Once again, it’s time for ICFF, North America’s largest furniture fair—a three-day extravaganza that packs a lot of chairs, rugs, lamps, and delight into the most undelightful location, the Javits Center near Manhattan’s blustery West Side Highway. As is standard, one of the more exciting aspects of the event is Launchpad, a centerpiece for new and emerging talent from design schools around the country. I can say with certainty that I am rarely, if ever, disappointed here. Join me on my journey.

Appartement2

Caroline Grondin and Guillaume Avraguez of Réunion Island, France, brought their stocky and charming Totemique collection and the purple iteration caught my eye immediately. Conceptualized as a modular storage system, the lacquered cubes can be stacked or arranged however you see fit. The chunky wooden legs and round stone handles are also customizable. When viewed up close, the pieces had a commanding presence, but in a fun way.

Super Design Studio

Sebastian Martinez’s lounge chair, Convergence, is simple in its construction, with a cherry wood seat and polished aluminum frame. Admittedly, it was the shiny bit that caught my eye first, but upon closer inspection, I was in thrall of its simplicity and its attention to detail—a mirrored bit of aluminum on the chair’s underside reflects the wooden frame, creating an infinity-mirror effect that gives the furniture some visual heft.

Portals Collection by Studio Bucky

Alex Buckeridge of Studio Bucky, an architect and interior designer by trade, is making his foray into furniture with the Portals collection. What caught my attention about the mirror here was the illusion created by the thickness of the frame—when I viewed it from the side, it looked like just an empty doorframe, but as you approach, the mirror is a pleasant surprise. The piece is inspired by the portal tombs of Ireland—megalithic rock structures dotted around the countryside.

Duskshaped

Cara Salvatore, the artist behind these two quiet but stunning lamps, told me that the pieces on display were some of what was left standing after a fire in her shared studio space. Each table lamp is made from aluminum and there’s a fun, tactile quality to both. The tall lamp on the left is actually two pieces; you can move the front panel or remove it completely and turn it into a sconce. On the right, the cutest little table lamp I ever did see comes with a shade made of scrunched metal mesh.

Ridezign

Ridezign’s Tesser lamps are modular, stackable, and, to my surprise, 3D printed. Their form is inspired by the glowing windows in New York City buildings and the little glimpses of life you get from walking down the street, peering in.

Wang Yichu

I found myself enamored with Wang Yichu’s work in 2023, and so it’s no surprise that I found my way back to his work this year. Personally, if art doesn’t have a sense of humor, then it is largely useless. Wang’s work, seen here, scratches my itch for the faintly ridiculous. The big spiky boy on the left, “Urchin,” is a jewelry box. Three of the many spikes pull out from the center to reveal a small spot to hide treasure—jewelry, a dollar bill, a joint or three. And the charming little fellow you see on the right is basically what it looks like—a cat carved out of poplar, with a cane from Amazon as its tail.

My love for both objects knows no bounds! Pulling the spikes to reveal a rolled-up dollar bill did not get old and hefting the cat by its handle and parading it around for a minute or two was a treat. The cat is heavy enough to be a weapon, should you need it, or in repose, a nice place to hang your bag.

Studio Nawa

There was no shortage of shiny things to look at but Studio Nawa’s Surface was as if a puddle of liquid mercury gained sentience and formed itself into a cute little chair. Though it often feels incorrect to touch the art, I did, at the behest of designer Alina Nasmeeva, who was not nearly as distressed as I was about the handprint my sweaty palm left on its surface.

Novisto

Like a magpie, I flocked to Novisto’s gorgeous sconce/scent diffuser, Fiore—a clever take on decorative lighting and a gorgeous way to display flowers. The larger unit has a light, a vase, and a fan to diffuse the scent of the florals, and the reflective surface of the stainless steel cone is mesmerizing. If left to my own devices, I would’ve stared at this floral arrangement all day.

Uwu Studios

It’s hard to find a cat tree that doesn’t scream animal shelter. The cat trees designed by Uwu Studios look nothing at all like the offerings at your nearest Petsmart, and thankfully, they are much, much better. The rugs and sisal pads on each platform are removable, and each component of the cat tree can be adjusted and changed around to suit your precious ward’s desires.

Concrete Poetics

The hand-cast cement objects from the Ridgewood, Queens studio Concrete Poetics can be almost anything you want them to be—planters, stools, a base for a table, or just an imposing yet friendly plinth, plopped in your foyer, near the front door, for your mail or your keys. Their undulating shapes are created by individually casting each layer and then placing them on top of each other.

Indo

Indo’s mirror and pendant lamps are inspired in part by the intricate brickwork seen in Indian palaces and also by veils. The strings of small brass beads that dangle in front of the mirror create a sheer effect that is mesmerizing up close and invites interaction, while also diffusing the reflection of the viewer.

Another World

I’m a sucker for good tile and Another World uses it well on the face of its maple-veneer credenza, Elsewhere. The goldfish depicted on the front are hand-painted, and the piece is a nice bit of whimsy and a moment of quiet in a show where so many other pieces are clamoring for attention. (Another World is also a part of Colony’s 2025 Designer Residency program—a mark of excellence.)

Juntos Project

There’s a lot of wood and a lot of chairs at ICFF, but Juntos Project’s quiet seat, pictured here in a stunning burgundy, was a standout. A chair should be, above all, comfortable. This iteration in leather and burgundy-tinted wood is big enough to have a strong presence, but its construction is spare—just a few slats of maple and some leather achieve something elegant that’s also a nice place to sit.

Heller

Heller’s latest innovation in plastics comes in the form of these chairs—and all of its products, save for a few—that are now made with “worry-free plastic.” This sounds like a clever marketing term, created to assuage the fears of consumers concerned about the environmental damage that plastics can wreak, but the furniture brand is putting its money where its mouth is. All of Heller’s pieces are now embedded with an enzyme that activates in deoxygenated environments and breaks down the plastic over time, turning it into nutrient rich soil.

Virginia Sin

This squat little table lamp, the Gio, comes in a variety of different finishes and shades and is inspired by ancient monolithic objects. The parchment paper shade creates a lovely muted glow, and though the lamp itself is quiet, I could imagine that on the right shelf or a nice side table, it would pack an impressive visual punch.

That’s all she wrote! See you next year!

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