After winning ‘Best in Show’ in 2025, the Brazilian brand returns to the spotlight this year, now in the ‘Exhibit Design’ category
Brazil arrived at ICFF 2026 (International Contemporary Furniture Fair), in New York City (U.S.), bringing identity, quality, and creativity to North America’s leading stage for contemporary design. On the very first day of the fair, held from May 17 to 19, ArboREAL was recognized at the ICFF Editors Awards, a respected program that highlights the most outstanding product launches, presentations, and exhibition experiences at each edition of the event.
One of the companies taking part in the initiatives promoted by the Brazilian Furniture Project — an initiative of ABIMÓVEL (Brazilian Furniture Industry Association) in partnership with ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), which is bringing around 30 Brazilian brands and designers to New York Design Week 2026 — ArboREAL received the award in the Exhibit Design category, dedicated to exhibition projects that stand out for their ability to transform a trade fair space into a brand, product, and design experience.
The distinction was granted by a jury made up of editors and invited professionals from specialized design media, who circled around the fair floor to evaluate the year’s most relevant launches and presentations. The announcement took place in the late afternoon of May 17, on ICFF’s Main Stage, during the official awards ceremony.
According to the organizers, the Editors Awards recognize top exhibitors across different categories, with winners also considered finalists for Best in Show, the program’s highest honor. Last year, ArboREAL itself received that top recognition, winning Best in Show at the 2025 ICFF Editors Awards with its Balance table and establishing itself as one of the standout names of that edition.
In 2026, this new distinction builds on that trajectory by highlighting not only the quality of the pieces presented, but also the creation of a space capable of communicating the presence of wood, the role of design, the strength of industry, and the Brazilian repertoire in dialogue with North American and global audiences. At a fair shaped by the intersection of design, business, and material culture, the exhibition space becomes an essential part of the message: it does not merely display products, but shapes perception, creates atmosphere, and conveys positioning.
This recognition, for another year, shows how Brazil’s presence has been gaining consistency at ICFF. ArboREAL represents a very important dimension of our furniture industry: the ability to transform raw materials, technique, and identity into a language that is understood and valued internationally. It is a result that reinforces the role of design as a tool for positioning and opening markets
More than a single award, this recognition signals the Brazilian industry’s ability to operate across different layers of design — product, material, process, space, and experience. In an environment where brand presence increasingly shapes perceived value, the award in the Exhibit Design category confirms Brazil’s relevance and maturity in the international market.
Every piece we brought carries time, natural raw material, handmade processes and the authenticity of a design born from Brazilian nature itself. In an increasingly industrialized world, seeing the essence of solid wood move people from different parts of the world makes this moment even more special. It is about leaving a legacy. The award recognizes the exhibitors who stood out the most during the fair for originality, innovation, aesthetic language and impact on contemporary design. Receiving this recognition at ICFF 2026 reinforces something we have always believed: Brazilian design has soul, presence and an identity that is impossible to ignore
Brazilian Furniture Project
The Brazilian Furniture Project is an initiative by ABIMÓVEL in partnership with ApexBrasil, created to increase the participation of Brazil's furniture industry and production chain in the international market through a set of strategic actions built on the pillars of sustainability, competitiveness, and design integrated within the industry. Hundreds of companies are part of the project.
In the current cycle, the project's organizers are inviting not only furniture manufacturers and designers, but also component companies and industry suppliers to join Brazilian Furniture, further expanding the reach of Brazilian furniture and reinforcing the competitiveness of the Brazil brand worldwide.
To become part of the project and place your brand at the world's leading furniture industry events, visit:
brazilianfurniture.org.brAbout ABIMÓVEL
The Brazilian Furniture Industry Association (ABIMÓVEL) has spent nearly five decades supporting, developing, and strengthening Brazil's furniture production chain. The institution promotes and leads a positive agenda for the sector, benefiting more than 22,800 companies, which in 2025 generated more than R$ 92.1 billion in business and 287,200 direct jobs, within a production chain that indirectly employs around 1.1 million workers.
Throughout its trajectory, ABIMÓVEL has led a series of programs and actions focused on business, competitiveness, design, sustainability, technical standardization, innovation, and internationalization, promoting initiatives that expand the positioning of Brazilian furniture in both the domestic and global markets. Today, Brazil is the largest furniture producer in Latin America and the seventh largest in the world, a position that reflects the strategic relevance of a production chain that is diverse, capillarized, and closely aligned with market transformations.
abimovel.comAbout ApexBrasil
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) works to promote Brazilian products and services abroad and attract foreign investment to strategic sectors of the Brazilian economy. To achieve its goals, ApexBrasil carries out a variety of trade promotion initiatives aimed at boosting exports and enhancing the value of Brazilian products and services abroad, such as prospecting and trade missions, business matchmaking rounds, support for the participation of Brazilian companies in major international fairs, and visits by foreign buyers and opinion leaders to learn more about Brazil's productive structure, among other business platforms also designed to strengthen the Brazil brand.
The Agency also works in coordination with public and private stakeholders to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to Brazil, focusing on strategic sectors that contribute to the competitiveness of Brazilian companies and of the country as a whole.
apexbrasil.com.brFURNITURE: OUR BUSINESS!
Brazilian Furniture Industry Association – ABIMÓVEL
Press Office: press@abimovel.com | +55 14 99156-0238
