Shoppe Objet is a new semiannual home and gift trade show created by Jesse James, founder of the showroom and agency Aesthetic Movement, and Deirdre Maloney and Minya Quirk, two founders of the apparel trade show, Capsule. 

The event is intended to be a well-curated, stand-alone showcase for the gift market. 

“It felt like it was time to create a smaller, elevated, hyper-edited showcase for the home, gift and design market in New York, so I teamed up with Minya and Deirdre,” James told Business of Home prior to the event.

He continued, “Their expertise in having created an alternate showcase in the apparel space, coupled with my vision for something needed in our world, made the timing feel just right to launch Shoppe Object.” 

The style of Shoppe Objet is purposely “un-trade show.” Contained on two floors of a small event space, 100 exhibitors showcased a curated collection of items including housewares, jewelry and books. 

Walking through the boutique space, one felt the calm of browsing a chic home showroom all while buyers and exhibitors were getting down to business.

Shoppe Objet organizers invited brands within the Aesthetic Movement showroom to exhibit first and then offered the opportunity to other brands that James admires. This method created a community of merchants that embraced the fresh format for exhibiting their lines. 

Isabel Halley, designer at Isabel Halley Ceramics, explained the appeal.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to be in a curated setting – less is more,” she said. 

“Buyers are only coming here if they have a specific idea in mind or know what they want.”

Alice Heinz at Sibilia noted that her warm prospects were in attendance.

“Here they have access to the line – it’s really visible and they’re seeing it in a new way,” she said. “It’s really easy to talk to people.”

Christine Visneau, director of retail and sourcing at Makeready, said she and her colleagues were looking for items in several lifestyle categories that were handmade, ethically made and had a story.