This year’s iteration of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) marks its 35th anniversary, a milestone celebrated by brand directors Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, who unveiled their vision of placing design at the heart of the fair this year. Through curated experiences and a fresh rebranding effort, ICFF aims to captivate a younger audience and remain at the forefront of design innovation.
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- Heller CEO John Edelman sits in the Fortune Chair designed by JUMBO.
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- The Fortune Chair is a culmination of JUMBO’s Monling Lee and Justin Donnelly’s love of food, mastery of material, technical skill, and their mutual love of simple yet expressive design.
The Fortune Chair and SOS Stool for Heller
JUMBO was founded by Monling Lee and Justin Donnelly on the principle that “modern design is serious fun.” The Fortune Chair is a culmination of Justin and Monling’s love of food, mastery of material, technical skill, and their mutual love of simple yet expressive design that is rooted in memory. The chair was initially created as a one-off piece, but when Heller CEO John Edelman discovered it on social media he decided to bring it to the masses.
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- Heller is proud to reintroduce the SOS Stool, a brilliant creation by designer Josh Owen. More than just a seating option, this stool embodies versatility, style, and a commitment to sustainable design.
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- The highly anticipated re-release of Lella and Massimo Vignelli’s iconic dining ware, Max 1, ensures that people with any size space can enjoy the daily pleasure of great design.
In addition to the Fortune chair Heller reintroduced the SOS Stool, a clever creation by designer Josh Owen originally created for a now-defunct Italian manufacturer in 2007. “Sometimes good ideas cease to be for no good reason,” says Josh. Heller stepped in and helped retool the piece, improving its texture and durability and increasing the amount of recycled material in its production. “Sometimes good things just need a second chance.” The SOS Stool is featured in collections at the Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
hellerfurniture.com, jumbonyc.com, joshowen.com
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- Ice Tables by Daniel Germani for Bernhardt Design.
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- Yabu Pushelberg’s TERRA designed for Warp & Weft.
Ice Tables by Daniel Germani for Bernhardt Design and Terra by Yabu Pushelberg for Warp & Weft
Daniel Germani previewed three beautiful hand-blown glass tables (they will officially launch at NeoCon next month) created for Bernhardt Design. Yabu Pushelberg unveiled TERRA, a rug collection designed for Warp & Weft and inspired by the aerial landscapes of Earth.
bernhardtdesign.com, warpandweft.com
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- Jamie Derringer from TRAME Paris, in ICFF’s new Bespoke section. The area showcased the skill and expertise of high-end artisans with product exhibitions and a slate of talks.
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- Martin Grasser’s Portraits collection is an eloquent meditation on the self, through mirrored Venetian glass.
Portraits by Martin Grasser for TRAME Paris
In his latest work, Portraits, Martin Grasser used generative algorithms to decouple letterforms from their prescribed shapes and instead assign colors to each letter in the alphabet. The result is a beautiful visual language, where words and phrases become new abstract forms. Collaborating with TRAME, Martin was able to produce his work in fine Venetian glass creating mirrors that interact with the viewer, inviting them to shape the narrative of the artwork.
trameparis.com, martingrasser.com
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- Mexa Design has established itself as a company that designs and produces high-quality, contemporary furniture and decor accessories by fusing traditional Mexican craft techniques with innovative materials and technologies.
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- The MGMA Series by Mexa & Sure Ceramics pay homage to ancient Mexican materials and techniques.
Mexa Design
When an architect and his designer wife needed furniture for their backyard, they decided to make it themselves, handcrafting a few Acapulco chairs and a side table. Those personal pieces soon spun into requests from friends and family. A decade later, Mexa Design has established itself as a company that designs and produces high-quality, contemporary furniture and decor accessories by fusing traditional Mexican craft techniques with innovative materials and technologies.
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- Icongraphic from Astek pays homage to to Terry Crews’ diverse talents and multifaceted career by recognizing the figures that have inspired him along the way.
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- Handpicked pioneers and changemakers across entertainment, art, architecture, and sports are illustrated by both Terry and Asteks’ design team.
Iconographic by Terry Crews for Astek Wall Coverings
Astek Wall Coverings’ collaboration with actor and artist Terry Crews is a wallcovering collection titled Icongraphic, featuring images of various cultural figures illustrated in graphite drawings by both Terry and Astek’s design team. Terry Crews stopped by the Astek booth to see his Iconographic wallcovering in the flesh at this year’s ICFF. Iconographic is also a finalist in the NYCxDesign awards, and has been honored with an Editor’s Choice award by The NKBA.
