In a double celebration (commemorating 500 years since the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia and the ongoing London Fashion Week), Somerset House has been transformed into a cornucopia of fashion offerings with a design twist for the International Fashion Showcase.
Organised by the British Council in partnership with a number of embassies from around the world, the event gives emerging designers the opportunity to showcase their work on an international stage. The Portuguese offering in particular caught our eye, for its innovative use of material and space.
Brutalist architecture and the work of American artist Tony Smith were clear influences for set designer Miguel Bento, his monolithic cork structures seeming futuristic and strangely primal all at once, weaving across the room to showcase the fashion designs of Estelita Mendonça, HIBU, UNT, KLAR and Pedro Neto (as curated by Miguel Flor).
‘We wanted to give the spectator a different view on conventional cork,’ explains Bento, ‘to take it away from the wine bottles and the tree as soft organic material and present it as if we had cut it from blocks of solid material, like marble or stone and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle, creating a big architectural sculpture piece that you could walk through.’
The vast amounts of cork were provided by Amorim Cork, another proud Portuguese brand. The eco-friendly material was important as a material, but also on a symbolic level – the theme of the IFS being ‘Utopia’ after all.
‘Our approach [to 'Utopia'] is in the material itself,’ says Bento. ‘Most of the energy used to produce it is taken from the waste collected at factories; the actual cork dust is wiped from the floors and used to power the steamers which clean the cork before it can be used, so in fact there is no waste.’
For the Showcase, designer Miguel Bento devised a set of monolithic cork structures appearing both futuristic and strangely primal all at once
The structures weave across the room, showcasing the fashion designs of Estelita Mendonça, HIBU, UNT, KLAR and Pedro Neto
‘We wanted to give the spectator a different view on conventional cork,’ explains Bento, ‘[to] present it as if we had cut it from blocks of solid material, like marble or stone and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle’
The vast amounts of cork were provided by Portuguese brand Amorim Cork
The eco-friendly material was important as a material, but also on a symbolic level – the theme of the IFS being ‘Utopia’ after all
INFORMATION
The International Fashion Showcase installations are open until 23 February, from 10am–6pm. For more information, visit Somerset House's website
Photography: Nian Canard for Neon Squared Studios. Courtesy Portugal Fashion & aicep Portugal Global, Amorim Cork and IFS2016 Portugal
ADDRESS
Somerset House
Strand
London, WC2R 1LA
-
Bay House brings restrained modern forms and low-energy design to the Devon coastA house with heart, McLean Quinlan’s Bay House is a sizeable seaside property that works with the landscape to mitigate impact and maximise views of the sea
-
Meet Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a Thai landscape architect on a missionThai landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, her studio Landprocess and network Porous City, are on a mission to make Bangkok a model of climate resilience
-
Eversolo’s all-in-one streaming amp takes care of CDs as well as almost every online serviceDesigned for space-saving sonic flexibility, the Eversolo Play will connect to almost anything, even accommodating your old compact discs
-
Lee Broom’s brutalist-inspired ‘Beacon’ will light up London as Big Ben strikes the hourSet to pulse through London Design Festival 2025 (13-22 September) and beyond, the British industrial designer’s sculptural light installation on the South Bank draws on its surroundings
-
Yuri Suzuki turns sound into architecture at Camden Arts ProjectsThe sound designer unveils ‘Utooto’, an interactive installation at London’s Camden Arts Projects (until 5 October 2025), in which visitors collaboratively build a sonic piece of architecture
-
Alex Tieghi-Walker unveils his plans for Brompton Design District 2025Ahead of London Design Festival 2025, we catch up with New York gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker about his appointment as curator of the Brompton Design District programme
-
‘The point was giving ordinary people access to bold taste’: how Ikea brought pattern into the home‘Ikea: Magical Patterns’ at Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh tells the story of a brand that gave us not only furniture, but a new way of seeing our homes – as canvases for self-expression
-
Design beyond humans: a new exhibition argues that the world doesn’t revolve around us‘More Than Human’ at London's Design Museum (until 5 October 2025) asks what happens when design focuses on the perspectives and needs of other species, from bees to seaweed
-
‘100 Years, 60 Designers, 1 Future’: 1882 Ltd plate auction supports ceramic craftThe ceramics brand’s founder Emily Johnson asked 60 artists, designers, musicians and architects – from John Pawson to Robbie Williams – to design plates, which will be auctioned to fund the next generation of craftspeople
-
‘Disabled people have always been here’: a new V&A show centres on disability in designCurator Natalie Kane takes us through five key exhibits from the London show, where design points the way to a more inclusive society
-
Malta’s London Design Biennale installation ‘reclaims death as a moment of reflection, not fear’Wallpaper* speaks with Andrew Borg Wirth, curator of Malta's installation, ‘URNA’, which reimagines cremation rituals
