Galerie’s Guide to NYCxDesign 2026

New York Design Week, the citywide festival also known as NYCxDesign, has returned in full force, drawing thousands of designers, collectors, and enthusiasts into a packed itinerary of product debuts, collectible showcases, gallery exhibitions, and inventive pop-ups scattered across the five boroughs. This year’s edition carries a noticeably broader reach, with activity spreading well beyond the fairgrounds and established design districts into studios, restaurants, ateliers, and cultural institutions throughout the city.  

Designers appear especially energized to participate this year—lending the festival an atmosphere of constant movement and discovery. That momentum aligns with the 2026 theme, “Design Connects Us,” which speaks to the increasingly fluid exchange between disciplines and the growing number of collaborations linking makers, brands, architects, artists, and craftspeople across the city’s creative landscape. 

What to See at ICFF, Wanted, and Afternoon Light 

NYCxDesign is anchored by ICFF and its integrated sister fair, Wanted, which together gather hundreds of exhibitors at the Javits Center from May 17–19. This year, the long-running fair positions contemporary design as a connective force under the theme “Common Ground: A Global Dialogue on Design and Shared Values,” placing cross-cultural exchange, material innovation, and socially minded thinking at the center of the conversation. Human-centered ideas will surface throughout the fair, beginning with ICFF’s first-ever partnership with Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester, which will receive a portion of registration proceeds in support of equitable housing initiatives. This year will also mark the final ICFF edition to take place in May before the fair shifts to a November schedule beginning in 2027, closing out nearly four decades as a springtime cornerstone of New York’s design calendar.  

Returning activations include the Ligne Roset Welcome Lounge at the fair entrance, Grohe’s Aqua Atelier spotlighting advances in sustainable water systems, and the Juniper Recharge Lounge, whose atmospheric lighting installations offer a welcome pause from the bustle of the show floor. ICFF is also widening its curatorial reach by collaborating with independent voices shaping contemporary design culture, including The Design Release founder Julia Haney Montañez, who is overseeing this year’s Look Book presentation of North American studios. Highlights include Coil + Drift’s verdigris chandeliers inspired by climbing vines, Marx Et Al’s richly patinated brass luminaires, and luminous handmade paper lanterns by Vy Voi.  

A particularly exciting new force on the fair calendar is Afternoon Light, previously known as Shelter, the shoppable showcase bringing a tightly curated assortment of furniture, home decor, lighting, and art from more than 75 brands to the WSA Building from May 17–19. Conceived by industry veterans and Shoppe Object co-founders Deirdre Maloney and Minya Quirk, the fair continues to expand beyond the conventions of a traditional trade event, pairing the rigor of a professional marketplace with the convivial atmosphere of a citywide gathering.  

Spread across two light-filled floors overlooking the East River, the fair will host immersive installations, product debuts, shopping, music, and food within a setting tailored to discovery and conversation. Among the highlights are USM and Symbol Audio’s “Wall of Sound,” a music-inspired installation introducing the Swiss company’s first-ever soft product; ZETR’s North American debut inside an immersive presentation by Australia’s Flack Studio with lighting by Volker Haug Studio; and RAD Furniture’s new collaboration with designer Sam Klemick.  

The Latest Product Launches 

Outside the fairs, a wealth of highly anticipated product debuts will light up galleries and showrooms across the city. Floral motifs have emerged as a recurring thread, especially in lighting. Galerie Creative Mind studio In Common With teamed with Venetian glass atelier Laguna~B on the Lido Series, the studio’s first collection produced in Murano, which applies centuries-old murrine techniques to sconces, flush mounts, and chandeliers flecked with daisy-like patterns and bursts of color. Astraeus Clarke and Devin Wilde’s Staccato Collection pairs sculptural ceramic shades resembling calla lilies and magnolia blooms with finely detailed brass armatures. At Kartik Research, Soft-Geometry’s playful Flower Sconces channel childhood doodles and California superblooms into sculptural illuminated works, while Danny Kaplan and Kassandra Thatcher’s Foxglove collection translates botanical silhouettes into chandeliers, sconces, pendants, and mirrors crafted from plaster and metal.  

