In November, in conjunction with the annual window unveiling at Bloomingdale's 59th Street flagship store in New York, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) revealed its “Holidays by Design” tabletop display and auction. On the department store’s fourth floor, shoppers can find 12 tabletop vignettes by interior designers including Nate Berkus, Rockwell Group, Drake/Anderson, Karim Rashid, Ghislaine Viñas, Daun Curry, Stephanie Goto, Elaine Griffin, Lizzie Tisch x LTD by Robert Verdi, Hariri & Hariri Architecture, Dufner Heighes and Kim Seybert.
On display through Dec. 12, each tabletop showcases luxury products from Bloomingdale’s brands like Baccarat, Bernardaud, Juliska, L’Objet, Royal Copenhagen, Waterford and Wedgwood.
Similar to the nonprofit’s other franchises, such as Dining by Design and Picnic by Design, the inaugural Holidays by Design showcases festive one-of-a-kind tablescapes, which are up for bid on CharityBuzz through Dec. 9. Proceeds from the auction benefit DIFFA and aid in its mission to raise money and awareness for those living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS, homelessness, food scarcity and mental health issues.
"Bloomingdale’s wanted to find a unique way to give back this holiday season, and what better way than to host a charitable component in the store for their holiday Give Happy initiative,” explained Dawn Roberson, DIFFA’s executive director.
”Bloomingdale’s VP of integrated marketing and fashion direction, Kevin Harter, was familiar with DIFFA’s Dining By Design event and approached me about partnering DIFFA’s design talent with Bloomingdale’s home brands,” she said, adding that each design showcases two to three Bloomingdale’s home lines that were donated by the brands.
“By hosting the philanthropic initiative at the Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship we’re able to offer our shoppers a special holiday experience that gives back to an important cause and also serves as inspiration for their holiday entertaining needs,” said Kelley Carter, Bloomingdale’s home fashion director.
As for the logistics, the designers were not allowed to permanently affix anything to the floor or hang anything from the ceiling, nor could they go over five feet in height when designing the centerpieces.