Welcome to London Design Festival 2025
Returning for its 23rd edition, the London Design Festival is a valid indicator of where design is going in the capital, and this year it seems clear that collaboration and innovation are driving forces of the city's design community. As always, it is people propelling the industry forward, and this year's key players are a fantastic demonstration of this power, starting from the London Design Medal quartet, which we look forward to celebrating as the Festival progresses.
We also can't wait to discover what Brompton newcomer Alex Tieghi-Walker has in store for his LDF debut, and to see what's new at innovation-led fair Material Matters (look out for an interview with its founder in the coming days). Emerging talent is popping up across the city in group shows and specially-curated displays, and as always, we hope to make one or two discoveries along the way.
To bring London Design Festival 2025 to life for those observing from afar, our team is on the ground over the course of the event, bringing live coverage in snippets and snapshots of our discoveries and discussions as we go.
To make it easier for you to navigate, we've pinned a few of our highlights for what to see at London Design Festival 2025 on this map.
Meet the editors
Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. At Wallpaper*, she oversees design content for the as well as special editorial projects. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the Danish Design Awards among others.
Olly Mason is the Head of Interiors at Wallpaper*. Over the past decade working for us, she has frequently attended design weeks around the world, with Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design being a regular highlight. Through these visits, Olly gains invaluable insight into furniture and global design culture, building meaningful connections with designers and brands that help shape the interiors direction of the brand and guide the creation of Wallpaper’s interiors photoshoots.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people.
Lee Broom illuminates The South Bank
Lee Broom unveiled his London Design Festival commission, Beacon, a giant chandelier propped on the Southbank, its design reminiscent of Brutalist and Modernist neighbours Hayward Gallery and Royal Festival Hall. Rosa Bertoli
A Hyde Park house call
This morning, we popped into this Hyde Park townhouse for The Objects We Live By, ceramicist Emma Louise Payne’s group exhibition. The work of seven design studios working across a variety of media – from textile studio Granite and Smoke to furniture designer Brogan Cox’s collaboration with marbled wallpaper specialist Nat Maks, glassware by Gather Glass and ceramics by Payne herself. The objects are discreetly placed within the fabric of the home, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, offering an intimate dimension to the design discovery. Rosa Bertoli
76 Sussex Square, London W2 2SS
A Kings Cross collective
In Kings Cross, Store Store is a collective of artists, architects and designers who every year run an educational programme of art and design courses in nearby schools. At London Design Festival, they present ‘This Bench Has Legs’, the result of a workshop with designer Attua Aparicio featuring a bench made with waste materials. Rosa Bertoli
118, Coal Drops Yard, Lower Stable Street, London N1C 4DR
A new Amini showroom rolls out
The rug brand Amini have opened a new physical space as part of Rubelli’s showroom – in the North Dome of Chelsea Harbour Design Centre – and we just had to stop by. Olly Mason
Amini Showroom at Rubelli, Unit G9 A & B, Design Centre East, London SW10 0XF
Dedar's graphical designs
Dedar, showcasing collections from this year's launches included graphical designs and fabrics that can be composed as panels for upholstery. Olly Mason
Dedar, Unit C7, chelsea harbour design centre, Harbour Ave, London SW10 0XF
Notable design meets textile artistry
Some of Moroso’s most iconic pieces have been reinterpreted with Designers Guild’s signature fabrics, resulting in a unique encounter between contemporary forms and refined textile artistry. In particular, the Lilo armchair, Ruff, and Getlucky by Patricia Urquiola, newly upholstered to reveal fresh dimensions of texture and colour. Olly Mason
Designers Guild, 267 Kings Road, London SW3 5EN
Ercol-inspired designs
In the former Clerkenwell Fire Station, gallerist Max Radford has assembled a group of London-based designers who created pieces in collaboration with Ercol, using the storied British brand as their inspiration. Among the highlights are Lewis Kemmenoe’s Patchwork Rocking Chair, Andu Masebo's colourful Second Stools, and Jaclyn Pappalardo’s Mezza Luna Drinks Cabinet. Rosa Bertoli
Clerkenwell Fire Station, 42-44 Rosebery Ave, London EC1R 4RN
An annual visit
Every year, we stop by Tom Dixon’s Coal Office showroom for a walkthrough of his new collections, which often double as design experiments. Among the highlights this year were his exploration of light portability, with large-scale pieces, rather than the tabletop we usually see, including stackable modules and giant Melt lamps hanging from the ceiling through nylon straps. ‘I’ve gone soft’, he told us, hinting at all the soft furnishings on view, as well as his ceiling lamps made of welded steel frames sprayed with a cocoon of diffusing TPU, inspired by planets.
