Each June, NeoCon brings the design industry back to Chicago for a week of new introductions, installations, conversations, and events across the city. The 2026 edition returned to THE MART with a broad look at how designers and manufacturers are responding to the evolving ways we work, gather, and live.
Across the showrooms, this year’s presentations felt increasingly residential and expressive. Soft silhouettes, saturated color, sculptural forms, and tactile materials appeared throughout, creating environments that felt less like conventional workplaces and more like considered interiors. Alongside new collections, many brands used their spaces to explore material innovation, longevity, flexibility, and the growing overlap between commercial and residential design.
Throughout THE MART, established manufacturers and emerging designers presented furniture as part of larger, immersive environments. Haworth paired contemporary workplace solutions with archival and collectible design references, while Kettal introduced relaxed seating and adaptable architectural systems through a warm, residential lens.
Emeco’s presentation centered on the enduring value of American manufacturing, pairing restrained forms with an emphasis on making objects designed to last. Elsewhere, collaborative installations brought together experimental furniture, sound, lighting, and material studies, offering a more conceptual counterpoint to the traditional showroom format.
Taken together, the week reflected an industry becoming more comfortable with contrast: refined and raw, technical and playful, familiar and unexpected.
