Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1525828
T exas Design Week Houston is a celebration of design with salon talks, panel discussions, book signings, cocktails, and dinners with some of the most well- known designers and architects working today. Here, we wrap-up the divine design days. From Classical to Camp: Cameron Silver at Shabby Slips. Texas Design Week Houston kicked off with an event that wasn't interior design, but was design all the same: a dreamy talk and book signing with Decades founder Cameron Silver, in from his Los Angeles home base. Silver, the last word in vintage fashion, discussed and signed his book Caftans: From Classical to Camp (Vendome). "The message of caftans is that they can be so incredibly exuberant," he told the SRO throng gathered at Shabby Slips. Seen: Shabby Slips' owner Renea Abbott, Sara Dodd, Steve Farish, Milton Townsend, Dennis Brackeen, Jenna McPhail, Ruth Davis, Laura Rathe, Diego Castillo, Joyce Echols, Trisha Allen, Courtnay Tartt Elias, Heidi Vaughan, Marla Hurley, Don Mafrige Jr., Amy Bush, Kim Rolland, Madison Rolland, Jack Vielhauer, Marlene Gonzalez, Shrima Shah, Krystal Finch, Andrea Simmons, and Tarek El-Bjeirmi. Shelby Hodge Cameron Silver Takeaway: • "There is something about a caftan that gives you permission to play." • "Caftans exist on every continent in every culture in variations of depth and width." • "Caftans are the original gender-fluid and size-inclusive garment." A Wrap-Up of 5 Design-Filled Days Compiled by Caitlin Hsu. Photography Jordan Geibel. John Ike at CAM Studio. Design enthusiasts joined architect John Ike, partner at Ike Baker Velten, who flew in from Oakland to sign his book John Ike: 9 Houses / 9 Stories (Vendome) at CAM Studio and deliver an illustrated talk moderated by Rebecca Birdwell, a design industry leader and former managing director of the Design Leadership Network; the two are longtime friends. The book is about more than John Ike, as Birdwell pointed out. Rather, it's about his collaborations and his wealth of knowledge. "I can't remember all of my kids' names, but I can remember the lighting designer!" Ike said. As for what keeps him inspired? "Collaborations. Finding other sources. Travel. Meeting people. There's so much still to learn." Seen: CAM Studio owner Carla Muñoz and colleague Roger Leal Martinier, Paola Neri, Kara Childress, Brad Hollenbeck, Drew Davis, Garrett DeLano, Hana Hillerova, Abigail Verdugo, Daphne Laplante, Julie Koch, Emmanuel Leventis, Han Dang, Will Kolb, Rajani Alvarado, and Virginia Carl. Caitlin Hsu John Ike and Rebecca Birdwell Takeaway: • "Buy things that are important. They don't have to be expensive but know their provenance. Know where they're from and how they were made. Tell the story, so that the owners can also tell the story." — Rebecca Birdwell All Eyes Were on the Eye of the Architect at Visual Comfort. A riveting panel discussion explored three architectural firms' bodies of work for answers to the importance of collaboration, what inspires and keeps design Giles Deacon, Claire Vallis at Sanderson and Culp Margaret Strode Smith Donald Robertson, Mary Hammon Quinn Chandos Dodson Epley at C2 Art Tate Hinkelman, Kayla Johnson Noel Bangs at Hästens 98