4-10 Bagley Walk, London N1C 4DH
Celebrations at the V&A Storehouse
We are at the V&A Storehouse this evening to celebrate the winners of the London Design medals – it’s the award’s 20th year, and festival director Ben Evans reminds us that Zaha Hadid was the first winner.
Emerging design medal winner, Rio Kobayashi: 'It is an honour to receive this award. I will do my best to keep up with the other medallists, explore creative possibilities, and have fun.'
Innovation design medal winner Sinéad Burke: 'We often talk about design being fully accessible, but to whom? When you go back to your blueprints tomorrow, think about who you are excluding, and put them at the centre. Design better.'
Lifetime achievement medal winner Norman Foster: 'We are a tiny cog in a really big wheel: design is part of everything.
'If I had to give advice to someone graduating, it would be the same I would give myself, to stay a student, to be curious, dare to challenge, to listen, to not be afraid and to take risks, but above all to be humble.'
London Design Medal winner Michael Anastassiades: 'It gives me great satisfaction to know I have created a platform to do what I like in an uncompromising manner, and I’d like to thank my adopted home of London for giving me many challenges to overcome.' Rosa Bertoli
‘Modern Threads: Art Of Living, 1950-1970’ from 8 Holland Street X Tibor
The gallery opens up to showcase an exhibition of graphic textiles and furniture in its St. James's location, notably featuring a large selection of furniture pieces by Guillerme et Chambron. Olly Mason
Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AB
Design meets daily rituals at &Tradition
This morning at the &Tradition showroom, designers Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of Industrial Facility unveiled Rombe – their debut design for &Tradition. Alongside this launch, &Tradition showcased the latest additions to its portfolio, blending classic and contemporary pieces. Enriched by a selection of artworks curated by 8 Holland Street Gallery, The Living Archive is a celebration of the pieces that hold stories, the materials that age with grace, and the rituals that shape our days. Olly Mason
Comfort at Carl Hansen & Søn
Carl Hansen & Søn welcome the Viennese design studio EOOS to the showroom for this year's London Design Festival. The acclaimed design duo is behind Carl Hansen & Søn's hugely popular ‘Embrage’ range, and celebrated for their poetic and thoughtful approach to comfort in furniture. Olly Mason
16A Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BD
A Rubelli and Peter Marino collection
Rubelli showcases its latest collections in collaboration with Peter Marino, while Kieffer’s latest collection is the product of the artistic direction of Formafantasma in Untitled III. Olly Mason
Rubelli, Unit G9 A & B, Design Centre East, London SW10 0XF
Jewellery, lighting and everything in between in Shoreditch
To the Wax Building in Shoreditch, where resident brands Tamart, Cozmo, Minimalux, and LightMass^ are sharing space – well, the stairwell – with Point Two Five, a fresh-thinking platform for the jewellery designs of artists and designers – featuring names such as Wendy Andreu, Sebastian Bergne and Studiomama, shown on a colourful wall-mounted display by Brown Office. Drawing a crowd of admiring interior professionals on the first floor is Tamart’s new TT Bar installation, which includes the new timeless Highgate Bar Stools, while on the top floor we tried out the new cleverly engineered cocooning sofa, Hug, by Pearson Lloyd for Cozmo, and admired NIL – a fresh lunar-like lighting design from Minimalux. Emma Moore