Michael Bennett’s PEWS sofa is a five-seat cushioned couch that was born out of his childhood days going to church. Photo by Chris Force
Michael Bennett’s PEWS sofa is based communal design. “Growing up in the South my grandfather was a preacher, my uncle was preacher, everybody was preacher. So church was a big part of my life. The closeness of black bodies in churches was always something very sacred. So when I was thinking about an object that fits in the living room, which is also sacred, I thought about those pews, and what it means to be close to somebody you love,” says Michael. PEWS is part of a collaboration with Costantini that began in 2022.
studioker.com, costantinidesign.com
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- Chicago-based furniture brand Zachary A. showcases its new Polli collection at design fair ICFF, made in collaboration with Egyptian industrial designer Karim Rashid.
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- The Polli collection is an expansion of the brand’s existing Brow series and is informed by tadpoles, exploring nature and movement in design.
Polli by Karim Rashid for Zachary A.
The Polli collection designed by Karim Rashid began its life with two designs, mirrored to create four stools. They are dynamic and standardized, allowing designers to use them individually or build a cohesive modular setup. Inspired by the word “polliwog,” Polli is a deliberate exploration of organic form and movement.
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- From the established to the emerging, ICFF’s The Crossroads offers a snapshot of American design in its many shapes and forms.
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- The Soft Diamond Seat is Talbot & Yoon’s take on a mid-18th century French tufted furniture type. In France, members of a salon would sit and discuss the art on their walls from a ‘bourne’ (large ottoman) at the room’s center.
The Crossroads by David Rockwell for ICFF
Sustainability served as the focal point of ICFF’s The Crossroads’ second iteration. This year’s exhibition spotlights the way designers seek to preserve long-honored craft traditions, together with how they push the boundaries of circularity to consciously re-think the legitimacy of material use. It also highlighted the different ways creative communities can make design more accessible to all, whether through more inclusive cultural representations or deeper community-wide engagement.
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- The Teddy Sofa from OMHU is a sofa bed, in accordance with the simple, classic meaning. It has no legs, handles or advanced mechanical constructions. Instead, it gives the softest bear hugs and easily transforms into a large bed.
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- Frederik Frøsig, CEO of OMHU, sits comfortably on the Teddy Sofa during ICFF.
Teddy Sofa by OMHU for Teak New York
Brooklyn-based showroom Teak New York exclusively stocks home decor and furniture from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. As the North American partner for Scandinavian brands like OMHU, their showroom serves both the trade and the public looking for the best of Nordic design. First launched in 2022, the overnight icon Teddy Sofa served as a modular centerpiece of their ICFF debut.
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- Oil lamp by O Studio from Mexico.
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- The Tom chair by Reggyyy won the WANTED AWARDS: Best of Launch Pad for furniture/home accessories.
The WANTED Launch Pad
WANTED’s Launch Pad is an international platform for emerging designers, showcasing innovative prototypes of furniture, home accessories, and lighting. It offers designers exposure to manufacturers, enabling them to present new ideas and potential products for development. The Tom chair by Reggyyy won the WANTED AWARDS: Best of Launch Pad for furniture/home accessories.
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- The Shmello chair by Bryce Moon.
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- The Noodle Chair by Ruby Wrigley.
SCAD at WANTED Schools Showcase
The Schools Showcase gives students an opportunity to present their designs at ICFF. A stand out this year was student work from SCAD which included the Shmello chair by Bryce Moon and the Noodle Chair by Ruby Wrigley.
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- Droplets by Michiko Sakano.
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- 1,000,000 Dead Hippies lamp by Jean-Michel Gadou and Verre d’Onge for Editions 8888.
WANTED Look Book 2024
Look Book presented the works of nearly 70 smaller design studios. Two favorites this year both happen to be made from glass, but with very different effects. Michiko Sakano is an artisan glass blower based in Brooklyn known for her original and technically rigorous works that explore the tension between sameness and variation in glass textures, colors, and forms. Jean-Michel Gadoua is a curator, designer, and editor as well as the founder of the experimental design cell Éditions 8888 from Montreal.
michikanostudio.com, editions8888.com
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- Turf is a design company focused on creating acoustic solutions at the intersection of art, architecture, and technology.
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- Molo exhibited the full soft collection—a paper and textile universe of flexible partitions, lighting, and furniture that has evolved over two decades.
2024 ICFF Editors Award Winners
Turf, an acoustics solutions company, consistently presents some of the most beautiful, and quiet, exhibits at ICFF. This year they won the 2024 ICFF Editors Award for materials & surfaces.
In a recent exploration of color, molo’s studies have brought them back to the essence of what initially made softwall so captivating. Rather than physically partitioning areas, softwall gently shapes them through the subtle use of layered light and color. The booth won the 2024 ICFF Editors Award for exhibit design.
The next edition of ICFF will be held in NYC May 18 – 25, 2025. icff.com
Sixtysix is a media partner to ICFF.
