Tomorrow's Furniture Today at the ICFF

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Declaration of Independence

Then there was the apparently random but pervasive repetition of colors and materials—orange was "everywhere," Fawkes avowed. All of this information is promptly fed into consultancy work and trend reports for companies such as SK Telecom (SKM), with which PSFK has been working recently to redefine the Korean giant's mobile-communications business.

One clear trend was the increasing independence of American design. Although the industrial-design industry was born in this country in the mid-20th century, European firms have dominated the design scene for the past decades. While the European presence is still strong at the fair, American firms like Bernhardt Design are an emerging presence.

"Bernhardt's Global Collection shows a distinctly American approach to design by being timeless, comfortable, and well-proportioned," said David Pinter, lead design contributor to PSFK, as we looked at the company's installation of work by young designers. "Mixing designers with various cultural backgrounds together to create a collection under a single design language is symbolically American, and certainly unique to the industry," he added.

Green's Satellite Presence

Sustainability, of course, was another key show theme, though both Fawkes and Allan Chochinov, co-founder and editor-in-chief of design site Core 77, confessed surprise that it wasn't more prominent at the main Javits event. "When there's such a critical interest in sustainability, you would almost expect gratuitous greenwashing," says Chochinov.

In fact, many of the most interesting sustainable designs were on view at HauteGreen, one of the independent satellite events that have sprung up around the fair. The small, curated exhibition, held in a storefront on 19th Street, featured products and prototypes by 58 designers. "It was the highlight this year. I think people were expecting a lot, and they really delivered," says Chochinov.

"We put on the show on a relative shoestring—about $25,000," says Kimberly Oliver, executive producer of HauteGreen, which was sponsored by Design Within Reach and Smith & Fong/Plyboo, and attracted nearly 2,000 visitors over the long weekend. "In all, we chose 76 pieces from about 260 submissions, up from 40 pieces last year. One of the main reasons for the show is to demonstrate the possibilities of sustainable design, not just to consumers and retailers but to designers and those producing furniture. You can make wonderful objects that will be popular, have a market—and that aren't harmful for the environment," she says.

The Wrong Stuff

For Oliver, the RD4 Chair by Cohda Design was one of the standout pieces. It's a chair made from recycled plastic bottles. "It's so unique and innovative," she says. "You wouldn't think it was green design, you would think it was an amazingly cool chair, but it's entirely constructed from cradle-to-cradle materials, recycled materials that can be recycled again. And it's relatively affordable."

Events like HauteGreen and the smaller collections shown throughout SoHo and the Meatpacking District add an important edginess to the overall event. And while some, such as Chochinov, are nostalgic for the more adventurous, risky displays that have disappeared as the show has grown up, design's fringes are still there if you know where to look.

The Wrong Store, curated by art-world maverick Tobias Wong, is a case in point: a storefront with various high-end items by design heroes such as Yves Béhar, Maurizio Cattelan, Verner Panton, and Marcel Wanders on display. "Come In—We're Closed" read a sign on the window.

As it turned out, the storefront was only that—a window display that never opened for business. "They held a party one evening and everyone was in a good mood," says Chochinov. "Tobi was serving drinks on the sidewalk. It was one of the happiest events of the weekend and reflected that renegade spirit that's missing these days." Perhaps that's a trend that PSFK's Fawkes will be spotting next year.

Click here to view a slideshow of highlights from this year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

Helen Walters is the editor for BusinessWeek.com's Innovation and Design Channel.