A Designer by Chance

With the High Point Furniture Market this week, I have had the amazing opportunity to work as a member of the press and talk to some amazing people.

However, one person stands out to me: Allison Eden.

Eden’s personality is infectious. Her smile fills a room. When you walk into her showroom, you just want to hug her.

Many of the showrooms I have entered have not been like this.

My badge says “PRESS” in big letters and they immediately tense up when they see this.

In fact, I walked into one showroom who was excited to see me and ready to talk. We chatted for a minute and they asked to scan my badge to track who had come in.

When they saw the word press, their smile immediately disappeared and they said “This is a closed showroom.”

“I am not here to cause any issues. I am a local student at HPU and interning at the local newspaper. They gave me a press pass so I could just come learn what it was like, meet new people, and get real life experience. I promise I do not want to ruin you or hurt you. I just want to look,” I replied.

Interestingly, when I said I was a student, one lady looked around and let me in.

I was confused, annoyed, and honestly very taken back.

This is a furniture market, not Capitol Hill.

Why would I want to get you? What would I want to get you for?

It caused me to do a lot of reflecting and I talked to Eden about some of this.

That’s when I found out something interesting. Eden’s son is coming to HPU next year. Was the fact that I stated I was a student there what helped me?

Maybe in some cases, but not in hers. I sat with Eden for about 30 minutes, but only 10 of them were recorded as an interview. The other 20 we talked about life, the future, and how we wanted the world to be a better place.

How is it that one showroom turned me away because I was “press” and another hugged me?

This has been on my mind ever since I finished the day. The dirty looks, the lady who yelled “PRESS!” as I entered the IHFC building, and the Bible preaching man on the corner who called the press the devil are stuck in my head.

This is the story I wrote about Eden in it’s full, raw, and unedited version. This is the story I had to tell before anyone edited it.

This is what I wanted to tell. This is how I was trying to “get them”. This is why one word scared people so much.

It was about 30 years ago when Allison Eden, who had just graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, was walking down the streets of New York City and stumbled across a store selling glass.

“I walked in and I thought, ‘Wait, what is this?’ And it was like big crates of colorful glass. I bought some, I just fell in love with the medium and I just knew I had to do something with it,” said Eden.

She played for hours, making designs that many would not even imagine could be possible. When Eden found a design she liked, she hit it with a hammer, destroying the masterpiece which had just been created.

This was when the fun would begin.

Eden took the glass, grabbed some glue and made a new masterpiece on cardboard. She was hooked.

When she opened her studio in the 1990s, she hoped to get business by putting as many ads as possible in the Yellow Pages.

Eden’s first job was not glamorous. She was hired to tile the floor of a local Burger King and had to purchase a how to video before she started.

She carried around polaroids of her work and soon was hired to build a shoe and perfume bottle for Bloomingdales in New York City.

Since then, Eden has made a name for herself, creating mosaics in her Brooklyn studio which can be found in places like L’oreal Paris’ headquarters, Mohegan Sun resorts and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Every piece she makes is hand made and Eden uses no power tools to cut any of her glass. She is focused on making sure her products are from the U.S., often from family run businesses.

But a new chapter is here for Eden: furniture.

Eden’s first furniture collection with Zuo is debuting at the High Point Furniture Market this week, taking her glass designs and turning them into fabric. Although Eden has a clothing line which features her designs, it’s the first time she’s seen her work on furniture.

“I almost cried yesterday when I saw the collection for the first time. It’s a dream come true,” says Eden. “I’m obsessed with High Point. You have the most amazing creative minds that come together twice a year and they all descend upon High Point. This is like the furniture capital. Anybody who’s anybody comes to the High Point Market.”

Eden is grateful for the city of High Point and thinks that the High Point Market presents opportunities for the city that most places don’t get.

“Living in New York, I really get to see who are the brightest stars and they’re all here twice a year. If you’re a business, oh my gosh. It’s great for the community because where else in this country really does that happen? Where else do you get the best of the best,” said Eden.

Eden’s 17 piece collection is full of color, something which she thinks everyone needs after the last two years.

“The last two years have been so dim that everyone needs color in their lives. We need color and color evokes a sense of feeling. You look at it and you just smile. Everyone needs some rainbow and unicorns right now. Love is love. This collection is about unification and love.”

According to Eden, that’s exactly what’s next in furniture. Color and unity are here to stay.

Eden’s Zuo collection is located at the IHFC Interhall IH607 through the end of the furniture market.