What not to miss at London Design Festival 2025

London Design Festival 2025 is upon us: the 23rd edition of the city-wide event once again brings together designers, makers and brands to showcase an accessible series of installations and exhibitions that open up design to the city.

'Design is not just about aesthetics. It’s a fundamental driver of innovation, economic growth, and societal progress,' says Festival Director Ben Evans. Alongside the Festival-led installations and activations at leading design institutions including the V&A and the Design Museum, the 10 districts cover the city opening up studios, heritage buildings and galleries to demonstrate the power and energy of the creative force that is London's design community.

'This year's festival demonstrates our commitment to supporting the entire design ecosystem, from emerging talent to established brands, all while showcasing London's unparalleled creative energy.'

London Design Festival 2025 highlights

Material Matters at Space House

Material Matters returns for a fourth edition, taking over modernist gem Space House in the heart of the city. Richer than ever, this edition will include Mycoworks, presenting a new material cultivated from mycelium and explored through products by the likes of OEO Studio, Cecilie Manz, Maria Bruun and more. Also on display at the material-led fair will be works in pine resin by Jacob Marks and a series of new materials developed by Taiwanese company FILIE Materials, made from recycled PVB film sourced from broken car windscreens.

Space House, 1 Kemble Street, WC2B 4AN

Brompton Design District, curated by Alex Tieghi-Walker

This year, legendary Brompton Design District curator Jane Withers has passed the baton to New York-based gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker. Building on Withers’ legacy, Tieghi-Walker will invite new voices, softer sensibilities, and unconventional formats. We caught up with him at his New York gallery to learn more about the thinking behind this year’s theme, ‘A Softer World’.

'I’ve invited different curators to take over different spaces, such as the interior design firm Rooms Studio; the designer Charlotte Taylor, who proposed a show called ‘Soft World, Sharp Edges’; and Tione Trice from vintage store Of the Cloth in New York. He works very closely with Solange Knowles and is bringing in artists such as Nigerian-American designer Myles Igwebuike and Darren Appiagyei, who works in wood and is based in Deptford,' he told Wallpaper*. His curation of the district will open up non-traditional exhibition spaces, including Empire House and Dalmeny House, two historic mixed-use buildings.

Read our interview with Alex Tieghi-Walker on his plans for Brompton Design District at London Design Festival 2025

What Nelsons Sees by Paul Cocksedge at Trafalgar Square

This landmark project commission by London Design Festival sees the British designer stage a takeover of iconic Trafalgar Square. With the aim of offering visitors a new point of view to the city, Cocksedge created a sculpture comprising a series of intersecting tubes that act as 'telescopic viewing portals', giving people a view of the London skyline from Admiral Nelson's perspective.

Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DS

Beacon by Lee Broom

For the Festival, Lee Broom created a site-specific light installation inspired by the Southbank's Brutalist architecture. The installation, reads a note from the designer, 'is made using a special fusing technology developed to upcycle discarded glass fragments, [and it] reinterprets classic street lamps to form the structure collectively resembling a vast sculptural chandelier.'

Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX

Max Radford Gallery x ERCOL

Max Radford Gallery teamed up with Ercol to commission seven London-based designers to create new work in collaboration with the British brand. The roster includes Andu Masebo, Eddie Olin, Joe Armitage, Jaclyn Pappalardo, Isabel Alonso and Lewis Kemmenoe, tasked with reimagining traditional wooden furniture. Expect seating made from rejected wooden parts from Ercol's production, a games table, a rocking chair, contemporary explorations of traditional furniture typologies, and more.

The work will be on view at the Clerkenwell Fire Station – a grade II listed building completed in 1917, and one of the oldest surviving fire stations in the city.

Clerkenwell Fire Station, 42-44 Rosebery Ave, London EC1R 4RN

Convergence by the David Collins Foundation

The David Collins Foundation presents Convergence, an exhibition at the Lavery curated by journalist and broadcaster Ellen E. Jones. Founded in 2016, the Foundation celebrates the studio founder's passion and curiosity for the arts, and his enthusiasm for innovation in design and culture.

In partnership with The Arts Foundation, the exhibition brings together work by eleven artists and designers and marks the studio's 40th anniversary, also 'reflecting on the enduring influence of Collins’ creative vision and his commitment to nurturing talent.'

