Trendspotting at The International Contemporary Furniture Fair

Filed under: Your Home, Design, etc, News & Trends

A report on the biggest trends from the 2010 ICFF.

Last week, some of us ShelterPoppers headed to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) at the Javits Center in New York. If you're going to spot the latest trends in modern design, it's going to happen here -- and this year's show didn't disappoint. However, I felt like something other than fashion and aesthetics was driving the trends this year -- rather it was the state of our environment and how designers are struggling with creating beautiful pieces yet still being socially responsible. Actually, by the end of the show, I think that the most popular words I heard over the course of four days were "re-purposed", "recycled" and "reclaimed".

Eco, eco, eco!
As I mentioned, most of the products I viewed were made from recycled materials or recyclable, re-purposed or reclaimed -- and really, what did I expect from a show that featured was a mini-exhibit called "Materials Matter"? It was all about the materials used to create the products.

The ecologically-minded trend has permeated just about every aspect of design this year, forcing designers to get even more creative with both design and materials. I enjoyed seeing that recycled plastics could do what new plastic can do. I also found that reclaimed wood and non-wood products could be just as beautiful as real wood. For example, these ceramic tiles from Nemo Tile (below), which are made to resemble wood but are actually porcelain tiles. I had to go up and touch them to make sure.

No tools required
This year, many exhibitors were interested in telling you about the assembly and packaging of their product. The design of the packaging and assembly process became a part of the overall design this year. There was a definite emphasis on minimizing wasteful materials in both design and packaging as well as making assembly easy without the use of tools or glues.

For example, Ben Huggin's Little Star table (below left) and Graypants' new Steplight (below right) both come flat packed with minimal waste and each assembles with no glue or screws.

Tree trunks
Despite the emphasis on not using as many trees, tree trunks also happen be a hot trend. I've seen this trend before, but it seemed more prevalent this year than in the past. JSPR had a storage console (below) that was made from an old tree trunk and then covered with a rubbery finish.

David Stine's tree trunk tables (below left) were covered in oils and lacquers yet the natural beauty of the tree was the focus. Also, Sandback (below middle) showed these small stools or side tables made from little tree trunks as did Rotsen Design (below right) who paired them with a metal tulip base.

Safety orange
Nothing says caution like safety orange, except in this show the color wasn't yielding. Now, don't go out and start decorating your garden with orange cones or buying an orange jumpsuit -- the best way to use safety orange in your own home is adding it as a small pop of accent color. It's also a hot color for outdoor furniture or accessories.

From top left, clockwise: The German Design exhibit, Tom Dixon's "factory workers" making lamps on site, Snug Furniture, and Anglepoise's ginormous lamp.

 

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