The La Cienega Design Quarter’s highly acclaimed annual LEGENDS event is officially back – and registration has been fast and furious, even before programming is announced! Themed to CALIFORNIA: The Golden State of Design, America’s Favorite Design Festival will see the reunion of 40 LCDQ member showrooms, nine of the top national design magazines and hundreds of attendees on May 3, 4 and 5.
A unique combination of A-list and Top 100 designers from across the country jumped at the offer of designing a window for LEGENDS 2022, including Billy Cotton, Mike Moser, Brigette Romanek, Cesar Giraldo, Madeline Stuart, Nathan Turner, Keia McSwain and Alessandra Branca, along with industrial designer and architect Raul de la Cerda from Mexico.
This year will see the introduction of experiential programming, with Benjamin Moore’s “What’s Your Aura” campaign, Breakfast in Bed in Parachute’s new pop-up in LCDQ, Wine Tasting, and interactive discussions in intimate settings. Keynotes will be outdoors under tents, and all showrooms in the LCDQ are ready to inform and entertain.
Michael S. Smith and Rose Tarlow will be inducted as LCDQ Living Legends for 2022.
Also this year, LCDQ has welcomed two major showrooms and five cabinetry, flooring, rug, and home audio store openings. Highlights of this growth:
- Una Malan has moved her two small showrooms into a dramatic space at the corner of Waring Avenue once occupied by Richard Shapiro.
- After a 3-year pause in the LCDQ, Philip Stites (formerly of Therien and Dessin Fournir) returns as the eminent antiques dealer on La Cienega, taking over the former Downtown space that John Nelson Antiques just vacated.
The largest event of its kind supported by major corporate sponsors and nine media partners, LEGENDS has brought thousands of influencers, enthusiasts, top design editors, and purveyors of design from across the U.S. and from around the world to the LCDQ for three days of keynotes, open houses, discussions, book signings, exhibitions, social events and networking.
After a two-year pandemic that brought the closure of most restaurants within The Quarter, it’s fitting that the Opening Celebration of California: The Golden State of Design take place in the beautiful Gracias Madre restaurant standing gracefully on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. An antiques showroom at one time, Gracias Madre was gutted and transformed into a bright and inviting space revealing original brick walls and a dramatic bow truss ceiling. LA designer Wendy Haworth infused the decor with Mexican tile, motifs and antique symbols while landscaper Scott Schrader transformed the parking lot next door into a chic outdoor patio of herringbone-patterned Mexican brick lined with 80-year-old large olive trees and 2 fireplaces.
While cocktail parties, of which there will be plenty this LEGENDS, are very popular, surveys conducted by LCDQ have found attendees are there for the Keynotes. The 2022 line-up includes:
- “California Girls,” with textile and wallcovering designers Alison Pickart, Ariel Kaye, Katy Polsby, and Serena Dugan.
- “Creating Artful Interiors,” moderated by Hudson Blake Moore, Design Editor of newish magazine Frederic.
- Trained architects Abeer Sweis, Alexandra Loew, Cesar Giraldo and Grant Kirkpatrick weigh in on how “People in Glass Houses” can have it all – art collections, furnishings and antiques.
- “Personality and Collecting” will bring three distinctly different design personalities – Brigette Romanek, Leyden Lewis and Ron Radziner – into a conversation with Galerie Editor in Chief Jacqueline Terrebonne.
- A trifecta of Hearst editors – Robert Rufino, Carisha Swanson and Rachael Burrows – talks with noted designers Peter Dunham and Summer Thornton about the tentpoles that are needed to allow brands to remain timeless in “Building a Legacy.”
A breakfast discussion with Parachute and Jake Arnold about “Trends in the Bedroom.” - Discussions on kitchens, licensing and branding.
A detailed schedule of programming will be unveiled later this week. Register for the event here.
LEGENDS is sponsored by Benjamin Moore (Presenting Sponsor), Cosentino, Monogram, Parachute, Studio M (Participating Sponsors), Aspire Home+, Elle Decor, Frederic, Galerie, House Beautiful, Luxe Interiors + Design, Veranda, California Home + Design, and California Homes (Media Sponsors).
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