Design Shop: The Future Perfect

When David Alhadeff opened The Future Perfect in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2003, he made it his mission to showcase new and fresh design. Seven years and three retail outposts later, he’s still on the beat, championing undiscovered talent alongside now-established designers, some of whom, like Jason Miller and Lindsey Adelman, he’s fostered since the shop’s inception. “I’m always looking for what you haven’t seen before,” he says.
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From the beginning, Alhadeff’s approach to retail has been highly personal. "I love avant-garde work presented in a casual, cozy way—–it brings it down to earth," he says. That means walls plastered, salon-style, with a motley arrangement of artwork, objects, and fixtures, including Alex Randall’s creepy taxidermy lighting and Paul Loebach mirrors pieced together from antique frames. Scattered around the shop are "roomlike vignettes" that pair pieces like Donna Wilson’s knit pouf with a skateboard coffee table. It’s the opposite of the pedestal and locked-cabinet experience found in many other high-design shops.

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Jaime Gillin
When not writing, editing, or combing design magazines and blogs for inspiration, Jaime Gillin is experimenting with new recipes, traveling as much as possible, and tackling minor home-improvement projects that inevitably turn...

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