Bold new lighting brand, LightMass^, is back on the lower ground floor of the Wax Building showing the latest iteration of its striking web-like lighting pieces, launched here last September by designer-founder, Raw Edges Studio. The brand aims to shake up how we perceive decorative lighting fixtures in an age of architectural purism and material restraint, encouraging us to reimagine them as sculptural space-shapers that interact with light rather than just shading it. Doing the job to great effect in the dusky basement is the latest collection, which incorporates the (previously remote) light source into the body of the feather-weight structure. Emma Moore
The Wax Building, 4 Garden Walk, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3EQ
Material Matters London 2025
'Material Matters London 2025', taking place at Space House, will bring together established brands and emerging designers to explore the future of materials and design. An eclectic programme of talks will showcase the remarkable stories of its exhibitors. Archie Thomson
Das Programm at System Studios: DP: CDRA
A detour round the back of Brick Lane takes us to the home of Systems Studio in Links Yard. Here founder (writer, philosopher and educator in design) Peter Kapos has curated an impactful little exhibition of contemporary industrial design items – both prototypes and produced – with traditional functionalist values. Pieces authored by names such as Industrial Facility, Barber & Osgerby and Cecilie Manz share tables with works by lesser known names such as Joseph Boultbee, Sara de Campos and Charlie Humble-Thomas. The surrounding Vitsoe shelving groans with Kapos's archive of Braun designs collected over 15 years, and gives all the cues you need to understand this object curation, the beginnings of a new archive of 'less, but better' design. Emma Moore
20 Links Yard, E1
Thomas Heatherwick and Tala debut ‘Wake’
What do you usually do before going to sleep? This is the personal but revealing question asked of visitors to lighting brand Tala’s showroom this week where the brand is launching ‘Wake’ a new lamp by Thomas Heatherwick that serves as a sleep aid and gentle alarm clock. We chatted to Heatherwick about sleep hygiene, screen addiction and how a district development project in Xi’an China helped inform the lamp’s ceramic form. More to come later this week… Ali Morris
Tala, 40 Rivington Street, EC2A 3LX
Welded treasures at Six Dots Design
The sculptural work of Six Dots Design was one of our stand-out favourites at House of ICON at Shoreditch Town Hall – one of the three venues that make up a new showcase called Design London Shoreditch. Displayed in a fabric-draped room in the town hall’s basement, the aluminium pieces of studio founder Joseph Ellwood – including lamps, trinket boxes, chairs and tables – are cast at the studio’s recently acquired forge and welded at its new east London workshop, currently hosting another showcase (opening tonight) called ‘A Folly through the Trees’. Well worth a visit! Ali Morris
House of ICON: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT
'A Folly through the Trees:' 30 Hancock Road, London E3 3DA
An Oscar Wilde tribute at 2LG
Also in the basement is ‘Green Carnation’, the third edition of You Can Sit with Us, the acclaimed exhibition of inclusive design by London’s 2LG Studio. Drenched in every shade of green, this year’s installation pays tribute to Oscar Wilde, who wore a green carnation as a covert symbol of queerness. Here, 2LG reimagines it as a modern emblem of inclusivity through works by queer creatives including Tino Seubert, Les Keepers, Guiseppe Parrinello, Richard Henley, Roser, Sebastian Bidegain, Odd Universe, and Bence Magyarlaki, all pictured here. A show full of intrigue, inventive use of materials, and playful forms. Ali Morris
Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EV1V 9LT
Take a seat at Edra
