Crawling Into a Tent Wasn’t the Only Memorable Moment from ICFF 2026

This story is part of Fair Take, our reporting on global design events that looks up close at the newest ideas in fixtures, furnishings, and more.

"Did you see the big tent yet?" a designer on the floor of the Javits Center asked myself and Dwell senior visuals editor Valeria Suasnavas as we made our way through this year’s edition of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). We’d already been in the convention center for an hour or two. We’d seen handmade papier-mâché mirrors, a modular chair that, with the shifting of a few magnets, could quickly become a pair of chairs (made by Reup Fabrication), and our fair share of lamps, but we had not yet stumbled upon a tent.

A few minutes and a couple hundred steps later, we arrived at a campsite in the far corner of Javits. Such a summery display felt like a fitting spectacle for this year’s ICFF. While the fair has taken place in May since its inception in 1989—just as us New Yorkers are beginning to remember how sweaty the city can get in summer months and craving a reprieve from said sweatiness—it will be shifting to November beginning in 2027.

The rumored pair of aboveground tents mark the debut of British American Camping, a design-forward hospitality brand that will be opening three sites in the state of Georgia this October, with another in the U.K., in Cornwall, following later. The company will also sell outdoor furniture, beginning with a fire pit and low chair designed by Ben Huggins, which will be available for purchase beginning in July. For a moment this afternoon, though, one of the company’s tents provided a place to take a break from the many sights of ICFF. Here’s what else myself and Valeria saw before we were sufficiently tuckered out.

Sun Set’s midcentury futurist vision for outdoor lounging

The tents weren’t the only memorable outdoor debut. Designer and fabricator Kristen Wentrcek brought the first collection from her new brand, Sun Set, to ICFF’s Wanted section, a space devoted to North American designers, emerging studios, and student work. The chair, ottoman, and side table on display were presented in green at the fair, but they’ll be available in a wide array of colors. Comfortable as it was to have my feet kicked up, I sat down for longer than expected at the Sun Set booth as Wentrcek explained to us that the pieces were made using closed molds, allowing for a more lightweight end result. Given that the manufacturing process is so similar to sailboats, they’re extremely durable and just as suited for use in hospitality projects as in residential.

SIN’s versatile sconces