Dept. of Cliff Notes. After spending over five hours at ICFF yesterday we have decided to devote the entire day to unpacking the tremendous amount of information that we took in.
But whaddya think?
Without getting too hung up on it, ICFF is, was and continues to be a great event. Different this year, without the Italians and the cool space tube annex from last year, it was calmer but nevertheless packed with lots of beautiful work and - especially - lots of small businessmen and designers who are really passionate about what they do. On every row we walked down, we either saw something amazingly beautiful or met someone with a story that stayed with us. ICFF is a circus of ambition, talent and just plain positive energy.
Wasn't there some awful crap?
Oh, yes there was. We saw some stunningly ugly wood furniture that looked like someone had gotten carried away with their chisels, lathe and lacquer. We saw the Bouroullec's new chairs for Ligne Roset, which have got to be the ugliest thing they have ever done. We saw rugs by Angela Adams, that - god bless her soul - would give you a good laugh now and an even bigger one when you look back on them in 10 years. But the rough spots just made us appreciate the shiny diamonds even more.
So, without further ado, here are our picks for 2005. (photo: Dona from Spain) MGR
I went today, and I thought it was very good. I was surprised to see how many vendors used Ikea pieces in their booths. For example, I saw bedding textile companies using Ikea beds, others using Ikea stools, and some Ikea baskets.
I, for one, would like to see pictures of the rugs that made you laugh.
(It's not every day you get a good laugh from a rug.)
I agree with you completely about those damn Bouroullec chairs. What is going on? I felt like i was inside the emperor's new clothes. Ugly Ugly Ugly... and to make matters worse, really uncomfortable. Blehk. I am also totally over all of that random stained glass "modern" furniture crap - if you were there, you know what I am talking about.
I took the day off today to attend Charlie Lazar's lecture about the flat pack house, and though I am still a big fan of the product line, the lecture was a big dissapointment.
BUT, the ICFF on whole was amazing and inspiring and worth the trip. I was thrilled to see so many fabulous new wall paper and fabric choices.....and a lot of good old Ikea mixed in as well.... hillarious....