L.A. home decor firms head to New York for NYCxDesign

Though Los Angeles hosts numerous design events throughout the year, dozens of Southern California home decor manufacturers hoping to make a national and global impact have headed east this weekend to show their work during NYCxDesign.

The annual event, a collaboration between the design community and New York City officials that debuted last year with 350 events, includes exhibitions throughout the city’s five boroughs and draws tens of thousands to two trade shows.

Wanted Design, now in its fourth year, runs through Monday with 60 exhibitors. Among them: Luxxbox, an Australian design firm that manufactures modular indoor-outdoor polyethylene furniture in Los Angeles.

“It may not be as cost effective as China, but it allows for quality at an acceptable price,” founder Jason Bird said. “Making the product where it’s sold cuts our carbon footprint and lead time, making consumers and local workers happy.”

Luxxbox will introduce the K collection of stools at Wanted Design as part of the Australian design collective Quench. With more than 600 exhibitors, the 26-year-old International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which runs Saturday to Tuesday, draws major manufacturers from around the world as well as independent designers and is the linchpin of NYCxDesign.

“It’s nice how the city is getting behind things with NYCxDesign,” said Brendan Sowersby, co-founder of 100xBetter in Los Angeles. “We showed at ICFF for the first time last year, and although there are so many off-site shows and parties, ICFF still anchors everything.”

ICFF will feature 43 exhibitors from Southern California — up from 33 last year — including rugs from Woven Accents and Not Neutral, lighting by Brendan Ravenhill and furniture by James DeWulf, Scout Regalia and Bend.

ICFF sales director Alexandra Cabat noted “a positive camaraderie” among Southern California designers, who share a sensibility shaped by modernism.

“Bend is bringing a bit of California to the ICFF,” founder Gaurav Nanda said. “The lightness and airiness of our products, the colors, encompass the California lifestyle, something rarely seen in New York. It’s all about bringing the beauty of the outdoors inside. This year we even brought along a few California succulents in our luggage.”