International Contemporary Furniture Fair Sees Double-digit Attendance, Showfloor Growth
George Little Management’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair is experiencing a growth streak, with the recent show scoring 12-percent growth in attendance and 14-percent growth for the size of the showfloor, both compared to the previous year’s show.
More than 29,642 attendees flocked to the 165,000 net square foot showfloor May 18-21 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York.
“We’re thrilled that the ICFF is experiencing this unprecedented growth spurt 25 years into its existence,” said Kevin O’Keefe, senior vice president of GLM.
He added, “The expansion speaks to the thriving nature of the global market for design, to the ICFF’s premier status as North America’s leading market for contemporary design, and for the show’s remarkable ability to pull in an ever-growing audience with the scope of its offerings.”
The show also had 570 exhibitors from 31 countries, nine contingents and 13 special features.
The 2012 event ranked No. 154 on the TSNN Top 250 Trade Show list.
Some of the features of the show included the ICFF Editors Awards 2013that honored 16 categories of contemporary product design.
ICFF also debuted Material Makers, a special feature that explored the hands-on process that is design innovation and product development.
In Material Makers, the ICFF matched material and fabricator exhibitors with select designers to develop ICFF-exclusive product for display.
Also launched at this year’s show was The Architect’s Newspaper’s and Mode Collective’s DesignX, a series of concentrated workshops devoted to digital design and fabrication technology.
The DesignX workshops – on the topics of parametric design, direct-to-fabrication and Web-based design apps – brought designers up to speed on the latest software and show them how to use fabrication technology to bring their ideas to reality.
ICFF also expanded its reach to a new continent with a feature that explored the African & African-Caribbean Design Diaspora (AACDD).
An initiative of the British European Design Group (BEDG), this addition to the show celebrated the multi-disciplinary creative talent emerging from the African and African-Caribbean craft traditions and included multiple freestanding exhibits with craftspeople showing off their skills.
Next year’s show will run May 17-20 at the Javits Center.
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