Galerie’s Guide to NYCxDesign 2025
In May, the ingenuity of American talents go on vivid display as New York City transforms into a wonderland of stylish new home products and exceptional works of collectible design
New York Design Week, the weeklong festival also known as NYCxDesign, has returned in full force, and thousands of designers, collectors, and enthusiasts have descended on the world’s crossroads for a weeklong tour de force through latest product debuts, collectible design shows, and unique pop-ups that ICFF, Wanted, and the ever-growing list of citywide activations have to offer. Even in spite of the turmoil and unease surrounding tariffs, designers seem to be staying optimistic and presenting work with vigor and enthusiasm—apropos as the theme of this year’s festival, “Design is for Everyone,” speaks to design’s power to create a positive impact for all.
That also means there’s much to see. NYCxDesign is anchored by ICFF and its integrated sister fair Wanted, which features over 400 exhibitors alone. Held from May 18–20 at the Javits Center, the long-running fair is zooming out and taking a global approach under the theme “designing in harmony.” Human-centered, multicultural design imbued with global dynamism will be front and center, starting with a redesigned floor plan by RADS (Rodolfo Agrella Design Studio) that creates a smooth flow and distinct destinations. They include a welcome lounge outfitted with Ligne Roset furniture, Grohe’s curated experience highlighting water conservation, a lounge where fairgoers can recharge their devices with Juniper’s new power systems, and Wanted, which returns with the acclaimed Launch Pad emerging designer showcase.
A particularly exciting newcomer is Shelter, the shoppable showcase bringing a tastefully curated assortment of furniture, home decor, and art to the Starrett-Lehigh Building. Curated by design-world veterans and Shoppe Object co-founders Deirdre Maloney and Minya Quirk, the fair is rewriting the rule book about what a design event can be. “Not a tedious trade show, not another forgettable cocktail party,” Quirk says, “but a joyful, real-life experience where creativity, community, and business collide.” Expect debuts from best-in-class brands like Stellar Works, Roll & Hill, and Humanscale, and a giant showcase by the offbeat design fair JONALDDUDD, which will present works by 65 emerging talents curated by Chen Chen & Kai Williams.
Also worth seeing is this year’s Design Pavilion, the forward-thinking public design exhibition presented by NYCxDesign, which has returned to Hudson Yards with an interactive experience that puts the forward-thinking design ethos of Lexus on vivid display. Outside the pavilion is a Lexus LC 500 Convertible set against spectral light-based artworks by Nick Thomm; visitors can venture inside to experience a chiseled Lexus GX 550 accompanied by real-time ambiance technology that transforms guest movements and energy into vivid light-based works of art. The pavilion is on display through May 19 at Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens.
Goings-On Around Town
Time is always at a premium during NYCxDesign, so it’s advisable to knock out multiple stops at once—and neighborhood events are a convenient way to do that. Chelsea Design Night, taking place on Thursday, May 15, sees the area’s wealth of design galleries open their doors. Stop by Artemest to see its newly designed galleria by Galerie Creative Mind Nicole Fuller, Les Ateliers Courbet for a solo showcase of EWE Studio’s sand-casted furniture using ancestral metal casting techniques, and Bossa to see technically dazzling new glass furnishings by vanguard Brazilian designer Lucas Recchia. The latest collection by French interior designer and Galerie Creative Mind Pierre Yovanovitch, on view at his namesake Chelsea gallery, is a spirited ode to summer and the breezy sense of relaxation the season brings; it spans lounge chairs with butterfly-shaped backrests and rounded sofas intended to spark conversation. Exhibitions at Dobrinka Salzman Gallery, Friedman Benda, and Etēline round out the night’s offerings.
Head downtown on Friday, May 16, to walk the Mercer Street Block Party in SoHo: Amélie du Chalard, Calico Wallpaper and Stellar Works, Henrybuilt and Space Theory, Kasthall, Nordic Knots, BDDW, and Galerie Creative Mind Orior will all have their doors open. The next night, on Saturday, May 17, Boerum Hill Design Night will see the Brooklyn neighborhood’s charming array of design shops—East Fork, Porta, and The Primary Essentials among them—open their doors for an evening of events and conversations. One key highlight is “Every Shadow Is a Color,” an installation of the latest furnishings by local studio Juntos Projects at Assembly Line.
