Bottled Whimsy, Totes of Joy, and the Beauty We Deserve

🎪 The Marketplace of Possibility

Every August, the Javits Center sheds its corporate skin and becomes a playground for the curious, the creative, and the commercially inclined. This year’s NY NOW Summer Market, held August 3–5, 2025, welcomed thousands of buyers, makers, media scouts, and design dreamers from across the U.S. and abroad. With over 2,500 brands exhibiting and tens of thousands of attendees roaming the aisles, the show was a sensory sprint through the best of home, gift, lifestyle, and luxury accessories.

🧭 Who Came, What Happened, and Why It Mattered

Attendees came with purpose. Boutique owners hunted for Q4 inventory. Museum shops sought ethically sourced conversation pieces. Wellness hubs and hotel buyers scouted for design-forward amenities.
Deals were made in every corner: first-time wholesale contracts, strategic reorders, and handshake partnerships that will ripple through retail shelves this holiday season. Brands like Jersey Meatbawls Co. and Chick Boss walked away with awards and new accounts. Rubyzaar deepened its retail relationships while showcasing artisan-made shawls and graphic totes. Asobu’s Bestie Bottle, yes, the one with the sheep head, became a surprise hit, drawing buyers with its mix of whimsy and wellness. And Meekins Corp, ever the behind-the-scenes matchmaker, helped emerging brands navigate the U.S. retail maze with logistics, focus groups, and booth strategy

🐑 The Bottle That Baa’d Back

Wool You Just Look at That!

It’s not just a bottle. It’s a baa-rilliant blend of charm, craftsmanship, and kid-approved engineering that adults secretly covet.
If you’ve ever wandered the Javits Center and thought, “I need hydration, a hug, and a reason to believe in fair trade,” then congratulations, you’re my kind of shopper. This August, I found all three in one aisle, thanks to a sheep-headed water bottle and a Brooklyn-based boho brand that knows how to wrap you in ethics and elegance.
Let’s start with the bottle. Technically called the Sheep Bestie Bottle by Asobu, this 16-ounce stainless steel wonder is vacuum-insulated, spill-proof, and topped with a soft silicone sheep head that’s both collectible and removable. It’s like sipping from a thermos designed by Pixar and engineered by NASA.
Cold drinks stay frosty for 24 hours, and the flexible straw makes hydration feel like a game. It’s BPA-free, PFAS-free, and phthalate-free, which means you can sip without guilt or mystery chemicals. And yes, it fits in your cupholder, your tote, and your heart.

🧣 Rubyzaar Wraps You in Legacy

Just a few booths down, the Brooklyn-based Rubin sisters, Sarah and Molly, showcased their Rubyzaar brand that is a masterclass in ethical sourcing and bohemian flair. Their shawls, scarves, and graphic totes are handmade by artisan collectives in Thailand and East Africa, with zero sweatshops and maximum soul.
Rubyzaar isn’t just a brand, it’s a collaboration. Every piece is dyed with natural pigments, woven with care, and priced to honor the hands that made it. Their tagline might as well be: “Free your mind and your look will follow.”

💍 AYLA NY and the Art of Quiet Elegance

And then came the jewelry. AYLA NY, founded by Ayla Eason, offered handmade fine jewelry with bridal elegance and minimalist charm. Her pieces shimmered with quiet confidence, delicate gold settings, ethically sourced stones, and a design philosophy that whispered rather than shouted.
Nearby, Jewish jewelry vendors showcased symbols of legacy and faith: Stars of David, Hamsas, Chai pendants, and pomegranate motifs crafted in gold, silver, enamel, and Roman glass. Many were handmade in Israel or by diaspora designers blending tradition with modern aesthetics. It was a visual feast of cultural storytelling—each piece a wearable archive.

✨ Joy, Justice, and the Power of Touch

In a world of fast fashion and plastic everything, these brands remind us that joy and justice can coexist. Asobu brings whimsy to wellness, Rubyzaar threads legacy into every stitch, and Jewish jewelers offer wearable memory with spiritual depth. Together, they made my NY NOW experience feel less like a trade show and more like a treasure hunt.

🚫 The Sample-Free Showdown

But here’s the rub: I couldn’t buy any of it.
Despite the sparkle, the softness, and the sheepish charm, NY NOW remains a wholesale-only event. No matter how many times I reached for my wallet, I was met with polite smiles and a firm “We don’t sell samples.” For a civic-minded consumer ready to invest in ethical design, and for a reporter committed to writing honest, sensory-rich reviews, this policy is more than inconvenient. It’s editorially obstructive.
Relying on notes and photos alone doesn’t provide the nuance, texture, or lived experience that a terrific review demands. I can describe the shimmer of a Chai pendant or the excitement of carrying a Rubyzaar statement tote, but without the product in hand, I can’t tell you how it wears, how it folds, how it feels against the skin. And that matters.

NY NOW gave me inspiration, connection, and wonderful treats I could not buy.


It gave me stories, but not the tools to finish them. And that, dear reader, is the bittersweet magic of a show built for buyers.
Save February 1-3, 2026 for the next NYNOW show.