iGetIt and WantedDesign Fair Converge with New York Design Week

Mark Thompson READ TIME: 4 MIN.

New York, NY -iGet.it (www.iGet.it ), one of Canada's leading and fastest growing e-commerce sites for cutting-edge design goods, will officially expand its reach and its activities in the USA. Its new partnership with the design fair WantedDesign, launching during New York City's Design Week, from May 18 to 21, 2012, will be heralded by an exclusive pop-up shop, open to the public and showcasing some of its finest and most innovative design offerings.

Successfully launched in Canada in the fall of 2011, iGet.it is rapidly becoming one of the foremost online destinations for exclusive high-end shopping and the showcasing of exceptional design discoveries, including luxury goods, home decor, electronics, kitchenware, and fashion accessories, as well as gifts and recreation and lifestyle products. Its strong initial membership has already quadrupled between mid-January and mid-March, with its US members already accounting for forty percent of its global membership.

This social commerce site immediately distinguished itself from existing sites by displaying a simple selection of products chosen by a team of discriminating and specialized tastemakers and curators. With its targeted offerings, the site's layout is tastefully crafted, as a professionally curated exhibit would be.

Tailored to its members' refined lifestyles, the sleek and efficiently designed iGet.it provides a unique experience created for the design-savvy consumer, without sales pressure or "multiple promotions and shopping overdose". Featuring brands, designers and products such as D�glon, Aiaiai, BMW, Fatboy, WOWwee and Lip, iGet.it 's edge is in the quality rather than the quantity of its elite wares.

"The site's performance has been impressive, leading us to conclude that the decision and the timing to expand our activities and efforts in the US was not only desirable but obvious, since the American market already accounts for more than 35% of our sales," said Jean-Yves Martineau, president and co-founder of iGet.it . "We are pleased to showcase the result of our work at WantedDesign during such an important week for the design aficionado in New York City, and we are confident of the reception our concept will get, as we believe it is social commerce at its finest."

To mark its first major foray into the US market, iGet.it has reached an agreement with WantedDesign (www.wanteddesignnyc.com/), a three-day design event and exhibition for the industry, visitors and New Yorkers, showcasing a hand-selected group of leading international furniture, industrial and interior designers, along with architects, craftsmen, editors, manufacturers, curators and communication specialists. The partnership with WantedDesign will provide iGet.it with its first physical showcase, an exclusive New York pop-up shop displaying hand-picked products to the public.

In addition to onsite shopping, it will provide iGet.it members with a first-hand look at its new offerings and design discoveries, including exclusive products from WantedDesign's exhibitors- available online at www.iget.it for three weeks following the fair.

"We admire the work done by the iGet.it team since the site launched," said Odile Hainaut, co-founder of WantedDesign. "The site soon attracted our attention and that of many design buffs. We are pleased to have them as a partner of WantedDesign 2012. We hope this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship."

WantedDesign, a central exchange point for the international design community during New York's Design Week, is scheduled to run concurrently with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), North America's premiere showcase for contemporary design, in New York City's Chelsea district, from May 18 to 21, 2012, at Terminal Store/The Tunnel, on West 28th Street and11th Avenue. The exclusive iGet.it pop-up shop-the only one at the WantedDesign fair-will be conveniently located near the main entrance.

iGet.it is based on exclusive offers curated with rare savoir-faire, rather than the concept of a discounted shopping experience. The typical iGet.it member is a busy, discerning professional with little time to shop for remarkable, hard-to-find products, but a strong desire to discover and acquire the finest and smartest new designs. iGet.it aims to fill its members' design needs, carefully and individually choosing products that will become part of their unique collections.

iGet.it announced the appointment of product designer Frederick McSwain to its curatorial team. Frederick will join New York-based curators Jos�e Lepage and Alissia MT, also Lead Curators for the iGet.it pop-up shop at the WantedDesign fair. iGet.it 's curatorial team comprises trendsetters, designers, innovators and dreamers who strive to craft exclusive offers, hand-pick products, and create uncommon experiences. These visionaries-each of them well established and respected within their own spheres of expertise- possess a common passion for finding and sharing innovative new objects, items and accessories.

Growing up in North Carolina, product designer Frederick McSwain [@McSwainNYC] was immersed in an environment of arts and crafts. Through parents who invigorated small-town life with ventures ranging from taxidermy to bail bonding, he was taught to explore the colorful possibilities hidden within the mundane. He currently lives in New York City, where he is employed under the umbrella of the Poltrona Frau Group.

iGet.it is an online members-only community offering designer products hand-picked by renowned international curators. iGet.it members receive exclusive, limited-time offers for cutting-edge design goods from the world's top dreamers, innovators and manufacturers, in a unique selection of luxury merchandise, home decor, electronics, kitchenware, and fashion accessories, as well as gifts and recreation and lifestyle products. The iGet.it curators are driven by a quest for the finest design, style and quality.


by Mark Thompson , EDGE Style & Travel Editor

A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.

Read These Next