Boutique Design - April 2017 - 12

THE B18 ON CONNECTING DOTS
AND EXCHANGES IN ELEVATORS
ONE OF THE JOYS of preparing the mini-profiles

of the Boutique 18 honorees for these pages is
the truly inspiring anecdotes that pop up within
their responses to our set of biographical questions. While most answers from our annual crop of
up-and-coming designers are engaging and illuminating, some are just flat-out a gas.
Here are two stellar examples of that from the
class of 2017, starting with this "Favorite career
moment?" response from Carlita Alexander,
director of interiors at Josh Held Design:
"At the start of my career I worked at a retail
design firm in Ohio with some of the most talented
people in the industry. The experience was great
and I learned a lot. But I longed for something else,
not knowing exactly what that 'something' was.
Then one evening I was dining at a swanky restaurant in Chicago, and found myself thinking, 'Wow,
this is exactly what I want to do: Design spaces that
are fully realized concepts, committed to telling
a story, and submersed in style with the power to
transform and inspire.' Years later I started working
for Josh Held and coincidentally discovered he
was the designer of that restaurant. It feels great
to know I'm exactly where I want to be and that
dreams can come true."
Then there was this gem from Chi-Thien
Nguyen, an interior designer at Elkus Manfredi
Architects, who offered up an interesting twist to
our "What's your favorite tech tool?" question:
"Our offices are in the Innovation and Design
Building in Boston, where industry and entrepre-

neurship meet to produce unique products and
ideas. One of our neighbors is Autodesk, a pioneer
in automated graphics and design. It's wonderful
to be able to exchange ideas with their employees
in the elevator and at Autodesk's recently
launched BUILD innovation laboratory, which is
a startup incubator that's unprecedented in the
design industry. I have access to a space where I
can envision a project's details in 3D throughout
the design process. It's quite amazing."
Wow, right? For more insights from this year's
honorees, turn to page 30. In addition, honoring
the latest B18 will be an integral part of our BDwest
trade fair, April 5-6 at the Los Angeles Convention
Center. Those festivities kick off with the "Meet the
Boutique 18" session at 1 p.m. on April 5 in the RH
Contract display on the trade fair floor. Then, that
night, the Boutique 18 & Up-and-Coming Hoteliers
Celebration will take place from 6-8 p.m. at the
opulent Theatre at Ace Hotel.
For details on those events and everything else
on offer during BDwest's fifth annual iteration, turn
to the event preview that starts on page 100 and visit
boutiquedesignwest.com. I hope to see you there!

EDITORIAL
Executive Editor
Mary Scoviak
mary.scoviak@stmediagroup.com
Editor
Matthew Hall
matthew.hall@stmediagroup.com
Art Director
Kelly Farrar
kelly.farrar@stmediagroup.com
Associate Editor
Christina Green
christina.green@stmediagroup.com
Contributing Editor
Oriana Lerner
oriana.lerner@stmediagroup.com
Editorial Intern
Elizabeth Duccilli
liz.duccilli@stmediagroup.com

SALES
Associate Publisher/
Business Development Manager,
Midwest/West
Melani Beattie
melani.beattie@stmediagroup.com
(312) 218-5691
Business Development Manager,
Northeast
Michael Schneider
michael.schneider@stmediagroup.com
(212) 404-6936
Business Development Manager,
Southeast
Scott Rickles
scott.rickles@stmediagroup.com
(770) 664-4567

CORPORATE
President
Tedd Swormstedt
Senior VP, Boutique Design Group,
ST Media Group
President, Hospitality Media Group
Michelle Finn
michelle.finn@stmediagroup
(312) 961-2772
Audience Development Director
Christine Baloga
Book Division Director
Mark Kissling
Production Coordinator
Linda Volz

EDITOR

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boutiquedesign.com APRIL 2017

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Boutique Design - April 2017

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