High Point Market Spring 2023: An AD PRO Essential Guide

This month, the interior design community will make its way to High Point Market in North Carolina to preview industry manufacturers’ forthcoming debuts in furniture, lighting, decor, and more and to scope out upcoming interiors trends. Here, AD PRO maps out the furniture industry’s largest trade show in North America and explains everything you need to know about this fall’s edition.

What, When, and Where It Is

High Point Market is a semiannual furniture design show, held in April and October, open exclusively to the trade. Located in downtown High Point, North Carolina, the show draws more than 75,000 interior designers, architects, and home furnishings buyers each season. Official show dates for the spring edition are April 22 through 26.

How to Buy a Ticket

Ticket lines at the fair will take away valuable product-viewing time, so we recommend registering for the fair ahead of time online. Passes can also be picked up on-site at any major market building, including the International Buyers Center, Market Square, and IHFC. For those looking to outsource the hassle, High Point Market Authority‘s Market Concierge provides assistance for booking travel, shuttle transportation, hotels—and even offers a local’s suggestion on where to eat after a long day at the market.

How to Get to High Point Market

High Point Market spans more than 11 million square feet of showrooms in downtown High Point, North Carolina's downtown district (though there are several can’t-miss showrooms in the great city limits, too). Interstates 85 and 40 provide direct access for commuters, while airports in neighboring cities Greensboro (GSO), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), and Charlotte (CLT) offer free shuttles to Market multiple times a day. Luggage and coat checks are available at Showplace and the IHFC Commerce Wing.

What to Know About the Fair

Millions of square feet of show space calls for a well-planned schedule—and, of course, comfortable shoes. The fair’s 2,000-plus exhibitors span emerging makers to legacy furniture houses and the Antique & Design Center, a designer favorite for one-of-a-kind finds. For fair first-timers, Market’s official tours can be a great resource. Reserve a spot on the networking-focused Insider’s Tour or the various Style Spotters routes, which survey the trends in artisanal works, upholstery, lighting, and more.

The city’s downtown shuttles conveniently transport attendees from building to building free of charge during market, but private shuttles or car services can be ordered in advance for those looking to be ultra-efficient.

Where to Eat at High Point Market

Come lunchtime, the city’s best-kept secret is Parson’s Table, a bake sale–style fundraiser featuring homemade sandwiches, salads, and desserts located in the First United Methodist Church a short walk north of downtown. (Those in a rush can also experience a pop-up version downtown at The Point.) Market main streets like Commerce Avenue and South Elm Street also host a bevy of take-to-go food trucks. And select showrooms, such as Universal, offer dining options for visitors.

Design Collaborations Not to Miss

Ann Marie Vering x Brown Jordan 

The epitome of carefree bygone summers on the Mediterranean, the doorless, canopy roof-capped Fiat Jolly, built in 1958, stood out for its elegantly sculpted handwoven bucket seats. It is that chic detailing that informed Los Angeles designer Ann Marie Vering’s latest collection for Brown Jordan. Intricate rope-patterned backs grace the sofa, love seat, chaise, bar stools, and lounge and dining chairs, which all seemingly float within aluminum frames that take their form from tree branches. 

Jean Stoffer x Loloi 

On The Established Home, her show on the Magnolia Network, designer Jean Stoffer from Grand Rapids, Michigan, lets viewers peek into her timeless interiors. That same classic sensibility also infuses her brand new quartet of rugs (and complementary pillows) for Loloi. Whereas plush Hendrick flaunts a handwoven weave and striped Cornwall is spun from Indian wool and jute, power-loomed Katherine and Bradbury are distinguished by subtle ribbing and drop-stitching. 

Ariel Okin x Mitzi

Mitzi continues its Tastemaker series (previous collaborators include Eny Lee Parker and Zio & Sons) this season with new inductee Ariel Okin, the New York–based designer who’s partial to timelessly traditional, subtly preppy interiors. The 10-piece collection—which marks the designer’s inaugural lighting series—features tactile lamps, like the lattice-inspired Susie fixture, and the adorable, scallop-trimmed Fifi sconce, available in navy, white, and Okin’s signature light blue finishes.   

Benjamin Johnston Design x S. Harris

A long, dreamy Italian holiday was the inspiration behind Vacanza, designer Benjamin Johnston’s transporting assemblage of textiles, trimmings, and wallcoverings for S. Harris. Some of the fabrics, like Libera (a satin jacquard emblazoned with a diagonal stripe), recall glamorous midcentury Italian fashion; others, such as the epingle cut velvet Olivetti, pay homage to the verdant olive trees dotting the dusty countryside. 

Denise McGaha x Wildwood 

There is a grounding simplicity to Denise McGaha’s vast collection of lighting, furniture, and decor for Wildwood, undoubtedly influenced by tranquil, introspective days spent on her Texas ranch. But there is an undercurrent of boldness too, which manifests in striking silhouettes. Consider the walnut and shagreen leather Harper console, the subtly Art Deco Emmons floor lamp, crafted from honed Carrara marble and antique brass metal, or the rift cut white oak Laurence coffee table that plays with geometries. Even the blue-green glazed Markus vase has a powerful profile that simultaneously exudes warmth. 

Aviva Stanoff Design x CuratedKravet

In her Southern California studio, designer Aviva Stanoff constantly dreams up innovative textiles. Her latest? Six shimmering pillow designs for CuratedKravet that showcase undulating lines, moody arches, and splashes of gold by way of vintage Carpathian rubber print rollers and metallic printing techniques.  

Floyd Home x Crypton

Last year, Floyd Home rolled out a sectional swathed in Crypton’s performance recycled cotton bouclé. Now the Detroit furniture brand is following up that hit with the Sink Down sectional. Equal parts classy and cozy, it’s covered in Cambic, Crypton’s North Carolina mill-woven upholstery. See it in person, along with other collaborative furniture designs, at the Floyd x Crypton pop-up in the Crypton showroom at Market Square Tower.

