Sarasota Shops to Stock Products Featured at ICFF 2014
“If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere” is the design world’s mantra each May when fresh talent and international stars converge at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) to unveil the most innovative decorative products on the planet. For 2014, ICFF and various offshoot shows held simultaneously throughout the city revealed trends and prototypes in every category from rugs to lighting. Local stores are already stocking some of these new creations, and more are headed our way. Here’s a preview.

Nomadic folk embroidery of the Rabari tribe from India’s Kutch region is recalled in this graphic wool rug designed by London-based Doshi Levien for Nani Marquina of Barcelona. Truly global, the Rabari collection received an editor’s choice award at ICFF (from $5,325, 5 feet, 7 inches by 7 feet 10 inches). nanimarquina.com

Architect William Pedersen of Kohn Pederson Fox manned his own ICFF booth to introduce Loop de Loop, a seating collection of carbon steel and polyester mesh that he named for the performance tricks of small aircraft. Though it’s not yet on the market, Pedersen will document the chairs’ progress at loopdeloop.us

Retailers from Barney’s to Fred Segal are flocking to the nascent Finell line of luxury housewares with ingenious designs like the Grip round powder-coated aluminum tray with silicone bands that stabilize any size drink for easy, no-spill serving ($295). finell.co

Brooklyn-based Flavor Paper featured wallpaper attributed to a roster of designers from David Weeks and Andy Warhol to David Nosanchuks’ digital translations of art and architecture from photos taken in Rome and New York ($150 per roll, 27-inch by 15-inch). The Wallpaper Store, 7368 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, (941) 924-3640.

Each branch of the Tuareg floor lamp by Ferruccio Laviani for Foscarini consists of simple tubular elements directed differently to create a structure with a personality resembling that of an artistic installation ($5,500). Home Resource, 741 Central Ave., Sarasota, (941) 366-6690.

Comfort and whimsy align in furniture by Los Angeles design house Bend Goods, so named because everything (including the Lucy chair shown, $450) is made from wire shaped by hand and spot welded in a process called bending. bendgoods.com

Inspired by a YouTube clip of a juggler, each lamp or fixture in the IC Lights series by Michael Anastassiades for Flos takes the form of a sphere perfectly balanced on the edge of a rod. (Shown, $525). Light Up Your Life, 1620 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 330-0442.

Looking more fashion model than gardener, founder Linda Brattlof of Swedish-based Garden Glory drew crowds to her booth displaying hoses (from $179), wall mounts (from $99) and nozzles ($99) “for glamorous people with dirty nails.” gardenglory.se
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This article appears in the October 2014 issue of Sarasota Magazine. Click here to subscribe. >>