RDI NY Hosts Annual Iron Design Student Challenge

Last Wednesday, The Retail Design Institute’s New York chapter, in partnership with Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA), hosted its second annual student design event – the Iron Design student challenge – at the Steelcase showroom at 4 Columbus Circle, New York.

Five teams of three to four students were challenged to design a holiday pop-up shop in just two hours. Students participated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, LIM College and Parsons School of Design. Each team was mentored and coached by industry alums. This year’s winning team, Team Orange, incorporated DIFFA’s mission into its store and window concepts.

“Team Orange united to design a space that invokes comfort through support. Their design relayed the message that those fighting HIV/AIDS or any disease are not alone – we are in this fight together,” said Megan Gundrum, director of store planning of Lord & Taylor, one of the mentors of the winning team, in a DIFFA press release.

The winning team’s designs will be built and displayed in the Siegel-Stockman Showroom at 126 W. 25th St. in New York. The pop-up shop will be unveiled during a private opening night reception, held on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The shop will be open to the public from Dec. 2-6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All sales will benefit Gift for Life and DIFFA.

For more information on RDI, DIFFA and Gift for Life, visit retaildesigninstitute.org, diffa.org and giftforlife.org.