Crawling Into a Tent Wasn’t the Only Memorable Moment from ICFF 2026

This story is part of Fair Take, our reporting on global design events that looks up close at the newest ideas in fixtures, furnishings, and more.

"Did you see the big tent yet?" a designer on the floor of the Javits Center asked myself and Dwell senior visuals editor Valeria Suasnavas as we made our way through this year’s edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). We’d already been in the convention center for an hour or two. We’d seen handmade papier-mâché mirrors, a modular chair that, with the shifting of a few magnets, could quickly become a pair of chairs (made by Reup Fabrication), and our fair share of lamps, but we had not yet stumbled upon a tent.

A few minutes and a couple hundred steps later, we arrived at a campsite in the far corner of Javits. Such a summery display felt like a fitting spectacle for this year’s ICFF. While the fair has taken place in May since its inception in 1989—just as us New Yorkers are beginning to remember how sweaty the city can get in summer months and craving a reprieve from said sweatiness—it will be shifting to November beginning in 2027.

The rumored pair of aboveground tents mark the debut of British American Camping, a design-forward hospitality brand that will be opening three sites in the state of Georgia this October, with another in the U.K., in Cornwall, following later. The company will also sell outdoor furniture, beginning with a fire pit and low chair designed by Ben Huggins, which will be available for purchase beginning in July. For a moment this afternoon, though, one of the company’s tents provided a place to take a break from the many sights of ICFF. Here’s what else myself and Valeria saw before we were sufficiently tuckered out.

Sun Set’s midcentury futurist vision for outdoor lounging

The tents weren’t the only memorable outdoor debut. Designer and fabricator Kristen Wentrcek brought the first collection from her new brand, Sun Set, to ICFF’s Wanted section, a space devoted to North American designers, emerging studios, and student work. The chair, ottoman, and side table on display were presented in green at the fair, but they’ll be available in a wide array of colors. Comfortable as it was to have my feet kicked up, I sat down for longer than expected at the Sun Set booth as Wentrcek explained to us that the pieces were made using closed molds, allowing for a more lightweight end result. Given that the manufacturing process is so similar to sailboats, they’re extremely durable and just as suited for use in hospitality projects as in residential.

SIN’s versatile sconces

Designer Virginia Sin has had a busy month between ICFF and running a pop-up back home in Brooklyn. The most exciting addition to her ceramics-grounded assortment at ICFF is the modular Field lighting collection, which is composed of two different sized backplates in five different ceramic finishes with six different shades. The mix of different tones and materials, combined with the softness of shades and hard edges of the ceramic backplates, makes it easy to imagine the lighting being suited to spaces of a variety of styles.

Studio Sour’s ornamental joinery

I was pulled into the Studio Sour booth by the Sukar chair, which features what look like small ornamental bursts on its back, seat, and sides. Chicago designer Adam Mansour soon explained to me that these details aren’t merely ornament—they function as joints. All of the studio’s pieces reinterpret Palestinian motifs, including the chair which is inspired by Palestinian embroidery and the playful Sabaar coat hook system. Its readjustable pegs look almost like cactus spikes, leading to the piece’s name, which translates from Arabic to "cactus."

Gantri’s entrée into portable lighting

With memorable collabs with design brands and shops including RAD Furniture and Yowie, Gantri is dependable for creative 3D-printed lighting. This fall the brand is going wireless. Instead of depending on the USB-C cord system most portable lamps use, Gantri developed its own charging system intended to simplify the process, with a weighted base that ensures cords will never got lost behind furniture. The brand will also sell a tray with charging ports for eight lamps built into one base for hospitality projects.

Dooor’s accordion dividers

Accordion doors may not have a particularly luxe association here in the U.S., but the Italian company Dooor draws on its founder’s family history with accordion door production to create a new context for the form. Depending on the specific textile chosen, Dooor’s products can feel futuristic or minimal, as exemplified by the holographic material and simpler fabric on display at ICFF.

Anna Dawson’s glass lamps

Many know Anna Dawson for the Swell Wall Catchall she designed which was produced by Heller. The designer has an increasingly impressive body of work as a lighting designer too. This year Dawson debuted three new lighting collections, including a two-lamp collection which represents the studio’s very first table lamps. Titled Twirl, both are inspired by dance and have a smooth base balanced by a shade with a rougher finish. Dawson’s excited new pieces present an exciting new direction—and it certainly doesn’t hurt that table lamps are easier to install in the booth, as she pointed out herself.

Leibal’s calm mix

A group show curated by Leibal had a lot of work I’ve admired in photos, but never seen in person, including Mock Studio’s Miter Side Table which reminds me of sticks of butter stocked on their ends and topped by another slice, without feeling at all twee. I was happy to see Vy Voi’s paper lamps, too, and surprised to find that Kalon Studio’s aluminum frame chair was incredibly comfortable. Throughout the fair I gravitated towards a lot of small details, but Thomas Yang Studio’s stone dimmer switches on display on a shelf in the booth were my very favorite.

Ridezign’s ruminations on light

I was familiar with Ridezign’s lamps from seeing them at the MoMA Design Store but I’d never seen the full collection in person. The portable lamps are available in a range of sizes and can be stacked in different configurations, or even wall mounted as renter-friendly sconces. What pulled me into the Rizdesign booth wasn’t their lamps, though, but the Tesser Rugs, which depict light pouring through a window.

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Glass-Like Dimmer Knobs I Had to Touch and More Engaging Objects at the Afternoon Light Design Fair