The International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), an event that brings together established brands and emerging design, will take place in New York next May (May 18-20). It is an important event given the extreme dynamism of the construction and housing sector in the American metropolis, which makes it a constantly evolving ground for experimentation.
In June 2023, ICFF appointed Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, founders of the ‘off’ event WantedDesign, dedicated to research projects and small productions, as brand directors. The following year, a rebranding process was launched, with a new image and new strategies. We caught up with Hainaut and Pijoulat to take stock of the event, between the present and the future.
What is the balance of your experience as ICFF so far?
Despite the unstable and unpredictable global context, we remain deeply committed to supporting the industry and the design community as a whole. We aim to bring optimism and provide opportunities. We feel privileged to be in NYC, a place that has always brought people together—a key entry point for the North American market, with its diverse, dynamic, and creative community.
We have a fantastic team working on this upcoming edition, and we’re excited by the high caliber of participants, companies, and content. Registrations are growing every day, so we are ready and eager to welcome everyone to New York this May.
What are the most important new things you have brought? Have you done everything you had planned or are there still things to do?
There is always something to add, adjust, or reinvent. However, the repositioning and rebranding of ICFF in 2024 were extremely successful and well-received. This has created a solid foundation on which to grow the fair and develop ICFF into a year-round platform.
At ICFF, design is at the heart of everything we do. We’ve put significant effort into enhancing the experience, marketing, programming, and curation. We are committed to maintaining the quality of the event, which requires more than just selling booths—it’s about curating a meaningful and engaging experience. We believe this focus is essential for both participants and visitors, and it’s what will make the event successful and intriguing.
The ICFF brand has traditionally been associated with the commercial aspect of the industry, while your WantedDesign has always focused on more niche creativity. How do these two souls of the fair interact?
These two aspects interact very well! Bringing WantedDesign [now known as WANTED on the show floor at ICFF] under the same roof as ICFF has been key to revitalizing and boosting ICFF. We strongly believe in the fusion of the business side of design with its cultural side, and this integration is now happening on a larger scale at ICFF.
We like to think of the fair as having a soul, and the uniqueness of ICFF lies in the creativity and “avant-gardism” that WANTED brings. This dialogue between emerging and established brands is what makes ICFF appealing to its audience—mainly architects and designers seeking original, beautifully crafted designs, new ideas, discoveries, and opportunities to meet smart, cultivated, and talented people.
The geography of design-related events is changing (in Europe, for example, we have the 3daysofdesign phenomenon). What is ICFF’s position in this respect?
ICFF is firmly rooted in NYC, and it serves as the gateway to the North American market, which remains one of the most dynamic in the world. However, we recognize that it’s not enough to simply be a product showcase. We wanted to make ICFF more than that—to transform the Javits Center into a lively, engaging, and enjoyable experience. We believe we’ve achieved this by adding designed spaces and areas where people can spend creative and meaningful time.
In 2024, we also introduced ICFF Night Out, which we’re bringing back this year in partnership with NYCxDESIGN, Aspire, and Interni. This series of events in showrooms will take place in the NoMad district on May 16 and in the Soho district on May 17. The goal is to activate the showrooms during the week and invite our qualified audience to explore them before the main ICFF event begins on Sunday.
What is your most ambitious wish for ICFF?
Our goal is for the fair to be buzzing with activity for three full days this May. We want to foster an environment where meaningful connections and successful transactions take place, and to further solidify ICFF’s reputation as the most exciting and effective platform for supporting the design industry.
More importantly—and perhaps most crucially—we aim to continue offering a distinct point of view that challenges the industry to evolve. We hope to inspire designers, manufacturers, and companies to stay relevant in an ever-changing world by embracing innovation, responsibility, and sustainability. At the heart of this mission is the belief that design should not only be beautiful and functional but also conscious of its impact on the environment and society. By promoting these values, we want to encourage the design community to produce with purpose and integrity, fostering a more responsible and forward-thinking industry.
We are deeply committed to supporting business development and helping create success stories within the design community. ICFF is not just a showcase; it’s a platform for growth. We want to see businesses thrive, and our role is to facilitate meaningful partnerships and opportunities that allow both established and emerging brands to build their success stories. Whether through increased visibility, strategic connections, or collaborations, our goal is to provide the tools and resources that help businesses take their next big step forward.