Emerging Designers to Discover
Scores of up-and-coming designers are itching to debut their latest during NYCxDesign. Among the most compelling young talents are Devin Wilde, who made a poised entry into rigorous yet lively ceramic furniture at Lawson-Fenning’s newly opened NoHo showroom. A major highlight of Wanted’s showcase at ICFF comes from indie musician and preternaturally talented woodworker Zack Nestel-Patt of Ah Um Design Studio, whose fortuitous foray into furniture includes mahogany cocktail tables topped with hand-glazed tiles and freestanding mirrors defined by geometric notches.
Emily Thurman, an interior designer hailing from Salt Lake City, is debuting a stunning collection of lost-wax bronze upholstered furnishings and cast-glass and porcelain lighting in Tribeca that reflects her abiding fascination with hands-on, process-driven work. And down the street, the ceramicist Jolie Ngo’s latest batch of 3D-printed creations—mesmeric floor lamps, kaleidoscopic mirrors, and luminous lantern vessels, all inspired by the sun-drenched landscapes of her current home in Santa Barbara—are lighting up R & Company with fresh new energy. Read our guide for more up-and-coming talents to watch this week.
The Latest Product Launches
There’s also a wealth of highly anticipated products debuting around town. BD Barcelona is bringing Antoni Gaudí’s Modernisme to New York by reissuing limited reproductions of the Batlló Chair—a sculptural seat the spanish architect originally designed for the dining room of Casa Batlló in Barcelona—to Casa Valle, the Tribeca gallery founded by married couple Giancarlo Valle and Jane Keltner de Valle. Equally as conversation-starting is the collaboration-friendly Brooklyn studio Calico Wallpaper’s new Overture collection with Lee Broom that wields trompe-l’oeil to replicate cascading theatre curtains. That poetry is also palpable in Zak + Fox’s third collection of outdoor textiles, an octet of new patterns drawn from the natural rhythms of the wilderness and sea, rendered in resilient, high-performance fibers.
Lighting in particular is stealing the show. Faye Toogood transformed both The Future Perfect’s West Village townhouse and Tiwa Select’s Tribeca gallery into illusory wonderlands by recasting her playful furniture and paper lanterns into canvases animated with her wispy brushstrokes. Blue Green Works, the upstart studio launched by Peter Staples, is debuting a whimsical daisy-shaped sconce at Assembly Line; its mirrored bulb casts graphic floral shadows on whichever wall it adorns. Sculptural lighting visionary David Weeks is introducing Archer, a rhythmic aluminum pendant whose graceful curvature and ironwork inspirations were 15 years in the making. Shawn Henderson, designer of warm and sophisticated interiors, teamed up with the like-minded Rupp Studio on a range of pyramidal floor and table lamps that debuts at Hostler Burrows. Galerie Creative Mind In Common With’s new Strata collection of flush mounts and sconces wields techniques like silkscreening to create intricate Op Art–inspired glass panels in an array of geometric motifs.
Must-Visit Collectible Design Shows
A smattering of stellar group shows around town are proving the power of the collective. Look no further than Love House’s brand-new Lower East Side gallery, which unites more than 60 unseen works from the dealer’s roster of artisan talent including Paolo Ferrari, Astraeus Clarke, Alban Roger, and Jack Rabbit Studio. Colony is reflecting on a fruitful decade of fostering independent American designers with “The Independents,” which reveals the deeply personal layers behind why the gallery’s past and present designers have embarked on their unique creative journey. Leroy Street Studio Interiors tapped a prestigious coterie of designers to reimagine the sconce—and elevate the oft-overlooked light fixture to a bona fide art form—in a thrilling exhibition at its Allen Street Gallery.
Elsewhere, even more compelling narratives unfold. The textile designer Madeline Weinrib enjoyed an affirming creative partnership with the late poet, critic, and artist Rene Ricard, first developing a rug collection from a design in which he wrote her name repeatedly in his distinct penmanship. After his death, she decided to expand the rug collection with lush florals in honor of his creative vision, which recently went on vivid display at Emma Scully Gallery on the Upper East Side. In the same neighborhood is “Néotù: The Visionary Years” at Galerie Gabriel Penthouse Sutton Tower, an overdue reassessment of how the pioneering Parisian design gallery co-founded by Gérard Dalmon and Pierre Staudenmeyer shaped perception of the French decorative arts in the United States starting in 1990, when they opened their second location in SoHo, New York. Curated by Sophie Mainier Jullerot, Nancy Gabriel, and Michael Bargo, the show pays tribute to visionary gallerists through works by Martin Szekely, Garouste & Bonetti, Dan Friedman, Pucci de Rossi, and select artworks curated by CMS Collection.
