HOLIDAY CHEER! @ THE KGA BOUTIQUE

We dropped by the KGA Boutique yesterday to see what Kelly Gale Amen has been up to since his “Save the Date” event in October of this year. As always the interior designer’s space is an amorphic, malleable, always evolving animal. Amen emphasizes that “Good design never stops . . . you have the shell, you have the bones and you keep veneering the layers.”

Present in the space for the soiree with Amen were three local artists. “I’m working with three unusual artists today, which have worked with me over the past ten years doing different elements. Sergio Santos, photographed a series of young people in gas masks on my furniture, Deborah Porter who has used skeletons on the furniture. and Antonio Farfan who is very interested in using his religious elements. It all ties into the excitement and evolve of collaborative element.” explains Amen

Speaking further on collaborative elements, Amen seems particularly excited about the work he’s doing with artisans in Bangalore. “I have the sketch, the rendering and then I have equally the product, which is the fabric embroidered, chain-stitched on linen or cotton or a combination so that I can do that to mass produce or market my creative energy.” The designs are beautiful and each, like all of Amen’s work, are their own little masterpieces.

Now equipped with a sales team for products that include, metal furniture, wood furniture, as well as fabric Amen is forcefully stepping forward into the mass market. Head of sales for Amen, Eddie Knievel, explains, “it’s an extraordinary product line because it’s a designer that ‘s been in business over 30 years. I’m excited, every time I turn around I see something new.”

Speaking in characteristic, enigmatic tone, the interior designer says of change, “I love that as obvious as change is, it also always stays the same.” The boutique is a testament to this idea, as it carries all the good energy of Amen’s legendary compound, while being a markedly different experience. Those who haven’t dropped by yet, should and frequently, as it obviously won’t stay the same for long no matter how consistent change can be.