In 2024, the Female Design Council launched the FDC Awards at ICFF, the largest trade show for design in the United States. The FDC Awards reconize exceptiional designs by female-led design studios, celebrating innovation across multiple categories and spotlighting women driving change in the design world.
Women-designed or founded brands typically make up less than 20% of exhibitors at major design shows. Awards like these provide critical exposure and support to women in the design industry, a key element of the Female Design Council’s mission.
Selected in-person at the fair by a jury of design world experts, the awards are open to any female-designed, female-founded, or female-led exhibitors at the fair. Given in four categories, the FDC Awards at ICFF recognize innovation, materiality, and exceptional fabrication.
Announcing the 2025 winners of the FDC Awards at ICFF
BEST IN LIGHTING
MYRTO GRIGORI
Noiro Studio
BEST IN FLOORING
ALEX DELBELLO
allybello
BEST IN FURNITURE
KIM MARKEL
Kim Markel Studio
BEST IN SHOW
STEPHANIE FORSYTHE
Cofounder of molo
BEST IN LIGHTING
MYRTO GRIGORI
Noiro Studio
Handcrafted in New York City, each piece in the Noiro Studio “Capsula” collection is made entirely out of mouth-blown glass and shaped by the physics of movement and form. Inspired by the curvature of spacetime and the quiet pull of gravity, “Capsula” captures light in suspended motion.
BEST IN FLOORING
ALEX DELBELLO
allybello
Pulling nature’s shapes, colors, and forms into one tactile object, allybello rug designs pull from the colors and forms discovered within Alexandra's paintings — an ongoing exploration of beauty found in nature.
BEST IN FURNITURE
KIM MARKEL
Kim Markel Studio
The “Glow Chair” attempts to capture a fleeting state of reverie. Each piece is handmade in New York from a composite using recycled resins. The softly tinted, translucent objects have a handmade feel and a glowing satin finish.
BEST IN SHOW
STEPHANIE FORSYTHE
Cofounder of molo
molo is known for inventing elegant, expandable structures that move with the changes in life, including a folding wall system, paper furniture, and lighting. molo provides their collection of innovative flat pack products to clients worldwide.
2025 JURY
Kelsey Keith
Creative Director, MillerKnoll
Kristina O’Neal
Co-founder, AvroKO
Lora Appleton
Founder, Female Design Council
Neffi Walker
Designer and Founder, The Black Home
For more information on eligibility for the awards,
please contact info@femaledesigncouncil.org
*The awards are open to any female-designed, founded or co-founded brands showing at ICFF.
