Design Within Reach Opens in Palm Springs

The new Palm Springs location sits at the gateway to the city’s design district

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Opening Night Photography by KATE JONES
Showroom Photography COURTESY OF DESIGN WITHIN REACH

DWR in Palm Springs — Design Within Reach store on North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs.

As the annual celebration of midcentury architecture, design, and culture that comprises Modernism Week kicked off in Palm Springs, Design Within Reach held a cocktail party on Friday, February 14, to celebrate its latest showroom on North Palm Canyon Drive. The new space, created to showcase the Herman Miller and Knoll furniture DWR has long championed — along with Fritz Hansen chairs and new introductions including beds, sofas, and tables from next-generation talent like Ellison Studios — is also a place that holds firm to the guiding principles of modern design. It seemed fitting that the evening — held in collaboration with C Magazine, Modernism Week, and the upcoming site-specific art exhibition Desert X — united area champions of art and design.

Guests including Trina Turk, whose clothing boutique is housed in an Albert Fray building just steps away, joined the party, as did Susan Davis of Desert X and Modernism Week chair William Kopelk. Also on hand were interior designer Oliver Furth and brand strategist Sean Yashar, as were John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke, who have owned a John Lautner stunner in L.A. and the Welton Becket and Associates–designed former home of Gerald and Betty Ford in Rancho Mirage. They all got a first look at the new 6,200-square-foot space within The Shops at Thompson Palm Springs and its indoor and outdoor collections that continue to influence the distinct style of inimitable living spaces in the city.