First Chilewich Store Wins Two Design Awards

Design firm De-Spec has won two prestigious awards for The Chilewich Store in the Flatiron District in New York – the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) ‘Interior Design Competition’ Award and the New York Chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design Merit Award for Interiors.

The IIDA awards, now in their 42nd year, celebrate originality and excellence in the design and furnishing of interior spaces. “These competitive arenas showcase the dynamic creativity and innovation in the design industry,” said Cheryl S. Durst, executive vice president and CEO. “We are proud to honor entries that so strongly reinforce the standards IIDA supports.”

This is the second IIDA Interior Design Competition Award and third AIA Design Merit Award for De-Spec, which previously won both in 2012 for the XOCOLATTI store in New York. That store was, in fact, the inspiration for Chilewich to work with De-Spec. 

“While walking in SoHo with my husband and business partner, Joe Sultan, we noticed a tiny artisanal confectionary store called XOCOLATTI. We were so impressed with the impactful and ingenious presentation they created in such a small space that we tracked down the designers, De-Spec,” said Sandy Chilewich, creative director and founder of Chilewich. “We asked them to submit concepts for displaying our wide range of products in a unified and powerful way. They presented such a compelling display solution, which was so elegant in its simplicity, that we realized we wanted to introduce this concept in our very own retail store. I take a great deal of pride that our brand and product inspired such enormous creativity.”

Farnaz Mansuri, founder and principal designer at De-Spec, said the objective was to capture the spirit of the brand in and through their products. “For Chilewich – through the 3D matrix of colors, textures, threads and shapes – we defined both the problem and the solution,” he said.

Tom Shea, principal designer at De-Spec, elaborated: “The design hinges on the simplicity of a system that allows for maximum flexibility and interchangeability. An even point grid receives the variety of display components while each component, tailored to the product it displays, finds its origin in the language of point, line, plane.”

The result is a pioneering store layout that features a modular display system allowing a myriad of shapes, sizes and styles to be displayed and interchanged effortlessly in an 820-square-foot space. Opened in November 2014, the first Chilewich retail store offers the most comprehensive collection in the world of Chilewich tabletop and flooring designs under one roof.