Submaterial at 2026 ICFF
For the third year in a row, Submaterial exhibited on the floor of the Javits Center during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). This tradeshow is always a fun one for us. Since we are based outside of the major design cities (think New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago), this is the perfect opportunity to showcase our brand and products to a new audience of designers and design lovers.
For three days, our team chatted with interior designers, other manufacturers, fellow exhibitors, and lots of design students. They showed off three BRAND NEW products while also highlighting our collection of wall-hung art and mirrors. And if you could not tell, it was very, very BLUE.
Early ICFF Booth Planning
If you have literally ever seen our website or social media, you know we like color! So, when planning this year's booth, we knew we wanted it to be eye-catching and brightly hued. Initially, we thought about breaking our 20 ft. by 5 ft. into three sections, with each area color-drenched in a different color. That would mean the wall and the products hung on it would all be in the same tones. (I mean, we do have access to more than 90+ wool felt colors). But the three areas felt like too much visual clutter, which is the exact opposite of the intention of color drenching.
But, What is Color Drenching?
According to Architectural Digest, color-drenching "[offers] a powerful one-hue punch, color drenching reduces visual noise and can even make small spaces appear bigger."
The 2023 article also says, "Color drenching goes well beyond the simple accent wall. Like a monochromatic fantasy, the trend is all about a full-on, single-hue explosion. "
But there is something important to note about how this type of design works: not every single item needs to be the exact same tone and finish. This look is best achieved by mixing materials and textures, which makes it perfect for us, as playing with texture and materials is an important part of our design language.
Blue Decision
After deciding to focus on only one color, we looked at our options among the materials we hoped to highlight. Tons of blue, with the rich, dark royal blue being the main focus, made sense for us. Filzfelt offers a huge range of colors, but their blue offerings are extensive.
This color choice (which would be a fortuitous one, as you will see later on) allowed us to play with powder-coated metal, 100% Merino wool felt, and a new material for us, cactus leather!
We ended up choosing an additional accent color because we also fabricate in wood and cork, and we wanted the unique tones and textures of these materials to shine through. We chose to add the warm brightness of white oak and natural cork, which complemented the blues well.
NYC is a long way from ABQ
As you might imagine, the distance between our home in New Mexico and the Javits Center in New York is considerable and presents specific challenges. In addition to the distance, our booth design featuring wall art and mirrors hung on top of the wall-covering designs can be complicated to install without skilled labor, risking damage to the rented walls at the tradeshow. PLUS, the labor requirements at the Javits Center are strict. For us, having a partnership with a NYC-local contractor and fabrication team who can help us navigate the shipping, installation, and loadout of our booth makes all the difference.
Enter David Flatt, the Long Island City-based design and fabrication experts, with whom we have worked with on each of our three ICFF presentations. This collaboration allows us to ship our products to NYC early, so the team at DF can plan and troubleshoot any installation issues. They also organize the shipment of crates to the Javits Center, order lighting for the booth, and secure the necessary amount of labor hours from the on-site laborers. These are all tasks that distance complicates, and we are grateful for their partnership on these projects.
Three Brand New Products Debuted at ICFF
Echo Cactus Leather Wall Covering
The showstopper of our 2026 ICFF booth was the bright blue Echo Wall Covering (seen closeup above). Echo is the culmination of several considerations: our simple graphic design language, a desire to work with new, innovative, sustainable materials, and a goal of beautiful, functional acoustic solutions.
About Echo:
Soft vertical seams in supple cactus leather create the luxe surface. Echo highlights the ground-breaking innovation of 21st-century sustainable materiality. In a tile-based design, each element is clad in Nopal cactus leather produced through a highly resource-efficient process, while the substrate is a recycled, sound-damping acoustic material.
Ripple Wood Wall Covering
Ripple Wall Covering in white oak was displayed on the outside wall of the booth so that folks walking down the aisle next to our booth had something dynamic and dimensional to catch their eye (especially with this blue Wander Mirror hanging on the wall too).
About Ripple:
Ripple Wood Wall Covering transforms any wall into a dynamic architectural feature. Its flowing, sculptural form is crafted from precision-bent laminations of wood veneer and natural cork. The deeply dimensional surface allows for dramatic pools of light and shadow.
Ripple will officially launch at the beginning of August 2026!
Confluence Screen
The Confluence Screen, which anchored the left side of our booth, allowed attendees to look through its bent lamination element into the blue of our booth. This new design will be the final of the three new products to launch, likely in September 2026. We don't want to spoil too much, so that is all we will say about Confluence here.
Everything is Coming Up Blue
Remember when we said earlier in this article that our choice of blue was fortuitous? Well, that is because we saw the same deep saturated blue EVERYWHERE.
While the 2026 Pantone Color of the Year might be "Cloud Dancer" (i.e., white), the color that seems to have taken over fashion and the ICFF show floor this year is Cobalt Blue.
Submaterial at ICFF 2026 was a Magical Experience.
Our time in New York City for ICFF is always inspiring and fun! Many thanks to our fantastic booth staff, our design team, Owen, and Damian. It is a real marathon to stand for 8 hours a day, for three days in a row, and talk nearly the whole time. They handled it with enthusiasm and grace.
You might have heard that ICFF is actually moving to the fall in 2027. It will be presented at the Javits Center at the same time as BDNY, which is a great pairing, and we are looking forward to being there!
