There has been trade speculation for some time about the 2009 design fair, but the decision was finalised following the Haughtons’ meeting with exhibitors in New York during their recent fine art fair. No official announcement has yet been made and the organisers insist the fair will be back for 2010.
Fairs at the Park Avenue Armory on Upper East Side are especially vulnerable to the recession – the Armory is famously expensive and payment is in advance – and this is the Haughtons’ second casualty of the year following the cancellation of the International Asian Art Fair planned for March.
One needs a substantial exhibitor total to make the Armory viable, and at this time of necessarily high stand rents it is difficult to bring in the numbers.
With 38 exhibitors at their fine art fair earlier this month the Haughtons almost certainly lost money. Last year’s eighth design fair had 40 exhibitors.
