Cola Index - August '25
A monthly catalog of noteworthy updates in the world of Interiors & Design. We’ll release one each month rounding up Business + News, Happenings, Products + Collaborations,and Project Spotlights!
Good Morning!
PSA: We’re looking for a Content Creator Intern
Looking for someone with an amazing aesthetic vision to help make and shape some of our content on socials!
Email yes@colastudios.com with how you feel you can elevate and grow our brand! Subject: Cola Content Intern. DMs to @colastudios also fine!
Business + News
Ai for Interior Design is actually getting good.
Follow (@amirhosseinnoori) and (@krishna.interiors.ai) for some wild workflows that are really useful in everyday practice, not just concept.
RH buys the past to sell the future’s next big aesthetic
CEO Gary Friedman went shopping and came home with 3 partners. RH is building a serious pipeline for a return to refined classicism, positioned as the next big trend cycle after Modern and Contemporary.Chairish sells at $85 million
Auction Technology Group is acquiring Chairish. Secondary market discovery and auction pipes are consolidating, and that means more pressure on pricing transparency and dealer margins. If you sell vintage, get your data house in order.Soho House goes private and proves that Luxury and Scale are really hard to make work.
Going private gives leadership room to fix operations and focus on the member experience and profit, with the company framing the move as a long-term plan rather than a quarterly performance show.Bed Bath & Beyond is NOT DOWN for Cali
New owner of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. says it will not open stores in California, calling the state “overregulated, expensive and risky.PR Firm Dada Goldberg is merging with Palasse, a Social Media Company. SMART.
Brands want integrated PR, creator relations, and content production under one roof. This is raising the bar.
Designers, Start targeting ALL THE SINGLE LADIES!
If you think of your ideal client is a young family, you could be marketing wrong. A study found that single women who live by themselves are more likely to be homeowners than single men in 47 of the 50 states and that single women own 2.72 million more homes than single men.BOH Jobs is a great Job Board.
Case in point: Admired firms like Heidi Caillier Design is hiring a Project Manager!What houses do Dior wearing kids live in?
The campaign plants luxury wearing children in historic brownstone interiors, signaling that the parent buyer lives in tastefully updated townhouses rather than modern glass boxes.
Industry Drama
Bananas are going Viral again.
After Google AI leads dropped a banana image on X,Google may be behind viral AI model called Nano Banana? People are going nuts over the accuracy across angles with real materiality. Swap finishes, test lighting, iterate styling, and generate new perspectives in seconds without re-rendering.
Bob Ross’s ‘Happy Little Trees’ hit six figures!
Bonhams just set a Ross benchmark with two paintings at $114,800 and $95,750. Alive, his paintings essentially never hit auction. The jump reframes Ross from kitsch to collectible Americana and gives decorators a pop culture conversation piece with real comps?
Man trapped in Anish Kapoor’s Bean?
A fringe group staged protests claiming a man has lived inside Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate for two decades, a satirical hoax that Chicago officials have publicly rejected. LOL did anyone believe that?Who will fix Kanye’s wreck of the Tadao Ando Malibu House?
Ye paid $57.3 million for Tadao Ando’s concrete jewel in 2021, gutted it horrifically, and a $30 million rescue sale just collapsed, putting it back on the market at $34.9 million. It would be nice to see this restored.
Happenings + Things to Do in NYC
Collectible NYC
One of the coolest shows, expected to be good, for artful furniture and design! September 4–7.
Simone Bodmer Turner’s is hosting a Workshop!
Four September evenings, learn how to build a candelabra in clay with the best! Drinks and bites by (@mayday_la_ny), produced with Airbnb Experiences and RecCreate Collective. Bookings went live yesterday 8/21 through the link in her profile.
What’s New What’s Next at 200 Lex
Something we check out every year. September 18 at NYDC. It’s product-heavy with good panels on pricing, tariffs, and ideas.
Products + Collabs
…and stuff that brings us joy.
Studio Ashby x Yarn Collective
The Aurora Collection introduces two patterns and three plains with a palette keyed to daybreak. Quiet luxury, but not sleepy, and the materials narrative reads responsibly sourced. If you’re over loud bouclé, this is your reset.
Finally! Corston Showroom lands at 200 Lex in NYC
The British hardware brand opens its first US showroom at the New York Design Center. We use there hardware in every project!Pottery Barn collaborated with Brandon Maxwell
Not our taste, and doesn’t feel anything close to his fashion designs, but interesting to see a turn away from super modern and back to more maxamilism.
Project Spotlight
Flack Studio x Volker Haug – Me & You Lighting Collection
Last year at Milan Design Week, Flack Studio and Volker Haug dropped the Me & You Lighting collection, and it immediately caught our eye as an interior designer venture into industrial design that is wildly successful and something we would choose for our clients.
The fixtures feel alive in a room, sculptural but approachable is always what we’re after. We love the materiality used that feels refined and hangmade but also a little edgy and industrial.
Materials are handblown glass, powder-coated metals, and subtle brass accents that are luxurious but disciplined. They’re objects you could imagine collecting like a painting and is something we would put into the collectible design category.
Flack Studio collaborated to not just design lighting but reimagined Volker Haug’s showroom as a space that teaches you something about how the lights feel in scale and temperature. We like how this showroom feels like a gallery without losing its soul and a subtle reminder that the environment around your products is part of the product.
Shop Where We Shop
Back to School…
Moodboard by: Cola Studios
Shop our selections below!
Caubeen Sofa by BDDW. Named after a traditional Irish cap, the Sofa blends sculptural form with comfort. BDDW’s signature craftsmanship is on full display in the curved backrest and generous seat, all made by hand in their Philadelphia studio.
Mandalorian F Stool by Stéphane Parmentier for Studio Twenty Seven. Carved from Frozen Stone, this sculptural stool evokes both classical armor and futuristic minimalism.
Plus Five Sconce by Paul Matter. Formed from a single brass tube, cut and bent into a three-dimensional plus. Light glows from within, emphasizing its sculptural construction. Designed to stand alone or multiply into larger wall arrangements.
Lounge Chair by Arnold Madsen, Denmark, 1950s. A rare midcentury design by Danish upholsterer Arnold Madsen, known for his sculptural, expressive chairs. Wrapped in shearling with curved wood arms, this piece reflects Madsen’s move toward organic modernism, part of a postwar wave redefining Scandinavian furniture beyond strict minimalism.
Iris Coffee Table by Garcé & Dimofski. Crafted from tinted sawn pine and topped with glazed ceramic, the piece balances permanence and delicacy through the interplay of raw texture and smooth surface.
Amia Rug by Mehraban. Part of the Sahara Collection, the Amia rug layers alternating pile heights with flatweave bands to create a subtle, textural grid. Flecks of gold and coral animate the soft mocha and clay palette. Hand-spun, hand-knotted wool gives it a relaxed, organic feel rooted in village-style craftsmanship.
We wanted to start this because we found it impossible to consume news and happenings in one place! You could say this is helping us as much as it is helping you :)
We get hundreds of emails for events, listen to podcasts, have access to countless design publications, and save folders and folders of content that we love to reference, and thought..why wouldn’t we share this?
So give it a read, go to events, and check out the amazing products and artists we’re inspired by. We’ll be back next month with more! - xx Sam + Olya