A few weeks ago we reported on Annie Selke’s launch of the her first consumer catalog. If you received one in the mail, you’ve seen the work of David Cicchetti, the company’s new retail creative director. Prior to joining the Annie Selke Company, he was creative director for Bergdorf Goodman. He lives with his husband in New Marlborough, Mass. I lived in New York for 26 years. We were living in Brooklyn Heights, and coming to the Berkshires on weekends. About three or four months after we closed on our house four years ago, my husband decided he’d had enough of the city so he quit his job and moved up here full time. I stayed in New York and commuted back and forth on weekends. I moved to the Berkshires full time two years ago, and at the time I was still freelancing for Bergdorf Goodman. I started looking for work up here that was fulfilling. I had known about Pine Cone Hill, but didn’t know it was based in the Berkshires. I was introduced to Annie, who invited me to have lunch at the offices. They were in the midst of putting together their first direct-to-consumer catalog. I made a few observations and suggestions, and Annie said, can you come in on Monday and start freelancing for me? I did, and helped out with finishing the catalog. Then they brought me on staff full time at the end of August. Besides heading up the creative direction for the catalog, I’m working with Annie and her team developing new products. It’s something I’ve always been interested in, but never done before. It’s interesting to be part of the group working with Annie putting out her great collections. Our Berkshires home started as a weekend place, but the Berkshires are not just a weekend place — there’s so much going on here and it’s full of people with passion. We’re trying to get more active — when we first came up we did so much work on our house that we didn’t get to take in much of the nature. We’re volunteers for the New Marlborough Land Trust, and helped start a documentary series at the New Marlborough Library. We’re avid gardeners, and I love cooking, baking and knitting. We’ve become really enamored with Cantina 229. It sums up the whole Berkshires experience for me. There’s a real sense of community there, the whole vibe of farm to table. I really don’t miss living in New York.
