ICFF 2017

A MIX OF THE ESTABLISHED AND THE INNOVATIVE

I'm a little late in getting this out. ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, was held at the end of last month at the Javits as part of NYCxDesign, a week-long event promoting the design industry in New York City.

Events were held throughout all the boroughs of the city but the culminating event and the granddaddy of the week is ICFF. This was ICFF's thirtieth year in a rollercoaster of up and down successes and failures.  It's experienced years in event.

There's always an evolution with any event and ICFF is no different. When I first started going to ICFF it was more of a launching pad for new designers trying to introduce and establish their brand. The hope was to draw interest from exclusive furniture showrooms in order to get representation and a means of exposure and then sales.

The big boys with huge names weren't the guiding force at the show. Things have changed and now manufacturers like Bernhardt take up large swathes of real estate. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not.

But there's no denying that Bernhardt has something to say. I loved this new line they were promoting done by designer Terry Crews

For some reason foosball seems to always have a presence at ICFF. I've never installed one for a client at any of the projects we've worked on. I have never had a client call out for one but there were at least a half dozen of these game pieces spread throughout the aisles of the Javits. This one by Teckell for Italian Luxury Interiors was one of the more interesting.  Maybe our problem in getting a request for one of these is we don't' do enough real luxury projects for this to come up as a request.

Talk about the elephant in the room...I didn't stop long enough to question the students from Drexel University about their design for a sponsored competition by Westphal but if the competition had the words, "animal inspired" in it this chair snorted up all the peanuts. Year after year the design school section of the show seems to grow and I think this is a good thing

The show can really be a touchy feely experience. You only have to look at the elephant chair to understand the desire to run your hand over the product or in that case the "pet" chair. Innovative materials are always a big draw at the show. Eugene Stoltzfus' cork furniture demanded a swipe of the hand

I'm stuck on an animal theme here as Konekt introduced their Adam's Family "Thing" stools composed of coarse horse hair bound with brass rings. I'm not sure how I feel about these stools but I love Konekt's creativity and design sensibility.

Arturo Alvarez's human light forms made from spun Japanese cord have both an eerie and ethereal feel. They seem like alien life forms bending in anthropomorphic positions appearing to observe us in ways that are both scary and compelling

Copper also made a return as the old but new metal material of choice. These beautiful copper pendants by Original BTC a British lighting manufacturer gave off a very comfy warm light.

This organic chandelier, The Bijout, by Luxe has been on my wish list for the past year. It's branch like structure complete with raindrop crystals make for an amazing signature piece for over a dining table

Technology usually just frightens me but I thought this entry by Flow Architech was brilliant. The idea isn't that hard to explain. A track is installed in the ceiling. In the track is a rod with a monitor attached to the base of the rod. The monitor can then travel through space so it can either hid in a cabinet or be used wherever the track allows the monitor to go. The monitor can also swivel so you can turn it around. All this is done be remote control. The monitor attached to this system was two sided making it capable of having different videos playing on either side. I wish I had made a video of this one showing its movement potential. It was my favorite find of the event.

There's no way I could not include my friends at Kravet without a shout-out to their new entry, CuratedKravet. Known for its prominence in the fabric industry, then having taken a gigantic leap into the furniture market they're now taking over the accessory share of the industry making them a full service vendor. They've always been known for their fine design and they do it all at below market pricing.

I love this system of wall units, bookcases and connected furniture by Amuneal. The system is modular and seems to float away from the wall. There's an abundance of metal and wood finishes to choose from.

It's almost like an auto-pole system similar to what you'd see in a photographer's studio assembled with pieces that begin to look like plumbing supplies on a very high level

And when I say high level the applications can satisfy any high roller

I can't tell you exactly what Allied Maker makes but one thing they produced at the show was some exquisite music. It was the perfect interlude with an etude. It 's always a must for us to walk the aisles of the Javits for ICFF. There are the repeaters but there's always something new that you don't want to miss.
THE GALLERY

Truman Capote, writer, New York  1977
Arnold Newman, photographer
Represented by Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York