Elsewhere around town, product debuts channel unexpected material pairings and far-reaching references. Maiden Home’s second collectible release, the Eva Collection, marks the brand’s first exploration of ceramic, pairing white oak and walnut case pieces with hand-cast ceramic inlays arranged in crisp geometric compositions. Lawson-Fenning’s new Bosque Collection draws from Japanese Metabolism across richly grained oak and walnut furnishings, joined by limited-edition side tables featuring hand-painted ceramic tops by New York artist Bruno Grizzo. At The Future Perfect, Studio D’Haene will unveil its first furniture collection, created by Jane Yang D’Haene and her late husband, Francis D’Haene, after the pair encountered a historic Korean jogakbo textile at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ceramic inlays devised by Jane animate tables and cabinets whose silhouettes and proportions Francis carefully refined.  

Must-Visit Collectible Design Shows 

A wealth of stellar group shows around town proves there’s never been a more fervent appetite for collectible design, so we’ve organized them by neighborhood for ease. 

Start downtown in SoHo, where gallerist Amélie du Chalard is presenting French lighting artist Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert’s solo New York debut, a constellation of molten-glass works whose spun disc-like silhouettes evoke the path of light particles traveling through the cosmos. Nearby at Guild Gallery, Montana ceramist Casey Zablocki unveiled monumental wood-fired vessels whose craggy surfaces channel the rugged terrain of the American West, with celadon and robin’s egg blue glazes settling across the pieces like mineral deposits. At Raisonné, French ceramist emmanuel boos presents richly glazed furnishings whose stacked modular geometries embrace material unpredictability. In TriBeCa, Gallery Fumi recently launched a three-month residency at Galerie56 with a group exhibition featuring Sam Orlando Miller, Jeremy Anderson, and Francesco Perini. Jean Royère’s exuberant use of color shines at his namesake gallery nearby with an installation of iconic and newly released archival pieces rendered in the vivid palettes found in his interiors and gouache studies, including lavender, pale green, coral, and gold-toned furnishings upholstered in sumptuous alpaca fabrics.  

Then migrate uptown to Chelsea, where Friedman Benda is presenting two groundbreaking bodies of work by Joris Laarman, who pushes plywood into daring new territory through digitally fabricated geometries made possible by an innovative biodegradable resin. Nearby, Les Ateliers Courbet unveils sculptural furnishings by Ethan Stebbins, whose signature granite-and-wood constructions now incorporate charred timber that heightens the contrast between carbonized surfaces and raw stone. A trip eastward to 200 Lex rewards visitors with New York magazine editor David Haskell’s small-scale ceramic, bronze, and cast-glass sculptures at Donzella, many resembling weathered coastal rock formations shaped by tides and erosion. In Midtown, House of Santal is presenting a vivid survey of contemporary South Asian craftsmanship inside its soaring Rockefeller Center gallery, while 53 West 53 is hosting a polished exhibition of Brazilian modernism curated by Ulysses de Santi and Ashlee Harrison. 

Further uptown, a strong concentration of exhibitions unfolds across the Upper East Side. Perched atop Sutton Tower is Galerie Gabriel’s “The Cultivated Eye,” a sweeping exhibition curated by Julie Hillman that examines collecting as a form of cultural transmission, pairing masterworks of 20th-century design with rare vintage pieces sourced from Galerie Gastou, Salon 94, Dobrinka Salzman, and Dennis Freedman. Nearby, Dernier Cri is staging a thoughtful meditation on the unseen connections between material and maker through fiber-based works by Windy Chien and Suzanne Tick. Emma Scully Gallery is debuting a furniture collection by Ana Kraš that explores silk expressed through tables and lamps that juxtapose its delicate textures against wood, glass, and metal. Salon 94 is handing its stately townhouse over entirely to Tom Sachs, whose sprawling presentation of furniture, ceramics, lighting, sculpture, and paintings traces four decades of his bricoleur practice. At Valerie Goodman Gallery, a suite of Japanese-inspired furnishings that Benôit Maire fashioned primarily from single sheets of aluminum are accented with raku ceramics and exquisite leather details.  

