DIFFA Hosts Third Annual Picnic by Design

Julie Schuster Design Studio’s basket for DIFFA Picnic by Design. Photo by Sarah Sickles.

Johanna Osburn, executive director of DIFFA, and Cindy Allen, chairman of DIFFA and editor in chief of Interior Design. Photo by Rio Hamilton.

Time flies when it’s summer! Last week,

DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS

hosted its third-annual end-of-the-summer fundraiser, Picnic by Design, the casual counterpart to

Dining by Design

.

The event sponsors were

Bolon

,

Robert Allen

,

Poggenpohl

, and

New York Design Center

, with

Interior Design

and

Lonny

serving as the media partners. Almost 40 designers, artists, and architects contributed picnic baskets for sale this year, allowing the organization to raise $35,000. Always a sight to see, stand-outs for this year included

HuxHux Design

’s basket that converted into a blanket and

Incorporated Architecture & Design

‘s 3-D printed basket—it took over 90 hours to complete.

Interior Design

editor in chief and DIFFA’s chairman Cindy Allen remarked, “You ask designers to create a simple basket, and you get a full-blown picnic extravaganza! My dining experience, designed by

Gensler

, even came with a fold-up table that I cabbed home after the event!”

Due to a spot of inclement weather earlier in the day, the celebration was moved inside the Midtown Loft & Terrace in New York. But that wasn’t going to stop 300 guests from having a fantastic time! Picnic spreads strewn about the floor, music cranked up, and drinks freely flowing, the party didn’t end until well into the evening.

A Hotel California and Eagles-themed basket by Antoinette Loupe.