Wanted at ICFF: Who to watch

Since its inception, WantedDesign, co-founded by Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat in 2011, has become recognized as a key feature of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Over the years, it has become a trusted indicator of innovation, offering guidance to aspiring designers around the world. Throughout its evolution, WantedDesign has taken on various forms: an independent exhibition, an immersive festival, a brick-and-mortar store, and now an integral component of the expansive ICFF framework. This year, from May 19-21, at the Javits Center, WantedDesign will undergo a significant transformation, rebranding as Wanted and integrating into the larger ICFF landscape. Wanted’s key programs include the Schools Showcase & Workshop, Launch Pad, and Look Book, have been vital to the organization since their inceptions, and are expected to grow in 2024.

Wanted Schools Showcase & Workshop

The Schools Showcase and Workshop at Wanted illuminates emerging talents, showcasing the remarkable work of students from design schools worldwide. It goes beyond a typical exhibition, offering a unique experience that delves deep into the creative process through a variety of workshops. Launched in 2022, this platform provides international design schools with an opportunity to present their top students, offering opportunities for essential feedback and networking prospects at this crucial point in their budding careers. Moreover, it serves as a central hub for schools to enhance student recruitment efforts and cultivate partnerships and exchange programs within a vast global network.

Wanted Launch Pad

Wanted’s Launch Pad stands as an invaluable platform for emerging designers worldwide, offering a prime opportunity to introduce fresh ideas and exhibit prototypes spanning furniture, home accessories, and lighting. This curated venue provides designers with a rare chance to showcase their creations to a major audience comprising industry professionals, media experts, and design enthusiasts. It serves as a catalyst for exposure, networking, and the potential transformation of innovative concepts into commercial success stories.

At Launch Pad, manufacturers discover new talent, explore pioneering ideas, and unearth potential products for development. The platform is segmented into two categories: Furniture/Home Accessories and Lighting, featuring a carefully chosen selection of design studios and independent designers from across the globe. These are some of the rising stars taking part in this year’s Launch Pad.

Cody Norman

Cody Norman is a Chicago-based artist, designer and educator. His work blends digital and analog fabrication techniques, transforming recycled and bio plastics into functional art objects. Inspired by biomimicry and sustainability, he creatively repurposes tools like the handheld plastic extrusion gun and utilizes a KUKA industrial robot for unique creations. His pieces evoke nature’s essence with a touch of unpredictability, reflecting the “usefulness” of plastic objects amidst their chaotic materiality.

Fisch Designs

Fisch Designs, founded by Ash Fischer in 2020, is a testament to innovative Australian contemporary design. With a distinct yet familiar style, Fischer pushes boundaries while prioritizing sustainability as a core value in his work. As Fisch Designs enters 2024, it remains committed to growth and excellence, aiming to set new standards by harmonizing aesthetics with eco-friendly materials to create stunning pieces of design.

Hanna Anonen

Hanna Anonen is a versatile designer with a diverse portfolio spanning spatial and graphic design to interior decoration products, including furniture and smaller items. Her pieces, frequently crafted from painted wood, are distinguished by vibrant colors, inventive concepts, and a playful aesthetic. Anonen’s creations are reshaping the perception of Finnish modern design and have garnered global acclaim. With a bold and distinctive style, her expert craftsmanship has attracted commissions from numerous Finnish brands.

Lesorr

David Raymond, a Montreal-based product designer, specializes in transforming common and aesthetic objects with a blend of urban, graphic, and natural inspirations. His radical designs maximize the physical characteristics of materials, challenging conventional distinctions between art and industrial objects. LESORR offers a range of objects characterized by a reverence for raw materials such as steel and wood, and a focus on optimizing user experience through thoughtful design.

M’ama Edizioni

Federica Zama is a multidisciplinary designer known for her holistic approach to design, spanning interiors, custom furniture, and decorative art objects. With a degree in architecture from Central Saint Martins and specialized training in product design from ISIA, her work reflects a unique blend of expertise and care. After years abroad, she founded M’ama in 2021, embodying her design philosophy of enthusiasm, attention to detail, and a touch of magic in every project.

Millim Studio

Millim is a dynamic multidisciplinary creative studio founded in Rome, founded by Chiara Pellicano and Edoardo Giammarioli. With a keen focus on exploring and crafting new forms of expression, Millim endeavors to forge enduring connections between culture, art, design, and communication. The studio specializes in creative consultancy, art direction, product design, and collectible design, operating at the intersection of various creative disciplines to bring innovative concepts to life.

Samindaman

Samuel, of Samindaman, is currently pursuing an MFA in Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. His focus lies in utilizing commercially available, bio-based materials to explore immediate possibilities in addressing our petroleum dependence across industries, particularly within the furniture industry. Samuel’s approach involves extensive material research, delving into origin, composition, manufacturing, life-cycle, and end-of-life analysis. By embracing a circular mindset, his work aims to demonstrate that overcoming challenges is not merely a matter of resources but rather requires innovative design thinking and industriousness.

