In Conversation with ICFF: Lighting Joins a Design Dialogue
MAY 2025
IESNYC President Shoshanna Segal initiates conversations with colleagues and leaders in allied organizations to discuss relationships between the organizations and respective roles in different building industry sectors. We’re raising awareness about lighting, building coalitions, and covering hot topics – all to advance the art and science of lighting to benefit society as a whole.
Odile Hainaut
Co-Founder at WantedDesign
Brand Director, International Contemporary Furniture Fair
Editor’s note: The IESNYC began conversations with ICFF as part of our involvement with NYCxDESIGN. Here, we’re dropping in on a meeting to finalize events and preparations for lighting professionals to connect with the broader design community at ICFF. Free admission to the show for IESNYC members and friends, an invitation only roundtable session, and a 2 hour designer mixer open to all at the Juniper Recharge Lounge on Monday, May 19, aims to bridge the gap between lighting designers and interior designers, architects, and manufacturers.
IESNYC: We're looking forward to something new at ICFF. IESNYC, IALD NY, and Juniper Lighting are teaming up for a curated event on the show floor. It’ll bring together lighting designers with architects and interior designers in a kind of rapid-fire roundtable. The idea is to build familiarity with what lighting designers bring to a project – what we do… how we work, and when’s the best time to bring us in.
HAINAUT: We jumped on the idea right away. At ICFF, we’ve been expanding beyond furniture and home décor to better cover the full scope of interior design. Lighting design is a natural part of that evolution, so we're excited to create space for those voices.
IESNYC: The plan is to kick off with a presentation from me and David [David Seok, Senior Lighting Designer at The Lighting Practice, representing IALD NY], on the benefits of working with a lighting designer… just to set the stage for the roundtable portion. IESNYC is inviting four lighting designers and Juniper is rounding up hopefully a dozen or so interior professionals. Small-group conversations, with the lighting folks moving from table to table. Beyond them just sharing their experiences, we hope to gather some topics for future presentations.
Then from 4:00 to 6:00, everyone sticks around for a mixer right there at the Juniper booth.
HAINAUT: It’s a great format. It’s casual but structured enough to start real conversations – especially for people who haven’t worked with a lighting designer before but are curious. A focused back and forth like that can be hard to come by at a busy show, so we see this as really valuable.
A lighting guide to ICFF
IESNYC: We’re also working on producing a self-guided lighting tour of the ICFF show floor for IALD and IESNYC folks. There’s so much there, and it can be hard for lighting people to find what they’re specifically looking for. A paper map highlighting a dozen or so exhibitors and installations shouldn’t be hard to produce. We can likely send it as a PDF or have it available at check-in.
HAINAUT: That kind of map is something we’ve talked about with other disciplines too. ICFF is a curated show, but it can still be a lot to navigate. A focused guide will help people find what they’re most interested in – and then they’ll discover a few unexpected things along the way.
IESNYC: We really appreciate that ICFF is offering a special promo code for IESNYC and IALD, so the show is free. We want to build a stronger presence for lighting designers within New York’s broader Design ecosystem. I want my clients to understand that we are part of that.
ICFF is our foot in the door. Our members are used to going to lighting shows. We want to get better at going to not-lighting shows, too. And presenting.
My goal has been to try to expand our own idea of what it means to be part of Design and construction in New York. Here we're connecting with more interiors and hospitality professionals.
HAINAUT: Absolutely. This collaboration isn’t just about one lighting event – it’s about how we keep expanding what the show offers and who it includes. Hospitality, workplace, and residential design all benefit from integrated lighting strategies. So it makes sense for us to create space for that conversation.
IESNYC: Yes! Lighting often ends up treated like FF&E [furniture, fixtures, and equipment] but that misses a lot. Lighting designers aren’t just here for compliance or ambiance. We’re shaping the visual environment. That work belongs in the conceptual design phase, not just at the end.
HAINAUT: That makes total sense. And then we see the same thing: designers pick out beautiful fixtures that might not work within the larger lighting scheme. Knowing how to evaluate those choices, and when to collaborate with a lighting professional, can save a lot of headaches… or heartache.
IESNYC: Because lighting design straddles both art and engineering, it can be easy to overlook on both sides. We don’t slot neatly into a single category. But we want to contribute to placemaking from the start.
Sometimes designers forget that hospitality spaces and retail spaces are actually also workspaces. The carefully constructed atmosphere also serves as someone's workspace, and those considerations need to be addressed and balanced in well-constructed visual environments.
HAINAUT: There’s lots of creativity-focused education on that May 19 date, that might be of interest [“AAPI Voices in Design,” “Exploring Infinite Creative Potential with New Technologies,” “Bridging the Gap,” “Good Design and Architecture Create Happiness,” to name a few]. Of course, all three days of the show are free with the promo code [for lighting professionals].
If this goes well this year, we’d love to build on it for next year – maybe with a few lighting-centered talks or panels added to the program. There’s room to grow with NYCxDesign Week and the deluge of events happening across the entire city. We’re happy to be working with you to make it happen.
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International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF)
May 18-20, 2025
Javits Center, NYC
Free to IESNYC and IALD NY members and friends with promo code.
Join Us for a Lighting Design Mixer
Monday, May 19 | 4:00pm – 6:00pm
No registration needed.
Location: Juniper Recharge Lounge, Booth #928
(in partnership with HBF + HBF Textiles)
Join us at ICFF for a vibrant Lighting Design Mixer of interior designers, architects, and lighting designers. Hosted in collaboration with ICFF, Juniper Lighting, IESNYC, and IALDNY, this event is an opportunity to engage with peers, share insights, and forge meaningful new connections—and have some fun!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