New Showrooms to Explore 

New Yorkers have access to some of the most rarefied design showrooms, from the heritage Italian brands lining Madison Avenue to stalwart destinations like the New York Design Center and the Decoration & Design Building. Many deserve a place on your itinerary. Among the chicest debuts is Wretched Flowers, the artist-led studio known for gemstone-beaded chainmail lighting and tapestries, which is opening its first New York atelier alongside Petra, the purveyor of artistic hardware by Sight Unseen co-founder Monica Khemsurov. Makrosha has unveiled a richly layered showroom conceived with designer Tara McCauley, debuting the Shinki Collection of rugs by founder Esha Ahmed inspired by 20th-century East Asian artistry and Taisho-era motifs. In TriBeCa, Audo Copenhagen recently opened Audo House in New York, a hybrid cultural hub designed by Norm Architects Founder Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen that channels Scandinavian sensibilities through warm woods, filtered light, and tactile materials.   

Design-Forward Retail Therapy 

All this gallery-hopping can exhaust even the most devoted fairgoer, but a strong crop of fashion boutiques offers ample opportunity for retail therapy. After stopping by Afternoon Light in the Financial District, make time for Printemps, the French department store whose fantastical interiors by Galerie Creative Mind designer Laura Gonzalez unfurl like a world unto themselves. Inside the sprawling Wall Street outpost, hand-painted frescoes, circus-striped cafés, and the landmarked Red Room coalesce into one of Manhattan’s most transportive retail experiences. Migrate northward to Dries Van Noten’s new 3,500-square-foot SoHo boutique, whose soaring interiors pair textured concrete, exposed pipes, and original brick with a custom gilded sculptural screen by Belgian artist Ben Storms. 

Issey Miyake, meanwhile, has unveiled a cavernous Madison Avenue flagship by SO–IL inside the landmark New York Life Building, exposing the Beaux-Arts shell and industrial framework beneath monumental glass staircases and vividly hued pleated garments. Then there’s the Peter Marino–designed Dior flagship in Midtown, whose multistory Colorama installation sweeps around a grand spiral stair amid collectible furnishings galore and lush garden-inspired salons. Further uptown, Galerie Creative Mind fashion designer Ulla Johnson has opened a deeply personal Madison Avenue boutique conceived with Studio Valle de Valle, layering treasured objects, trompe l’oeil flourishes, and artisanal details throughout the intimate storefront.  

Restaurants With Design on the Menu 

Very few cities understand restaurants quite like New York, and this year’s crop of openings offers plenty of reasons to book a table between gallery visits and showroom appointments. Galerie editors are especially hyped about Golden Steer, the legendary Las Vegas steakhouse that recently landed inside the storied One Fifth Avenue with theatrical interiors by Modellus Novus that weave together Rat Pack lore and downtown glamour. Diners also continue to buzz about Wild Cherry, the intimate restaurant tucked inside the West Village’s historic Cherry Lane Theatre and overseen by chef-owners Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson, who first crossed paths at Daniel more than three decades ago. Zeb Stewart outfitted the room with deep green banquettes, checkerboard floors, and moody lime-washed walls that channel the allure of an old-school supper club. On the Lower East Side, Comal pairs bold Mexican flavors with global techniques inside a tactile dining room furnished by Mexico City studio La Metropolitana.  

Uptown, Galerie Creative Mind restaurateur Simon Kim recently pulled back the curtain on a triple-concept takeover of 550 Madison that includes the soaring Bar Chimera, a subterranean outpost of his Korean steakhouse Cote, with an intimate omakase counter by chef Masahiro Yoshitake opening in the fall, all threaded together through exacting hospitality and cinematic interiors by Rockwell Group. Occupying a prominent corner at the base of the MetLife Building is Giulietta, a lively new dining room by Home Studios that channels the convivial spirit of Italian hospitality through striped banquettes, hand-painted murals by Kimmy Quillin, and a traditional Italian led by Ed Scarpone and restaurateur Mark Batak.  

Nearby, Sotheby’s recently unveiled Marcel inside the Breuer Building, an all-day dining room with layered interiors by Roman and Williams that enhance the landmark’s muscular modernism through walnut paneling and bronze accents. It’s also worth heading to Armani / Ristorante, the elegant Madison Avenue destination inside Giorgio Armani’s Upper East Side flagship, where Galerie recently hosted an intimate dinner celebrating this year’s Creative Minds. For more Galerie-approved dining options, we recommend checking out Crane Club, Santi, Twin Tails, Locanda Verde, Fedora, La Tête d’Or, Le Chêne, Maison Passerelle, and Cove.