the rapper, the actress & the fight: icff part 1

coverage of icff on d*s will be a week long affair and i'm heading out to cover the stationery show today so you'll see that this week as well. one quick note: the d*s tour will start at 10 am on tuesday in front of the umbra booth on the main floor! hope you can make it! today will be my first shot at covering some of the highlights of the show: after walking the show twice (sat and sunday, 6 hours of walking) i found the same groups sticking out in the head and felt an overhwhelming urge to cut through the pack and really only bring you guys the best of the best (in my book at least). there were thousands of vendors there this weekend and d*s will spend the week covering what i thought to be the most impressive. but first, the good stuff:

[CELEB SIGHTINGS: kanye west and the lovely (and very pregnant) ms. rachel weisz were in attendance, and both were spotted at the lite brite booth. kanye wore a sweatshirt that said "f*%king awesome" all over it and rachel looked laid back and sweet]

[FIGHT NIGHT: designers take their work seriously and someone in the 1400 row accused another designer of stealing their designs. collar pulling and some messy fighting in the aisles ensued. yes, it was that ridiculous. who fights at a design show? well, apparently these guys do]

and now- overall impressions of the show?

[TEXTURE + TEXTILES: for me, this year was all about bringing textures and textiles to design. the integration of textiles and layered textures into furniture, lighting and flooring was far and away my favorite aspect of the show. kristina from 3layercake is preparing a big piece on this so i can't claim credit for the idea, but we've been talking about it and icff was definite confirmation of this trend]

[SOPHISTICATION: believe it or not, after walking endless rows of work i found myself drawing weary of the slightly kitsch, "ironic" design we've seen so much of (read: hunting chic, "disposable" designs and anything with the words "fu*k luxury" on them). i found myself leaning towards craftsmanship, quality materials and attention to detail that's often missing on the pieces i see in the mainstream market]

[GREEN-DESIGN: this was a bone of contention throughout the show. many of my colleagues and i (and many a show goer) came to the conclusion that we love green design, but feel that some teams are using it as a crutch, and that perhaps the movement needs to try to break a bit more ground with eco materials. i love the mission, the people behind it, everything, but the pieces really started to look alike when you got a bigger view of it.]

and now, round one of icff highlights:

[gorgeous 'stocking' crocheted lamps by cai lighting of lebanon. colorful, textured and romantic, these were some of my favorite pieces of the entire show]

[textured wall decorations from austin texas' j pritchard design. the color was really vivid in person.]

[ceramic stools by sha-ling that were part of the idsa aisle. more info coming soon]

[gorgeous hand dyed wool textiles from new zealand's essenze design. really rich colors and friendly designers]

[gorgeous hand made wallpapers by british designer catherine hammerton. she was as sweet as she was talented]

[bedding with a fun cartoon punch from twinkle living. great for a modern kids room]

[gorgeous felt throw by thailand's tazana design]

[tazana's gorgeous stemcell rose lighting was another of my favorites. perfect for a restaurant or bar]

[really beautiful etched leather seating from london's koi. the images reminded me of gauguin's island women]

[matt, cedar and the gang at lite brite were the toast of their row. i'm just glad the neon photographed well- it's so hard to get good neon pictures]

[richly textured felt rocks from the danish crafts collection. not quite sure what you'd do with them, but they were so soft to touch. touch therapy if there is such a thing?]

[more crocheted lamps from cai lighting. so, so lovely. they really stuck with me after the show]

[the lovely shelly klein of k studio and her beautiful new line of hemp pillows. a lovely sophisticated version of her previous line with new drawings embroidered on the fronts]

[who doesn't want a dutchtub? start a fire and relax on your roof, in the backyard or at the beach- it's portable!]

[i loved the teal and walnut combo on this great outdoor chair from m studio/metaline. i'm loving teal this summer]

[claudy jongstra's chartreuse felted textiles for maharam. 'drenth heath' was made by the dutch designer from a rare species of sheep she uses to create her felted pieces. the color was divine in person. you had to see it]

[blu dot's comfy felt bed. are we seeing a felt theme here? because there was A LOT of it at the show. and again with the teal. i was loving all the teal at the show this year, was a lovely break from last year's colors]

[beautiful teal and coral wallcoverings from new york's trove design. i would love to have a bathroom wallpapered with this. it was so calming and relaxing]

[barnacle wall storage pods by texas' plodes studio. the design team was relaxing with some covered beers, very texas]

[rich red tulip wallpapers from brooklyn's twenty2 design. nice people, great work. the tulips were such a refreshing change after a few aisles full of "eh" design]

[be back tomorrow with round two!]