A window by interior designer Maxime Jacquet at a previous edition of the event.

 

LEGENDS, the annual design extravaganza at La Cienega Design Quarter, takes the art of window displays to a whole new level.

Over the course of three days, more than sixty top-shelf designers will take over the storefronts of shops, showrooms and galleries in this legendary shopping district in West Hollywood. Their assignment: to express their originality and diversity, or exhibit their “true colors,” in the words of organizers. LEGENDS is the most Instagrammable event of the season, with bite-sized exhibitions that fit perfectly in the square template used by the photo-sharing app.

“In creating the theme ‘Your True Colors’ for the 2017 LEGENDS windows, we are giving those designers and artists selected the opportunity to interpret the theme literally and figuratively,” Robert Willson, LEGENDS co-chair, told Incollect. “Many have chosen to boldly mix colors in ways that they often cannot in their work. Others are illuminating their design process and expressing the philosophy of their work or their view of life in the twentieth-first century. Whether they create an environment or express a political statement, the windows are filled with the creative process of very talented individuals that show ‘Your True Colors.’”

Among the design firms who will be represented are two notables from the East Coast: Sam Allen Interiors (Fairfield County, Conn.) and Lindroth Design Company (Palm Beach, Fla.). The latter has designed a vintage wrapped rattan bar flanked by matching chairs. The ensemble is enlivened by Quadrille cushions, a bold stripes rug, a bright painted side table, and a faux bamboo lamp. The look is finished with a backdrop made from three large grasscloth panels painted with mint and white palms on a pale blue ground.

 

Dishing on design: a keynote panel at last year’s event.
The LCDQ brand is synonymous with design merchandise of the highest quality.


Beyond the windows, the fair is a meeting place for thousands of editors, collectors, and design-world potentates. LEGENDS will feature a flurry of extracurricular activities, from receptions and panel discussions to cocktail parties and book signings. This a rare opportunity for the arbiters of taste to map emerging trends and engage in a conversation about what’s hot (and what’s not).

Among the topics to be addressed in forums and keynote panels: “Walls of White: Breaking Down a Dominant Color,” “The Power of Pink: Femininity in Design,” “Diversity in Design: Outsmarting the Populist Trend,” “Floral Expressions: Empowering Pastels into Design,” and “Designers Without Borders: The Immigrant Experience in Today’s Design Community.”

The annual event is a testament to the shopping district’s status as the epicenter of the Los Angeles design community. Established in 2008, the La Cienega Design Quarter is a membership-based consortium of sixty purveyors of art and design, including Fuller + Roberts, Lee Stanton Antiques, and Dragonette Ltd. The mission of the LCDQ is not just to offer design merchandise of the highest quality, but to preserve the cultural heritage of the historic shopping district, a fountainhead of Mid Century furniture and decorative arts associated with twentieth-century tastemakers like Elsie de Wolfe, Tony Duquette, and Michael Taylor.

Since its inception, LEGENDS has drawn more than 60,000 visitors and earned more than 400 million media impressions.



LEGENDS: Your True Colors will take place May 9-11, 2017, at La Cienega Design Quarter (LCDQ), in West Hollywood. For more information, visit http://lcdqla.com.

To read about last year’s LEGENDS, click here.

 

To see more projects by Sam Allen Interiors, click here.

 

To see more projects by Lindroth Design Company, click here.