THE ICFF and ME

NYC’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) started out small in Hall 1E at the Javits Center in 1989. I attended, and loved its vibrant energy. Exhibitors were funky artists and studio furniture makers, just like me. I immediately signed on for the May 1990 show. I will assert that I, and my mostly vanished early cohort, are responsible for growing that nascent show into the sprawling design juggernaut that it became. We did this by simply creating cutting edge furniture and exhibiting it at every ICFF while the show built momentum throughout the 1990s. The Greater New York design community also loved this new local show. I was rewarded with terrific clients. Huge commissions from RAM Stern Architects; all tables and bartops for the still-extant Comfort Diner (214 E 45 St.); numerous terrazzo countertops, custom tabletops, vanities, tiles and cladding for small to midsize area companies. My own art furniture sold. Guggenheim Museum hired me to restore their historic spiraling terrazzo floors, a ten-year gig. Throughout the 1990s, it was a wonderful show for me. I exhibited at ICFF most recently in 2025 at their 35th edition and my 18th appearance there. The show’s focus has shifted to young designers and design schools. As a veteran exhibitor, I felt out of place. Shrinkflation has arrived. I bought floor space in 1990 at $17/square foot for a 4-day show, and in 2025 I paid $85/square foot for a 3-day show. As of this writing, ICFF has been sold for a second time. They will move the 2027 show dates from exquisite May to frigid mid-November, a possibly fatal mistake. I hope the show survives.