Neo Japan

-- Interior Design, 6/16/2009

From NeoCon Show Daily 2

We’ve been following Jeff Miller for some time now. After a decade-plus at Ecco Design, he’d been out on his own for five years when we wrote about him, producing contemporary furnishings for the likes of Baleri Italia and Tronconi. Something especially significant has come about with another of Miller’s clients, Itoki, a 100-year-old Japanese contract-furnishings manufacturer for which he’s produced five pieces. This spring marked the launch of Itoki Design, an offshoot of the parent company that will focus on and manufacture in the U.S., naming Miller as consulting creative director. The concept is to create international-looking furniture with Japanese technology but made in the U.S., keeping prices accessible. “Because we’re essentially a small startup, we have a lot of freedom and can be quite experimental in what we produce,” says the designer.

Making its debut at NeoCon, Itoki’s first six pieces, created by Miller, all live somewhere between contract and residential design, aesthetically speaking. “Itoki is very much about contract office, so our pieces tie into that for sure.” space 7-7038