SHOWTIME
More than the product, what dazzles at ICFF 2015 are the displays. In past years most exhibitors came with no-nonsense presentations, while the handful that came with more ambitious ones stood out. This year it’s just the reverse. Nearly all the installations have a sense of theatricality, with custom partitions, canopies, lighting, and display fixtures. Many have signage, lit promotional images, and seating areas for visitors. Those exhibitors who came with the same kind of barebones installations they did in the past (a table, a binder of product samples, a signboard, and a stool for their rep to sit on) look plain indeed.
In addition, this year’s event has a cool, unified feeling. Many of the booths have a slate grey or black carpet, or bare concrete floors. And many have black or grey painted walls. There’s a terrific rhythm to the layout and no corners lack energy. There are intimate booths mixed in with grand ones, booths showing tabletop items mixed in with booths hawking furniture, and brazenly lit booths mixed in with shadowy ones. It’s a pleasure to walk the aisles of the Javitz Center and take in the spectacle.
There’s a lot of the same kinds of things on display as in in past years: stools made from tree trunks, tables made from geodes, and hand-stamped wallpaper. But this year they’re displayed with more sass and polish. Standouts include booths by the Austrian contingent (who built a giant purple metallic backdrop), Antolini (who built a life-size marble labyrinth) and BECBrittain (who sunk one of their spare LED chandeliers into a pocket jungle garden). The prevailing sensibility is no longer craft, it’s show business.