Edra’s most iconic seating went on show in a stunning installation at Silvera London in Chelsea. 500 meters of rope (formed from an intricate weave) forms the iconic 'Poltrona Vermeha' chair, by Fernando and Humberto Campana for Edra. Olly Mason
241-245 Kings Road, London SW3 5EL
People and Places 3 at Londønworks
'People and Places 3' is an installation curated by Zaccaria Slater on display in the carpark of Londønworks, in Shoreditch. The images above showcase '20,000' by Cameron Griffin, 'Clumsy' by Neal Camilleri, 'Terra Firma' by Samuel Sant and 'Multiplight' by Maria Gil. Archie Thomson
27 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E1 6LA
Recycled materials at Grymsdyke Farm
Design research and experimentation space Grymsdyke Farm presents the result of its summer school across the floors of a Mayfair townhouse. Titled ‘Reading Design: Falling’, the project was a collaboration between students and a group of designers including Maurizio Altieri & Luca Lo Pinto; Marco Campardo & Lorenzo Vitturi; FOS & Guan Lee, and Soft Baroque. To create the objects, participants were encouraged to use off-cuts and remnants of earlier projects found around the Farm. Rosa Bertoli
29 Molyneux Street, W1H 5HW
40 years of SCP
Celebrating 40 years of distinctive design, SCP presents a multi-faceted show highlighting its commitment to quality and creativity. Including the SCP 2025 Collection, The Boxed Collection, The Imperfect Archive, Bocci, WoodMetalPlastic:Spanish Heavy by Michael Marriott, How To Live by Donna Wilson and Christopher Farr. Archie Thomson
I also visited SCP on its 40th year which pulled out all the stops for its London Design Festival show. Among new lighting by Bocci, a display of pieces from the brand’s extensive archive, and its 2025 and ‘Boxed’ collection, previously launched in Milan, Donna Wilson hosted a dazzling show of her diverse work combining knitted pieces, wooden furniture and ceramic. Meanwhile, Michael Marriott set up a pop-up shop titled ‘Spanish Heavy’ offering an array of everyday objects – such as scissors, garden hose reels and corkscrews – the sort of brilliantly-designed utilitarian objects that are often overlooked but are arguably the best ‘design’ of all. Ali Morris
135 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3BX
Abid Javed displays otherworldly lamps at House of ICON
For his London Design Festival showcase, designer Abid Javed has drawn on his training as a molecular scientist and his knowledge of structural and mitochondrial biology. The result is a series of otherworldly lamps that appear as if they are grown rather than made by hand, echoing the early stages of biogenesis. Javed makes the modular pieces in a variety of clay bodies, pairing ceramic bases with detachable shades which can be interchanged. The faded glory of Shoreditch Town makes for an atmospheric backdrop for this collection, called ‘Abiogenesis: Vol . 1’, that blurs the line between art, design and science. House of Icon at Design Shoreditch. Ali Morris
Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
Discover layers of design served up at The Lavery
At The Lavery, Alex Tieghi Walker curates 'A Softer World', a series of independent displays exploring design that connects and softens the world around us. On the ground floor, Andu Masebo’s 'A Good Idea' consists of a visual wall updated daily with his design research as he finalises his designs and brings them to the space.
Upstairs at The Lavery is Georgian design studio Rooms, showing two spaces where softness meets hard surfaces, with materials like reclaimed wood and aluminium placed in conversation within the furniture designs, resting on a Nordic Knots rug. Also part of the spaces is the studio’s limited-edition Herio x Rooms Studio sound system, offering an aural experience with a playlist of experimental tunes curated by Giorgi Koberidze.
