Metropolis Magazine reports that despite the splitting off of trade shows last month, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair broke their attendance records, with 17% more people showing up at the Javits Center.
Wow. It seems that design really IS on the rise and we should have all opened a shop called Design Within Reach in the late nineties while we were busy drinking our lattes from Starbucks.
Meanwhile, the Italian spinoff - I Saloni - didn't fare as well. But Space Downtown was boffo, Brooklyn Designs was crowded and hopes are up.
"North American consumers are becoming increasingly design-savvy," says GLM's Phil Robinson. As if to prove the point, Mayor Bloomberg named this year's ICFF week "Design Week" for the first time ever. Next year, ICFF is already planning a spinoff of it's own. Dubbed ICFF:IINY, it will feature "traditional interiors companies from around the world." MGR
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
So, a "traditional contemporary" fair? Yeah, that'll help sort things out.
I went to I Saloni, and there weren't very many attendants. I thought the exhibitors showed some nice stuff, but unfortunately, not many people saw it.