When it comes to modern design tradeshows, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) is by far the biggest and best in the U.S. The four-day New York show ended yesterday and held up to its reputation with a slew of inspiring products and displays from around the world.
A few of my favorite finds…
Above, 13 wood-veneer pendants from LZF Lamps cluster together to form a show-stopping installation.
Kenneth Cobonpue’s new canopy lounger for Hive is so inviting, it’s worth the funny tan lines.
Brooklyn-based Faktura turns traditional shelving on its head with the V Bookshelf.
A sweet floral design appears within these bone-china votive holders by designer Hanna Tonek Bonnett. The best part? When lit, the pattern shines through and casts shadows in the shapes of roses.
Baby Acapulco by Innit Designs is one hip kids’ chair. I took a seat in the little chair and the durable vinyl cords made for a surprisingly comfortable seat.
Winner of ICFF’s New Designer Award, Objeti has come forward with a very clever line of multipurpose furniture. My favorite within their new Aerialist series is the Line bench/table/console. The three powder-coated steel panels can flip to become a cushioned seat, tabletop, or a combination of both.
Spanish company Fambuena had a number of gorgeous lights but this geometric pendant was the most dramatic.
For the modern urban family, the Koo bassinet could not be more functional. Made by Lunar, the front folds down to become a rocking chair.
Which design is your favorite?
With 2,900 exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of products displayed at the New York International Gift Fair, the trends can’t help but reveal themselves. If last season’s trend doesn’t make an appearance again, it means nobody was buying it. When the same look keeps turning up, it was a best seller. And when hundreds of manufacturers start exploring the same motif, together they are carving out a trend.
Hats have left the fashion category and are posing as home decor. These antique helmets from Bobo Intriguing Objects are purely decorative but I also saw top hats being used as champagne buckets and bowler caps electrified for pendant lamps.
At the last two markets, the bold running colors of Ikat seemed to cover every piece of upholstery available at the Gift Show. But at this market, this plate was all I found left of the trend. Here, Home James has freshened the over-played textile technique by applying the motif to a new medium, dishware.
Cutesy octopuses and seashells are still everywhere. However, I thought this take from Eloquent Ink brought the tried- and-true trend to a refreshing sophistication.
I admit these Thomas Paul plates are still charming; I would just love to see his graphic shapes and colors around something other than another dove.
Amazing enough there were a lot of gun designs at the show. If I’d only seen one, I might let it slide, but this glass piece in combination with the other manufacturers’ sculptural weaponry really disturbed me.
Though I’m not crazy about the look of these lamps, the flat pack design caught my eye. I hate packing peanuts and the Styrofoam that comes with product shipments, so I adore that this product from Wabnitz requires very little packaging and energy to ship.
It’s late January in New York City and to buyers, editors, and wholesalers that means Gift Show. It’s one of the largest accessory and home design fairs in the country and where I’ll be spending my weekend. I’ve been receiving promotional emails all week from manufacturers trying to lure us to their booths with sneak peeks of their wares for 2009. And it’s working.
I was shopping with my best friend, Elana, in Banana Republic the other day and b-lined for what I thought was a gorgeous dress. She looked at me and started laughing, Anne, that looks like a roll of wallpaper. She was right–but that’s exactly what I loved about it. I often look at the graphic florals and soft geometrics of home textiles and papers and think, I want that in a size four! I guess you have to be a home nerd to understand but for those of you that are…you’ll love this display by York Wallcoverings.