In Greenpoint, curatorial quartet Caleb Ferris, Kiki Goti, Vincent Staropoli, and NJ Roseti are posing a salient question: How do art and design respond to an era defined by misinformation and disunity? Their two-day group show may have an answer. “Forced Perspective,” a two-day show (May 19–20) at Radio Star, situates collectible works by 15 up-and-comers— Ellen Pong, Forma Rosa Studio, and Kim Mupangilaï among them—within domestic vignettes that challenge a perspective or expectation on everyday domestic life, from the imagined warmth of a hearth by Aydan Hüseynli to Heechan Kim’s meticulously made metal stools that simulate rocks and push us to question what’s real or fabricated.
New Showrooms to Explore
New Yorkers have access to some of the world’s most rarefied design showrooms, from the heritage Italian brands transforming Madison Avenue into one of the world’s most sought-after design destinations to one-stop hotspots like the New York Design Center and the Decoration & Design Building. Many are worth adding to your itinerary. Among the most picturesque openings comes from Vitra, which recently inaugurated a spacious Chinatown flagship after occupying three different temporary spaces since closing its Ninth Avenue showroom nearly a decade ago. The Swiss furniture mainstay’s pristine new flagship boasts enormous floor-to-ceiling windows that not only wash the entire 6,000-square-foot space with natural light, but also overlook the striking Beaux-Arts gateway to the Manhattan Bridge.
Headed to Brooklyn? Don’t miss the photogenic Williamsburg storefront that jewelry designer Caitlin Mociun recently transformed into a joint showroom for Bower Studios, the cult furniture upstart co-founded by her husband, Tammer Hijazi, and his business partner Danny Giannella. During NYCxDesign, the newly renovated shop will present ceramicist Emily Mullin’s raku-fired vessels that sparkle with metallic and painterly glazes. Down in Dumbo, Henrybuilt and its sister brand Space Theory are launching dual flagship showrooms in the historic Stable Building, marking a move from SoHo into a burgeoning design corridor.
Restaurants With Design on the Menu
Very few know restaurants better than New Yorkers, and there’s absolutely no shortage of spectacular new dining destinations around town to book this week. Galerie editors are particularly jazzed about Crane Club, the suave successor to Meatpacking District mainstay Del Posto and Al Coro that arrived this past fall with a winning mix of woodfire cooking and theatrical panache. For Italian elegance and inventive pastas, look no further than Chef Andrew Carmellini’s new Hudson Yards outpost of Locanda Verde with dazzling interiors by Roman and Williams, as well as Santi, the valiant return of Michelin-decorated Chef Michael White.
Epicureans are also buzzing about celebrity-favorite The Corner Store, revolving post-Broadway haunt The View, Korean fried chicken powerhouse Coqodaq, and Daniel Boulud’s first steakhouse La Tête d’Or, all designed by the remarkably consistent Rockwell Group. It’s also worth heading uptown to Armani / Ristorante, the stylish restaurant anchoring the Italian house’s luxurious building on Madison Avenue, where Galerie recently hosted an intimate dinner celebrating this year’s Creative Minds honorees. For even more artful options, check out Galerie’s guide to the city’s most exciting new restaurant openings.
High-Design Hotels to Book
While New York City is known worldwide as the city that never sleeps, finding refuge from the bustling crowds in a chic and comfortable hotel is the ultimate reward. The design set is buzzing about The Manner, a boutique offshoot by Standard International whose refined interiors by Milanese architect Hannes Peer meld Brutalist rigor with a nocturnal sheen. The Twenty Two, beloved in Britain’s elite circles, headed across the pond to a Union Square brownstone restored by London-based Child Studio with cinematic rooms and an exclusive members club that lean into the unfussy luxury championed by its stylish older siblings.
Devotees of maximalist mélange will also delight in two recently opened hotels designed by Martin Brudnizki. Fully reimagined and nestled under the Corinthia Hotels flag, The Surrey has been wooing stylish jetsetters since its overdue refresh last fall, perhaps owing equally to its rarefied Upper East Side location, warm Art Deco–inspired interiors, and anchor for Miami members club Casa Tua’s inaugural location in New York. Downtown, his transformation of a history-laden Gilded Age mansion into the dazzling Fifth Avenue Hotel continues to captivate with feelings of bohemian romanticism and Carmellini’s namesake café on the ground floor.