Interiors & Renovation

What Caught Our Eye at ICFF 2019: Pops of Orange and Curvy Shapes

ICFF is one of the year’s biggest design events and the anchor of New York Design Week, with exhibitors from all over the world.

Arched and rounded furniture at Phase Design

by Craig Hubert

05/22/2019 6 minute 0

One color dominated this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair: Orange, in its many variations.

It’s visible in chairs, tables, carpets, shelving units and wallpaper. There were booth dividers that utilized the color to great effect; even the carpet at the entrance to the event utilized the color.

Dizzying in scope — there are more than 900 exhibitors across four days, located within the massive Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan — ICFF is one of the year’s biggest design events and the anchor of New York Design Week. Vendors come from all over the world to show their latest designs for furniture, hardware, plumbing, rugs and wallpaper.

Aside from shades of orange, another detail we noticed at ICFF this year: curves, in everything from furniture to lighting and accessories.

An inflatable chair at Mojow. Photo by Craig Hubert

The wackier the better. We had a chance to sit in these chairs designed by Mojow, which used inflatable air-filled cushions on simple, modern frames of both wood and metal. They were sturdier and more comfortable than you’d imagine.

Along the same lines were these felt busts from Floquem, a brand from Mexico. The one above is called ‘Lil Marc,” who was “born and raised in the streets of Brooklyn.”

envy lee parker — Lighting by Eny Lee Parker

One of our favorites at the show was the work of Eny Lee Parker, who works out of a studio in Bushwick. On display were tables, chairs and lights she designed that look like irregularly-shaped Ken Price sculptures that had been modified into playful furniture. The ceramic bases are unglazed, which gives them a rough edge.

Bushwick-based Souda made deconstructed furniture that nodded toward both tradition and progression. Pictured above are a pair of the Bluff Side Chairs, designed by Luft Tanaka.

Sun at Six, a design studio located “on the border of Bed Stuy and Crown Heights,” according to Creative Director Antares Yee, uses classical Chinese joinery in their furniture. On display was the studio’s second collection, made in collaboration with artisans in Guangzhou, China.

Williamsburg-based designer Katie Deedy of Grow House Grow showed us some of their new tile and wallpaper designs. Inspired by Caravaggio and lightning bugs — among other influences — they feature ribbon-like patterns, florals, leaves and a strawberry print.

More orange could be found at Most Modest’s booth, which showed metal shelves and corrugated metal planters.

The fair had specialized sections dedicated to Dutch, Spanish and British designers. Some of our other favorites included sleek faucets and handles in many different finishes from longtime East New York maker Watermark, the handwoven pillows of Ssen Studio and sleekly minimal shelves from the Stille collection, designed by Standard Issue in Brooklyn and manufactured in Kalamazoo, Mich.