This Top Designer Opened a Store to Celebrate Local Makers
This summer, one of the biggest names in interior design set up shop in her favorite small town. "It really came about because of the building,” says Bunny Williams of 100 Main, her new store in Falls Village, the Connecticut town where she’s long had a home (and studio, and garden, and poolside pavilion). "I didn't really need another project, says arguably one of the most renowned designers in the world, who also runs Bunny Williams Home, has several licensed lines, and has written no fewer than 7 books. But when the onetime grocery store came up for sale, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to do something she had long wanted to: showcase local artists and makers.
She tapped Christina van Hengel as a partner to run daily operations and the two stripped the space down to its industrial bones ("I got so lucky, because underneath the hideous exterior were these wonderful steel trusses, and under the terribly vinyl was this concrete floor," recalls Williams), and set up a collective-style store with everything from clothing and textiles to ceramics and leather goods, with several exclusive collaborations. "We try to have a wide range of items in every price point, and mainly things the you can't get elsewhere," says van Hengel, who worked in wealth management and fashion before relocating to nearby Great Barrington.
Fans of Williams without her clients' budgets will be thrilled to hear that the shop's offerings include accessories under $20. "We've got ceramics, we have we have glass, we have metal work, we have wood work, we have furniture, we have clothing, we have outdoor things, garden things—we even have some orchids for sale," Williams says. The most important criteria, though, according to the designer? “It has to be something I just love.”
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