The Met x Abner Henry

Bucolic Fredericksburg, Ohio, and New York’s storied Upper East Side have little in common, yet the two disparate locations beautifully collide in Abner Henry’s seven-piece range for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For the series, the contemporary Amish furniture studio reinterpreted legendary paintings from the 17th through 19th centuries by Edgar Degas, Gustav Klimt, Edouard Manet, Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, and Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez that hang in the museum’s galleries. With its rippled layers of wood finished in gossamer marble and braced with hand-forged brass, The Pirouette console table, for instance, conjures the ballerina tutus in Degas’s The Dance Class, while the Serena bar cabinet unites curving bent wood with sand-blasted glass doors that evoke the silhouette of Serena Pulitzer Lederer in Klimt’s portrait of her. 

Back for More

A few of the collaborators you already know and love are back for seconds—or in some cases, thirds, fourths, and even sixths! With the Weekender collection, Universal adds to its offerings with Coastal Living in the form of a pencil rattan-wrapped accent table, a sky-blue headboard with an undulating silhouette, and more. Honing in on mixed metals and organic textures, Arteriors and Barry Dixon add 19 pieces to the designer’s guest collection, while AD100 designer Mark D. Sikes builds upon his traditional take at Hudson Valley Lighting, introducing 34 new designs this season. Elsewhere, designer Benjamin Johnston adds to his furniture series with Chaddock, which launched with 50 pieces last Fall, and Alfredo Paredes introduces several new SKUs to his line with EJ Victor. 

Material Matters

Four Hands adds Belgian Linen by Libeco to the mix

Soft yet durable, Libeco’s Belgian linen is spawned from flax that has been carefully grown and harvested in the same manner for over a century and produced by a crew of savvy multigenerational artisans. Compelled by this long history, and Belgian linen’s comfortable, well lived-in appeal, Four Hands is ramping up its furniture offerings with pieces bolstered by the easy-to-clean, OEKO TEX–certified fabric, such as a sleek, wide arm slipcovered accent bench. 

Stark Unveils Apricity collection

Brimming with intriguing textures and motifs, the Apricity collection from Stark is certainly visually arresting. But it’s also conveniently robust, ready to resist the wear-and-tear of everyday living because it embraces Stark Performance Acrylic. To bring this exceptionally sturdy material to life, strong, raw fibers are saturated with color before they are transformed into yarn, ensuring that the vivid hues penetrate the fibers’ cores for blissfully enduring results. 

Houe turns trash into furniture

Everyday recycling makes a positive impact on the environment, but Danish design house Houe takes it to another level by salvaging plastic trash from ordinary households and reimagining it as minimalist furniture for its MyTrash collection. For the new Nami outdoor dining chair, designed by Hans Thyge & Co., an abundance of unwanted rubbish delightfully morphs into the cocooning curved shell that rests on a powder-coated steel frame. 

PortugaliaCork is ripe for upholstery

Real leather will never go out of style, but the PortugaliaCork version is deservedly turning heads too. Harvested from the outer bark of trees in Portugal, sustainable PortugaliaCork is also scratch-resistant and waterproof, lending it well to furniture applications. Although it’s impressive in its natural state, it can also make a splash with marbled and metallic-flecked finishes. The material will be on view at market within Lee Industries and Taylor King Furniture, among others.

Ones to Watch

Martin Goebel launches inaugural furniture collection

His designs have been commissioned by the likes of Philippe Starck and High Chieftainess Melambeka, Tribal Queen of Zambia, and now Martin Goebel is leaving his distinctive imprint on a much wider public with Kindred, his first furniture and home goods collection for the consumer market. The St. Louis–based designer, who works out of a former Traffic Motor Truck Corporation building, abides by old-world craftsmanship values (he presides over his own manufacturing facility too) but is also a fan of modern technology. These contrasting worlds come together in soft, retro-tinged Kindred Heirloom pieces like the black walnut Meramec credenza and white oak Courtois chairs that surround a matching dining table. 

Swadoh puts French craftsmanship front and center

She’s lived in New Orleans for the past decade, but Valerie Legras, founder and creative director of the lighting design studio Swadoh, remains deeply connected to her native France. Serving as a bridge between the American and French design communities, Swadoh illuminates the work of creators who have an affinity for both craft traditions and experimenting with materials. Currently, the focus is on poetic lighting creations from French artisans, such as Basque-based Baptiste Lanne’s rich walnut Corolle 03 and Morgane Baroghel-Crucq’s fixtures buoyed by natural fibers and metallic filaments that she meticulously hand-paints in her Aix-en-Provence studio. 

Where to Meet AD Editors

Honoring Heritage While Building a Business for the Future

AD market director Madeline O’Malley will host the Sunday keynote address, leading the third-generation owners of Stark Carpet, CEO Chad Stark and Creative Director Ashley Stark, in a conversation about navigating innovation as a legacy brand. The trio will delve into the future-thinking developments on the horizon at Stark, and how the 85-year-old American company continues to pay homage to its past. Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. in the High Point Theatre.

The Art of the Pitch—and the New AD PRO Directory

Join AD PRO editors Lila Allen and Mel Studach as they spill insider tips for getting your projects in front of editors—and ensuring that they’re seen in their best light. Prepare to take notes as they share intel on pitching your work to journalists, common missteps to avoid, and tips on expanding your reach with AD’s newest tool, the AD PRO Directory. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this session will help you position your portfolio in a way that entices editors and future clients alike. Monday, April 24, at 4 p.m. in the Universal Furniture Learning Center. RSVP here.