WantedDesign Spotlights Young Talent, Local and Global Design

In its seventh year, WantedDesign continues to build community, both locally and globally. “We envision our platform as a convivial, human-scale, interactive event,” says Odile Hainaut, the fair’s cofounder with Claire Pijoulat. “When we created WantedDesign, we were missing a place to mentor young designers, where international companies could address the U.S. market for the first time in a unique setting.”

In 2015, the show expanded from the Terminal Stores in Manhattan to a second location in Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This year, on May 3, before Wanted officially kicks off, Hainaut and Pijoulat will launch two retail locations in the historic South Street Seaport district—one dedicated to home and lifestyle products, with fashion and furniture by the likes of Fort Makers and Fort Standard, Malle London, Cappellini, and Roll & Hill; and the other offering home accessories, jewelry, and stationery.

The Brooklyn location will host a design schools exhibition, workshops, and the second Transatlantic Creative Exchange, a showcase of prototypes and one-offs designed by five cherry-picked FrenchAmerican designer-manufacturer pairings. In Manhattan, American companies 3M, 3form, Mohawk Group, Ultrafabrics, and Wolf-Gordon will present new products through interactive installations.

Other new features at WantedDesign will include the first Wanted Career Day on May 17, and Wanted Interiors, a space created by Pratt interior design students with Rockwell Group principal Barry Richards, using new products from Sony Life Space UX, Alpi, Ligne Roset, Alcantara, and Fontana Arte. The space will be designed to reflect the growing industry focus on well-being.

May 17–23
Manhattan: Terminal Stores Building,
269 11th Ave.; Brooklyn: Industry City, 274 36th St.;
stores: 6 Fulton St. and 16 Fulton St.
wanteddesignnyc.com