WangyichuWangyichu

Wang Yichu is an emerging designer and artist also currently studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. With a deep appreciation for his surroundings and materials, Yichu draws inspiration from the environment to infuse intriguing forms and textures into his work. He describes his aesthetic as “21st-century Rococo,” reflecting a playful and glamorous style that captivates viewers. Influenced by the music of Mozart, which he considers a profound source of inspiration, Yichu’s creative journey has already earned him recognition, including features in the 2021 exhibition “The Stories Objects Tell” at Brown University and the 2022 edition of the Lake Como Design Festival.

Wanted Look Book

Wanted’s Look Book is a expertly curated exhibition space, described as an “in-person portfolio”. This exceptional showcase features cutting-edge design and installations crafted to inspire and captivate audiences. Look Book serves as a central hub for connecting with North American designers, makers, and entrepreneurs, offering invaluable inspiration for upcoming projects. With over 60 participants, the space also features the Look Book Atelier, a dedicated area designed for meetings and collaboration. In collaboration with Dezeen and supported by Turf, the Look Book Lounge will present daily activities curated by Canoa. These are some of the talented designers and studios participating in this year’s Wanted Look Book.

8888

Established in 2019 by Jean-Michel Gadoua, 8888 embodies a collective of innovative creators rooted in Montréal. Embracing a philosophy that defies contemporary conventions, 8888 boldly embraces a stance of discomfort. Their ethos centers around Brutaluxe™, a concept that celebrates and elevates raw materials and spontaneous gestures. Serving as a counterbalance to industrial and impersonal manufacturing, 8888 champions authenticity and creativity above all else.

Daniel Shapiro

Daniel Shapiro, a St. Louis-based ceramic artist, infuses his sculptural yet functional works with boundless imagination. With 15 years of graphic design experience, Shapiro’s pieces exude a playful, digitally inspired energy. His fascination with automotive design subtly influences his aesthetic, evident in elements like tubes and chrome. Daniel’s artistic journey spans small-town Missouri to vibrant cities like Miami and New York, each shaping his eclectic design language.

d’Armes

Alexandre Joncas and Gildas Le Bars founded d’Armes, a design studio dedicated to creating modern light structures with a unique poetic approach. Through extensive research and material experimentation, d’Armes produces illuminated sculptural pieces that evoke unique emotional responses, blending disparate elements to inspire awe and contemplation. The studio’s relentless pursuit of reinvention and aesthetic curiosity, fueled by the natural landscape, drives d’Armes to create extraordinary lighting for contemporary and classic spaces. Each d’Armes lighting piece is thoughtfully crafted with cutting-edge technologies and fine materials, ensuring enduring quality and beauty.

Lauren Goodman

Lauren Goodman is the creative force behind Studio Lauren Goodman, a sculptural furniture studio renowned for its innovative use of discarded objects and renewable materials to craft dynamic collectible designs. Based in Montreal, Lauren’s process begins with sourcing materials from regional waste streams and local suppliers, emphasizing sustainability and locality. By creatively repurposing discarded objects and merging them with traditional materials and fabrication techniques, she breathes new life into overlooked materials, creating truly unique and one-of-a-kind pieces. Lauren’s work goes beyond traditional upcycling, as she actively seeks to address the ongoing challenge of local waste by offering beautiful and functional solutions through her artistry.

Laylo Studio

Sam and Lydia founded Laylo with the aim of integrating traditionally siloed crafts, producing limited edition, functional works in their Chicago workshop using contemporary and age-old equipment and techniques. Committed to handcrafting each piece, they believe this approach imbues their creations with a tangible essence of their presence as both artisans and artists. Embracing a “slow-cooker” approach to design and manufacturing, they deliberately counter the relentless production schedule dominating the market since the mid-19th century. Each piece in Laylo’s collection becomes a narrative of their personal journey through the manual manipulation of materials, offering pieces brought into existence with intention, care, and a profound connection to the history and significance of making.

Platalea Studio

Platalea Studio is a Mexican-based artist and design duo consisting of Lilia Corona and Rodrigo Lobato. They are interested in investigating the convergence between the imaginary that exists at the meeting place between Mexico’s complex cultural imagination and the contemporary world beyond. It is a space for exploring the cultural encounters and transgressions of modernity—as well as an augury for the world that might come next. As Platalea explores distinct histories, mystical landscapes, cuisines, family traditions, and expressions of gender and sexuality, they find magic in the syncretism that defines our world today. They translate the coming together of different lives and ways of living into sculptures and installations that bring craft, body, belief systems, and technology together.

Simon Johns

Simon Johns, a designer rooted in fine arts, resides and creates amidst the tranquil woods of East-Bolton in southern Quebec, Canada. His artistic practice revolves around sculptural furniture and lighting, inspired by the geological features of his surroundings. Within his studio, ceramics, gypsum cement, metals, and intricately carved wood form a nuanced interplay that mirrors the natural processes shaping sedimentary stone. The result is a collection of functional yet poetic objets d’art, inviting contemplation on the interplay between earth’s permanence and human transience.

Learn more and get your tickets at icff.com

Visit WANTED DESIGN 2024 at ICFF to witness what’s next in design. Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of contemporary design at WantedDesign 2024.