Exhibition Details

Design gallery and strategy firm Colony is pleased to announce the second iteration from its annual design incubator program, The Designers’ Residency. Launched in 2023, The Designers’ Residency aims to introduce the work of emerging talents to the international design market under the guidance of Colony founder Jean Lin & Art Director Madeleine Parsons. This year’s program brought on four new studios to Colony’s roster: Alara Alkan Studio, Ember Studio, MPei Studio, and Thomas Yang Studio.
Launched to create more accessibility and opportunity to burgeoning talent in an industry that is often fraught with obstacles to entry, the 2024 Residency’s young talents were selected from an open application process that drew interest from designers across the country. Colony welcomed four residents in its second year, doubling the size of the program since its inaugural class of 2023. Alara Alkan Studio, Ember Studio, MPei Studio, and Thomas Yang Studio will make their debut collections in an exhibition at Colony’s new Tribeca gallery, opening on June 13. The designers will consequently be added to Colony’s permanent roster of independent American design talents, bolstering the trajectories of their careers.
I am immensely proud of this program as we conclude our second year,” says Colony founder Jean Lin. “The success of The Designers’ Residency embodies so much of Colony's steadfast commitment to celebrate and support the independent American design community while also actively participating in its creative and fiscal growth. We take our role as the vanguard American design very seriously - The Designers’ Residency and the studios we launch through it have become our ongoing contribution to the greater whole, shaping a future where designers are thoughtful, community-minded and creatively authentic," she adds.
“From the start of the selection process last Spring, we were drawn to the authenticity of these designers’ distinctive voices and curious about how they might influence one anoth throughout the design process,” reflects Colony’s Art Director, Madeleine Parsons. “While the collections presenting this June stand very much apart from each other aesthetically, they embody The Designers’ Residency Program’s collective power. Support, research sharing and critical conversations accelerate the process of building something even as personal as an eponymous studio. The work is only as beautiful as the community that created it,” she shares.