Designed by London-based studio Bibliothèque, the exhibition includes the work of artists Ayo Akingbade and Savinder Bual, designers Jochen Holz, Louise Lenborg Skajem, Aura Murillo, Max Frommeld and TK Hay, poets Ella Frears and Will Harris, and filmmakers Cherish Oteka and Onyeka Igwe.

The Lavery, 4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE

Beyond Foam by EcoLattice at Aram

Despite foam being extremely common in our everyday objects (think sofas, trainers, and cars just to name a few), it is incredibly difficult to recycle. Aram and EcoLattice offer a creative alternative to the issue: using the start-up's 3D-printed lattice made from recyclable elastomers like TPU, they commissioned eight London-based designers to reinterpret foam-filled furniture.

The exhibition runs from 11 September – 1 November

Aram, 110 Drury Ln, London WC2B 5SG

A Seat at the Table

Design Everything (a platform dedicated to supporting emerging creatives) stages 'A Seat at the Table' (17–21 September), a furniture exhibition which will travel around London in the back of a Luton van – a vehicle traditionally associated with moving furniture. At each stop, a curated set of seats will become both the subject and the support for community-oriented events such as workshops, discussions, supper clubs, and more. The seats are designed by emerging UK designers including Jesse Butterfield, Jacob Marks, Yasmin Lennon-Chong and Sofia Matheou.

The Objects we Live By by Emma Louise Payne

Ceramicist Emma Louise Payne fills a west London townhouse (which is actually her parents' house and her childhood home) with crafted design pieces for the exhibition 'The Objects we Live By' (13–21 September). Each room of the home presents a single new work, placed deliberately yet gently among the rhythms of daily life. Participating designers include BC Joshua, Gather Glass and Nat Maks x Brogan Cox.

Seventy Six, 76 Sussex Square, London, W2 2SS

Out of Orifice by Heirloom studio

Proving that design really is everywhere, the exhibition OOO - Out of Orifice by design collective Heirloom is an investigation into objects designed to go inside our body, from the medical to the pleasurable (and a few in between). The exhibition looks into the objects' purpose and use, exploring shared themes of trust, comfort, and careful consideration of human sensation.

5 Tredegar Mews, E3 5AF

Design London Shoreditch

New multi-venue design fair Design London (16-18 September) debuts with three exhibitions covering workplace design, sustainability and interiors trends. Expect Wallpaper* favourites such as Six Dots Design and 2LG Studio, as well as classics from Thonet to Moleskine to Ultrafabrics

Design Culture, Kachette, 347 Old St, Shoreditch, London, EC1V 9LP

Design At Work, Protein Studios, 31 New Inn Yard, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3EY

Design Icon, Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London, EC1V 9LT

Otl Aicher: The Legacy Archive

London-based brand consultancy Wiedemann Lampe offers a rare chance to get up close to some key examples of legendary designer Otl Aicher’s work – and even acquire some for yourself. A new exhibition, ‘Otl Aicher: The Legacy Archive’, presents a number of unique pieces and classic posters, along with items for sale.

‘Otl Aicher: The Legacy Archive,’ at Wiedemann Lampe, 41 Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, 13-21 September 2025

‘Terence Woodgate and John Barnard: Lightness of Form’

Industrial designer Terence Woodgate has teamed up with John Barnard, an automotive engineer best known for his pioneering work with carbon fibre, to create a new design collection that bridges the divide between craft and technology. The pair have teamed up to create a collection of pieces using the material, on show at London’s Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

‘Terence Woodgate and John Barnard: Lightness of Form’ is at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery from 17 September to 1 November 2025, Ladbroke Hall, 79 Barlby Road, London W10 6AZ
CarpentersWorkshopGallery.com

Reconstructing Value at the Bank of England Museum

Presented by the Bank of England, Surface Matter and Plasticiet at the Bank of England Museum, Reconstructing Value features a sculptural installation made from £2.5 million reclaimed, recycled and reconstructed British banknotes. The installation accompanies The exhibition complements the Building of the Bank exhibition, exploring the evolution of the Bank of England’s design — from Sir John Soane to contemporary architecture.

Stock room, Bank of England Museum, Threadneedle Street, EC2R 8AH