Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » the rapper, the actress & the fight: icff part 1

coverage of icff on d*s will be a week long affair and i’m heading out to cover the stationery show today so you’ll see that this week as well. one quick note: the d*s tour will start at 10 am on tuesday in front of the umbra booth on the main floor! hope you can make it! today will be my first shot at covering some of the highlights of the show: after walking the show twice (sat and sunday, 6 hours of walking) i found the same groups sticking out in the head and felt an overhwhelming urge to cut through the pack and really only bring you guys the best of the best (in my book at least). there were thousands of vendors there this weekend and d*s will spend the week covering what i thought to be the most impressive. but first, the good stuff:

[CELEB SIGHTINGS: kanye west and the lovely (and very pregnant) ms. rachel weisz were in attendance, and both were spotted at the lite brite booth. kanye wore a sweatshirt that said "f*%king awesome" all over it and rachel looked laid back and sweet]

[FIGHT NIGHT: designers take their work seriously and someone in the 1400 row accused another designer of stealing their designs. collar pulling and some messy fighting in the aisles ensued. yes, it was that ridiculous. who fights at a design show? well, apparently these guys do]

and now- overall impressions of the show?

[TEXTURE + TEXTILES: for me, this year was all about bringing textures and textiles to design. the integration of textiles and layered textures into furniture, lighting and flooring was far and away my favorite aspect of the show. kristina from 3layercake is preparing a big piece on this so i can't claim credit for the idea, but we've been talking about it and icff was definite confirmation of this trend]

[SOPHISTICATION: believe it or not, after walking endless rows of work i found myself drawing weary of the slightly kitsch, "ironic" design we've seen so much of (read: hunting chic, "disposable" designs and anything with the words "fu*k luxury" on them). i found myself leaning towards craftsmanship, quality materials and attention to detail that's often missing on the pieces i see in the mainstream market]

[GREEN-DESIGN: this was a bone of contention throughout the show. many of my colleagues and i (and many a show goer) came to the conclusion that we love green design, but feel that some teams are using it as a crutch, and that perhaps the movement needs to try to break a bit more ground with eco materials. i love the mission, the people behind it, everything, but the pieces really started to look alike when you got a bigger view of it.]

and now, round one of icff highlights:

[gorgeous 'stocking' crocheted lamps by cai lighting of lebanon. colorful, textured and romantic, these were some of my favorite pieces of the entire show]

[textured wall decorations from austin texas' j pritchard design. the color was really vivid in person.]

[ceramic stools by sha-ling that were part of the idsa aisle. more info coming soon]

[gorgeous hand dyed wool textiles from new zealand's essenze design. really rich colors and friendly designers]

[gorgeous hand made wallpapers by british designer catherine hammerton. she was as sweet as she was talented]

[bedding with a fun cartoon punch from twinkle living. great for a modern kids room]

[gorgeous felt throw by thailand's tazana design]

[tazana's gorgeous stemcell rose lighting was another of my favorites. perfect for a restaurant or bar]

[really beautiful etched leather seating from london's koi. the images reminded me of gauguin's island women]

[matt, cedar and the gang at lite brite were the toast of their row. i'm just glad the neon photographed well- it's so hard to get good neon pictures]

[richly textured felt rocks from the danish crafts collection. not quite sure what you'd do with them, but they were so soft to touch. touch therapy if there is such a thing?]

[more crocheted lamps from cai lighting. so, so lovely. they really stuck with me after the show]

[the lovely shelly klein of k studio and her beautiful new line of hemp pillows. a lovely sophisticated version of her previous line with new drawings embroidered on the fronts]

[who doesn't want a dutchtub? start a fire and relax on your roof, in the backyard or at the beach- it's portable!]

[i loved the teal and walnut combo on this great outdoor chair from m studio/metaline. i'm loving teal this summer]

[claudy jongstra's chartreuse felted textiles for maharam. 'drenth heath' was made by the dutch designer from a rare species of sheep she uses to create her felted pieces. the color was divine in person. you had to see it]

[blu dot's comfy felt bed. are we seeing a felt theme here? because there was A LOT of it at the show. and again with the teal. i was loving all the teal at the show this year, was a lovely break from last year's colors]

[beautiful teal and coral wallcoverings from new york's trove design. i would love to have a bathroom wallpapered with this. it was so calming and relaxing]

[barnacle wall storage pods by texas' plodes studio. the design team was relaxing with some covered beers, very texas]

[rich red tulip wallpapers from brooklyn's twenty2 design. nice people, great work. the tulips were such a refreshing change after a few aisles full of "eh" design]

[be back tomorrow with round two!]

Hi D*S, Thanks for all the show coverage – extra nice for those of us who don’t live anywhere near New York :)
When you said you were tired of certain things – “hunting chic, “disposable” designs and anything with the words “fu*k luxury” on them” – I was curious what you meant by ‘disposable designs’. Are you referring to things like stoneware ‘cafeteria trays’ or porcelain ’styrofoam’ cups? I never quite understood the appeal of those. Is this something, based on what you saw at the show, that you expect us to keep seeing more of?
I love all of the felt things you posted from the show. I’ve loved felt since I was a little kid, it’s irresistably touchable. I do hope to see more of that!

hi jennifer!

so glad you liked the first part. there will be more (and video coverage!) to come soon this week and next.

yes, by disposable i meant those faux takeout cups, plates, etc. they were still creeping around, as was the antler thing.

;)

d*s

Hooray for video coverage – I can’t wait!
That’s too bad the faux takeout is still around. I figured out what I don’t like about it – I think I only like faux when the faux is aspiring to be something better than what it is. Porcelain is so lovely, why would it want to mimic styrofoam? To me, a good example of faux is that glass lamp from C&B that looks like it is mercury glass. Or a machine-printed wallpaper that manages to look like hand woodblock work.
Re: hunting chic, I’m on the fence about that trend. I really dislike the kitschiest pieces of it regardless of price. Starck’s Saint Esprit stool is older than this trend but embodies the over-the-top woodsy kitschiness I don’t like. On the other hand, some pieces like those Soleau Design antler lamps have a simple and timeless quality that I think will look lovely in any home long past the death of the hunter chic trend. I also enjoy the Salvor Fauna pillow collection, even though they’re definitely more trendy and maybe a bit juvenile (we all have a kid somewhere inside of us!)
I think trends tend to only look bad in a home when there is too much of one thing. A couple of trendy pieces thrown into an ecclectic mix in the home can look like whimsical treasures. Too many trendy pieces and your home looks more like a modern gift shop!

Wow, thank you d*s, this is wonderful. Everyone has presented some really amazing work!! I want to put it all in my house…I think I’ll go buy a lottery ticket tonight [smirk]. Seriously, just gorgeous!!

Thank you, thank you for posting!!

wow, great looking bed! but it’s amazing how a company like bluedot, that does good design, has such a bad website. what’s up with designers and bad flash sites, and sites where a seperate little box pops up? ugh. i gave up browsing. other than my rant, great coverage.

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