Merging creative installation, performance and design exploration is Studio Charlotte Taylor’s 'Soft Worlds, Sharp Edges', an intimate domestic space that ‘peels back the polished surface of the home, revealing the layered realities of female design and authorship.’ The two rooms include furniture and objects by Taylor, Grace Prince, Garance Vallée, Sasa Barnes, Olivia Bossy and Linde Freya Tangelder, and a series of art books inspired by the theme, curated by by Gemma Janes of Send Books. Rosa Bertoli
Ground and First Floor, 4 Cromwell Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2JE
Explorations from the African diaspora
Around the corner from The Lavery is ‘Mirroring Dialogue’, a takeover of a vacant gallery space by New York curators Tione Trice and Ronan McKenzie. The sparse interior offers a moment of reflection through works in wood, textiles, and other media from artists of the African diaspora. The exhibition includes Miminat Shodeinde, Kusheda Mensah, Giles Tettey Nartey, Myles Igwe, and Darren Appiagyei. Rosa Bertoli
36 Thurloe Place, London SW7 2HP
Floral porcelain from Faye Toogood
Faye Toogood welcomed guests to an intimate lunch at her canalside Camden studio to celebrate ‘Rose’, her floral and painterly new collaboration with Noritake. Inspired by the blooms in her own South Downs kitchen garden, the collection reinterprets noble porcelain forms with Toogood’s expressive pink-and-green brushwork. The original, hand-painted works created during her residency in Japan are joined by a limited run of platters painted by Noritake’s artisans and hints of more to come. Guests dined on a menu by Skye Gyngell’s restaurant Spring – including an enormous rose-themed apple cake – surrounded by sketchbooks, sculptures and prototypes. Henrietta Thompson
Baxter's new home on Brompton Road
Baxter’s first physical space in London, on Brompton Road, is a beautiful showroom merging tradition and modernity. The ground floor forms Baxter Gallery, displaying furniture in a rich palette of colour and texture on two elevated platforms. Downstairs you will find 'The Apartment', a space featuring a stunning living room, dining room and bedroom suite - alongside an area showcasing the extensive range of materials and colours that the brand offers. Throughout the space expect to see Baxter’s most iconic pieces, as well as the new collection. Olly Mason
Baxter Gallery London, 232-236 Brompton Road, London SW3 2BB
In conversation with Boffi: ‘A Way of Living’
Boffi and De Padova opened the showroom for a talk between Roberto Gavazzi, global ceo and president, and Italian architect and designer Elisa Ossino, founder of Elisa Ossino Studio and renowned for her refined blend of geometry, monochrome, and metaphysical references. The conversation was moderated by Emilia Terragni, associate publisher at Phaidon. Olly Mason
72-74 Sloane Ave, London SW3 3DZ
Poltrona Frau unveils a new collection
Over at Poltrona Frau we discovered the latest novelties from 'The Five Seasons Collection', which was unveiled for the first time in London. Highlights include the limited-edition Gio Ponti 'Dezza' armchair, the 'Blisscape' sofa by Ludovica Serafini + Roberto Palomba, and the 'DressCove Night System' by Dante Bonuccelli — Poltrona Frau’s first bedroom storage system. New collaborations with Leica, Fornasetti and the digital artist Six N. Five, complete a range that inspires both elegance and modern ease. Olly Mason
Poltrona Frau, 147-153 Fulham Road, London SW3 6SN
A car boot sale concept
There’s a buzz around contemporary design gallery Slancha’s LDF debut, ‘The Car Boot Sale’. Housed in a former warehouse on Brick Lane, an old red Fiat is parked at the exhibition’s centre – they had to take the doors off to get it in – amid curious pieces made by 17 designers from across the UK from repurposed materials: wood offcuts, lengths of aluminium, reclaimed clay, even a found minke skull. ‘The concept of The Car Boot Sale came from our love of hunting through these treasure troves for hidden gems,’ say Slancha founders Findlay MacDonald and Harvey Everson who partnered with fabrication company Formd on the showcase. ‘There’s a unique energy at a car boot, an electric mix of furniture, objects, art and people, and we wanted to capture that. The show brings together different styles, techniques, colours and textures into a kind of organised chaos.’ Ali Morris
228 Brick Lane, London E2 7EE
Typologie sets up camp at Jasper Morrison's studio
At Jasper Morrison’s studio, French design collective Typologie unveils “The Camping Tent” - a study of shelter that spans history, culture and design. Showing model tents and archival pegs, along with photographs of tents from around the world. Archie Thomson
Jasper Morrison Shop, 24b Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DA
Material, process, and utility at Twentytwentyone
‘Making Sense; Designing in London', curated by Mentsen and Twentytwentyone, showcases the work of six design studios, each driven by a firm focus on material, process, and utility. The exhibition brings together for the first time the works of Elliott Denny, Jones Neville, Michael Marriott, Ian McIntyre, Mentsen and Eleanor Pritchard. It offers a unique collective perspective on navigating the space between handmade and industrial production, exploring the intricacies and nuances of designing, and making and running a design studio in London. Olly Mason
Twentytwentyone, 18c River Street, London EC1R 1XN