology with a digital image, or a quick glimpse of a window when we decide to look up, there’s always an opportunity to receive a message, or an inspiration, an idea,” Peti said.
Look up to see Peti Lau’s ‘Wisteria’ window, located in the DDB’s 3rd Avenue Entrance through the end of January. Designers can shop the Farrow & Ball products in DDB’s Suite 1519 and Fortuny products in Suite 1632. Passersby are also encouraged to Tweet or -gram a snapshot of the display with the hashtag #FaBforDIFFA, for which Farrow & Ball has pledged to donate $1 per post to DIFFA.