Alexa Colas, an emerging designer featured in the 2025 DesignPhiladelphia Festival, founded Clubfriends Radio and Records after hosting listening parties in her living room. What started as intimate gatherings evolved into a platform for holding onto experiences that felt personal. “I created Clubfriends to memorialize my moments,” Alexa shares. “To celebrate and explore them off the dance floor, beyond nightlife. I wanted to be immersed in them, both in a physical space, a living room turned record store, and in conversation on PhillyCAM.”

The DesignPhiladelphia team then began to work with Alexa to expand her reach and impact. The Center for DesignPhiladelphia closely matched the footprint of her living room, allowing her to recreate the space in a more public and accessible setting. She noted that the furniture layout remained nearly identical, except this time she could see the back of her leather Moonshadow couch. 

With a professional background in building audiences for global creators, Alexa promoted her exhibition through a PR campaign and social strategy. She sent press releases to more than forty news outlets, including Dan DeLuca, who interviewed her and wrote about the exhibition in The Philadelphia Inquirer. She also created flyers for the DJs who performed during the festival and produced a four part short form video series titled “Road to DesignPhiladelphia Festival”, documenting her journey from discovering the festival to installing her work. By prioritizing other partnerships with local organizations like the Free Library of Philadelphia, Meetinghouse Movers, and Philadelphia Sonic Revolution, Alexa showcased how to utilize the DesignPhiladelphia festival as a launchpad of collaboration and formed long lasting connections professionally and personally.

Hosting her installation through the festival allowed Alexa to reach a broader and more public audience than ever before. Visitors ranged from students and design enthusiasts to people who simply walked in after noticing music and energy. “My DP space offered me both visibility, capacity and a space to meaningfully engage with the public,” she said. Reflecting on the festival’s impact, Alexa added, “The festival is important for Philadelphia as a whole. DesignPhiladelphia Festival was the first time I experienced Philly specifically through a design lens, and that shift was profound.”