To-The-Trade Episode Summary
Megan Reilly, co-founder and owner of West Edge Design Fair, joined Laurie Laizure and Nile Johnson on To-The-Trade for Interior Design Community ahead of the fair’s 11th edition, October 29 to 31 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Reilly knows the trade show business from the inside. Before launching West Edge in 2013, she was marketing director for NeoCon and later for the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York. Her central point for designers is one IDC returns to often in Industry Events and Trade Shows: the most valuable part of a show is who you meet and what you learn while you are there.
West Edge started because New York exhibitors kept asking for a West Coast event. Los Angeles was full of project work, but it was hard to reach. The market is spread out, fragmented and driven by car culture, so getting people to one venue takes more than a booth and a badge. Reilly’s answer was to build what she calls an anti-trade show. The fair runs in an airplane hangar with the doors open, creating an indoor-outdoor setting where brands the trade already knows sit alongside undiscovered makers and artists doing bespoke, one-of-a-kind work.
“We really wanted to be the anti-trade show. And we still say we are.”
Laurie adds that many California designers rely on custom work and local makers rather than large market brands, which makes a maker-driven show a real sourcing opportunity for designers anywhere who want resources not everyone has. Reilly notes that Los Angeles is also drawing international brands, some of which now look to LA before the East Coast when they expand into North America.
The audience is about 70% design trade, but West Edge also opens to consumers. Most homeowners who attend already work with a designer or architect, and the show encourages designers to bring clients. After the 2025 wildfires, Reilly says ignoring homeowners would have been a mistake. West Edge partners with Team Palisades, a coalition of grassroots groups from the Pacific Palisades, whose Rebuild Connect Lounge drew about 500 attendees last year. Builders, architects and landscape architects are attending in growing numbers too, and Laurie shares a builder’s post she reposted to IDC’s stories: having an interior designer used to feel like a luxury, and now it feels like a necessity. For designers weighing that kind of collaboration, see Designer + GC Partnership: Roles, Money, and Risk Before You Team Up.
Laurie’s advice to designers is direct. Too many treat smaller shows like a shopping trip. At a smaller show you can actually sit down with a brand’s owner or senior leadership, so use that time to learn where the brand is headed, what training it offers and what it cares about. That knowledge helps you sell the product. Juliana Ewer made a similar case for product knowledge in Why High Point Market Is Non-Negotiable for Serious Designers with Juliana Ewer.
Reilly adds a step: be intentional. Do your homework, decide who you want to meet and reach out ahead of time, because principals are usually at the booth and some will plan dinners or meetings around designers they already know. West Edge builds structure around that idea, with a preview tour for about 100 trade pros before the opening night crowd of 2,500, pre-show education and boot camps, and a Friday Meet Your Mentor event hosted with three newer industry organizations. Laurie points out that mentorship is useful at any career stage, whether you are hiring for the first time or launching a product line.
The conversation turns to what brands get wrong after a show. Laurie and Nile both get the same “Are you coming to High Point?” and “Great seeing you at market” emails, sometimes from brands they never visited. Laurie suggests a personal DM instead of another email blast, and real engagement when designers tag a brand on social. A designer’s post about a product, even with 5,000 views, can reach more of the right people than a local magazine ad. Reilly agrees and stresses speed: West Edge scans leads from uploads to the cloud so exhibitors can follow up personally the same day. For more on what designers expect from vendors, see Designer friendly brands, 7 non-negotiables real designers expect and To-The-Trade Live at KBIS 2026: Building Better Brand Relationships with Nikki Levy and Jenny York.
Reilly also introduces Rising Design, a new emerging talent competition and 10-episode content series. Six designers with fewer than five years in practice each create a 10×10 vignette on a limited budget with sponsor brands including Sherwin-Williams and Baldwin Hardware. Every vignette carries shop-the-look signage with QR codes, which ties into how West Edge measures its own success.
“If you can’t show that these brands are getting business from doing the show, then we haven’t fully done our job.”
Reilly is candid about the pressure of production. Two Canadian exhibitors pulled out weeks before the show because of tariffs, and she compares the job to conducting an orchestra with more than 100 clients asking similar questions at once. Design trade professionals and design students get complimentary Friday and Saturday access when they register by October 23. After that, a one-day pass is $25 in advance or $30 at the door. Opening night is a separate ticket that benefits Habitat for Humanity’s Rebuild LA Recovery Fund, and the fair is dog friendly.
Timestamp Guide
00:00 – Laurie and Nile open the show
01:01 – Introducing Megan Reilly of West Edge Design Fair
01:51 – Megan’s background at NeoCon and the Architectural Digest Design Show
02:42 – Why West Edge launched on the West Coast in 2013
03:38 – Building an anti-trade show in an airplane hangar
04:04 – Discovery, collectible design, and undiscovered makers
07:13 – Why Megan stayed in the trade, and the consumer side of the show
09:15 – Team Palisades and the wildfire rebuild
10:45 – Laurie on building relationships at smaller shows
12:18 – Do your homework: reaching out to exhibitors before the show
13:11 – Preview tours, boot camps, and Meet Your Mentor
16:33 – Mentorship at any stage of your career
17:41 – Who attends West Edge and where they come from
19:25 – Builders, architects, and contractors join the audience
25:03 – Brands to watch at West Edge this year
27:27 – Behind the scenes: tariffs, stress, and production
32:53 – What brands get wrong about post-show follow-up
35:16 – Rising Design: six emerging designers, 10×10 vignettes
38:03 – Designers as brand mouthpieces and social follow-up
49:03 – How to register, dates, and ticket details
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