As befits a fair that is most Americans' first glimpse at the absolute latest in avant-garde furniture and interior design, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair's (ICFF) opening night party once again offered a venue with a very different look than the airy courtyards attendees are used to from the event's past locations.
For the second straight year, the show's organizers at George Little Management were unable to host the party at its traditional locale, the Museum of Modern Art, which is still under construction. Last year's fill-in host was Lever House, which catered the party in the plaza of its parent building.
This year, the organizers opted for the West Side space currently (and formerly) known as Tunnel (it was also briefly called the Waterfront, when it hosted our 2002 networking event). Partygoers plunged into a darkness lit only with spotlights on the event's "Wonder Women"-titled installation: An exhibit of furniture and interior designs exclusively by women that was organized by furniture design firm Dune.
Mounted on pedestals the length of the space and presented as sculpture, "Wonder Women" added historical and intellectual heft to the proceedings. Its presence was serendipitous; Dune had intended to host the exhibit anyway. "Actually, we were really surprised, because they came to us," said Christine Park, the director of media and exhibitions for Dune. "There was a really great buzz, and they heard about us, and they asked if they could have their opening night party with us."
The catering, however, was no surprise. Taste has a standing date with ICFF, and has for years. "We try to come up with new items each year, and we try to cover a broad spectrum of taste because there are so many out-of-town attendees," said Taste vice president Anne Kitchens. "We try to preserve the basic cosmopolitan quality of the menu—we had steak frites, quesadillas, tuna wasabi. We tried to make the trays reflect the space. Sometimes we use elaborate garnishes. This year, we were told to keep everything lean-looking, and the space is clean and simple," qualities that were also in abundance at the Fair.
Other ICFF-related parties took place throughout the week. Chair company Emeco, the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects and I.D. magazine hosted the North American premiere of Ping Pong, a film about Frank Gehry's new chair for Emeco, called "Superlight." Held in the basement of the Center for Architecture on May 14, the event featured a second Gehry tie-in: vodka provided by Wyborowa, for whom Gehry designed the bottle.
Three magazines hosted different parties on May 17. Surface magazine and Domus Design Collection (DDC) hosted an event at DDC's showroom at Madison and 34th Street to promote the shelter mag's Italian futurist issue. The crowd sipped Bombay Sapphire cocktails while waiting for turns to speak to the rock star of the event, designer Karim Rashid. Competing design mag Wallpaper hosted an event inside the men's store at Bergdorf Goodman, with catering by Taste. And finally Hamptons and Gotham magazines editor Jason Oliver Nixon and interior designer Monica Melham hosted a party at her store, M at Mercer, in honor of Philippe Starck's latest line of furniture and flatware. Guests drank wines by Ecco Domani and nibbled at chocolate creations by Vosges Haut Chocolat while sitting on Starck's immaculately white resin tables, afraid to spill.
—Greg Lindsay
For the second straight year, the show's organizers at George Little Management were unable to host the party at its traditional locale, the Museum of Modern Art, which is still under construction. Last year's fill-in host was Lever House, which catered the party in the plaza of its parent building.
This year, the organizers opted for the West Side space currently (and formerly) known as Tunnel (it was also briefly called the Waterfront, when it hosted our 2002 networking event). Partygoers plunged into a darkness lit only with spotlights on the event's "Wonder Women"-titled installation: An exhibit of furniture and interior designs exclusively by women that was organized by furniture design firm Dune.
Mounted on pedestals the length of the space and presented as sculpture, "Wonder Women" added historical and intellectual heft to the proceedings. Its presence was serendipitous; Dune had intended to host the exhibit anyway. "Actually, we were really surprised, because they came to us," said Christine Park, the director of media and exhibitions for Dune. "There was a really great buzz, and they heard about us, and they asked if they could have their opening night party with us."
The catering, however, was no surprise. Taste has a standing date with ICFF, and has for years. "We try to come up with new items each year, and we try to cover a broad spectrum of taste because there are so many out-of-town attendees," said Taste vice president Anne Kitchens. "We try to preserve the basic cosmopolitan quality of the menu—we had steak frites, quesadillas, tuna wasabi. We tried to make the trays reflect the space. Sometimes we use elaborate garnishes. This year, we were told to keep everything lean-looking, and the space is clean and simple," qualities that were also in abundance at the Fair.
Other ICFF-related parties took place throughout the week. Chair company Emeco, the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects and I.D. magazine hosted the North American premiere of Ping Pong, a film about Frank Gehry's new chair for Emeco, called "Superlight." Held in the basement of the Center for Architecture on May 14, the event featured a second Gehry tie-in: vodka provided by Wyborowa, for whom Gehry designed the bottle.
Three magazines hosted different parties on May 17. Surface magazine and Domus Design Collection (DDC) hosted an event at DDC's showroom at Madison and 34th Street to promote the shelter mag's Italian futurist issue. The crowd sipped Bombay Sapphire cocktails while waiting for turns to speak to the rock star of the event, designer Karim Rashid. Competing design mag Wallpaper hosted an event inside the men's store at Bergdorf Goodman, with catering by Taste. And finally Hamptons and Gotham magazines editor Jason Oliver Nixon and interior designer Monica Melham hosted a party at her store, M at Mercer, in honor of Philippe Starck's latest line of furniture and flatware. Guests drank wines by Ecco Domani and nibbled at chocolate creations by Vosges Haut Chocolat while sitting on Starck's immaculately white resin tables, afraid to spill.
—Greg Lindsay
Furniture design firm Dune displayed its "Wonder Women" exhibit of furniture and interior designs exclusively by women at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair's opening party at Tunnel.
Surface magazine and Domus Design Collection (DDC) hosted an event at DDC's showroom at Madison and 34th Street to promote the shelter mag's Italian futurist issue.
Chair company Emeco, the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects and I.D. magazine hosted an event at the Center for Architecture to debut the North American premiere of Ping Pong, a film about Frank Gehry's new chair for Emeco, called "Superlight."
