Decor fanatics, accent freaks, and pattern lovers convene in New York each spring as designers hailing from Europe, Asia, and North and South America arrive for the city's premier design showcase: the legendary International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Now in its 20th year, the ICFF swells the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattan's west side with more than 600 exhibitors from 38 countries.

Every year, in booth after booth, the ICFF debuts the latest innovations from established companies as well as bleeding-edge designs from up-and-coming firms. A blue-chip, late-modernist contingent — Denmark's Carl Hansen & Son, the Midwest's Herman Miller, Milan's plastic-furniture pioneers Kartell, and Swiss manufacturers Vitra — anchors the fair with the type of mass-produced, modular design, emblematic of the postwar era, that remains a touchstone for the fair's younger participants.

Whether their style is minimal and organic or brazen and iconoclastic, green and sustainable products are becoming the norm among emerging firms. Philadelphia's Iannone specializes in eco-friendly furniture with graphic, nature-themed inlays, and leading green-design firm molo returns with new creations from its product line of lightweight, latticed furniture that expands and collapses.

This year, there's a strong showing of architects and designers from El Salvador, including cincopatasalgato, whose minimal pieces are elegant, yet unsettling. Thailand also gets a spot in the limelight, with retro styles from Fineline Industry, classic looks from Deesawat Industries, and Yothaka, which uses water hyacinth, an invasive tropical weed, to make wicker furniture. Closer to home, the fair continues to feature a strong selection of work from Brooklyn-based firms, most notably sleekly futuristic products and furniture from SONIC and minimalist creations by Of Design.

Many of the fair's favorite features are back for 2008. At the designboom mart, souvenirs priced under $100 include rosette-topped umbrellas by Korea's Nothing Design Group, faceted concrete rings by 22 design studio from Taiwan, and mossy, flocked pencils by Thai designer Sirampuch Eamumpai. The closely watched ICFF Studio Bernhardt showcases prototypes from emerging designers looking to connect with manufacturers; the layers of felt on young Swedish/Spanish duo Cate&Nelson's Oz chair peel back like the pages of a book, and the Simple Light's ovoid lampshades come from its appropriately dubbed Amoeba line.

In addition to commercial vendors, the ICFF highlights projects from four design institutions, including the California College of the Arts, whose students worked with Wal-Mart and the Bay Area's Bevara Design House to develop sustainable furniture for mass production. The Blank Canvas Project, a collaborative commercial venture launched by Orange22 Design Lab with philanthropic intentions, debuts eco-friendly versions of its Botanist line; the company matches the eight collaborating designers' royalties with gifts to various charities.

Events are by no means limited to the Javits Center — collection launches, lectures, and fundraisers take place throughout the city. Among the notable Dutch design projects around town is ARROJADOA , a collaboration between Moooi and artist/designer Jaime Hayon, at Soho's Diesel Denim Gallery. Nearby, Moss hosts two exhibitions: Pyramids of Makkum, a series of striking porcelain flower pyramids by Hella Jongerius, Studio Job, Jurgen Bey, and Alexander van Slobbe; and Robber Baron , a collection of art deco-inspired, bronze-cast works from Studio Job — a fitting tribute to a moment when half the world goes green while others continue to hoard all the gold.

-H.G. Masters