Rugs are central to grounding a room. It sets the scene for furniture, art, and plants to be displayed. And at London Design Festival 2026, rugs are having a moment. Sitting at the intersection of art and textiles, rugs are getting the recognition they deserve, blending both functionality and beauty. Here are six designs that we have enjoyed seeing at the festival and beyond this week.

Christopher Farr

Christopher Farr’s archival rug designs are presented alongside contemporary furniture from Max Radford Gallery. The exhibition titled ‘Progressive Permanence’ was presented during London Design Festival to act as a canvas that merges art, crafts and design. We personally love the interior dialogue created through an amalgamation of eras and geographic influences.

‘All the rugs have been chosen because we love them as individual textiles, but also love how they sit with the works from our roster of designers,’ Radford previously told Wallpaper*. ‘It also enables us to put our designers on a platform with respected names of the 20th century, which is new for all of us. I think presenting these contemporary works alongside such heavy hitters reinforces our belief that the designers we work with can go on to become the respected names of the 21st century.’

christopherfarr.com

Marc Phillips

American rug designer Marc Phillips presents three new pieces at London Design Festival 2026. The collection was designed around the idea of restraint. There are two hand-knotted Moroccan designs and a handwoven flatweave, and although the construction and origins differ, they are united by a similar colour palette of warm tones. ‘Orah’ is handwoven in wool, with irregular striped bands in brown with tan and rust accents that shift subtly in tone across the width of the rug. ‘Ziri’ is softer with a chevron pattern in brown wool, and ‘Mira’ is the boldest with its diamond and leaf motif in rust, tan, olive, and dusty purple colours. The collection feels soft and grounding, a perfect anchor for any living space.

marcphillipsrugs.com

Floor Story

During London Design Festival, Floor Story always seems to have a playful, collaborative project to showcase, and this year is no exception. The London rug designer presents five rugs in an exhibition hosted with Spanish furniture maker Sancal and curated by interior designers Trifle*. The five rugs, which were staged in rooms with Sancal furniture, were designed by Coco Lom, Les Keepers, Lakwena, POoR Collective and House of Quinn.

Jogakbo, designed by Les Keepers (above), is a rug that focuses on the beauty of inconsistencies, capturing this through delicate linework and patchworking. The patterns feel like a wild garden with intersecting lines and patterns that overlap and go against linear designs. POoR Collective’s design celebrates London housing estates and translates tower-block architecture into a joyful and optimistic flatwoven pattern. Read more about their design here

floorstory.co.uk

Collina Strada for Layered

Swedish design house Layered has collaborated with New York-based fashion label Collina Strada on a new rug collaboration. The result is a collection that is vibrant and dynamic, perfect for a subtle statement. There are four hand-tufted rugs and two sofas in a flurry of pink and green tones. What we enjoy about the designs is the direct references to the fashion label’s history. One pattern references the floor of Collina Strada's New York flagship store, while another features the distinct plaid from the brand's AW26 runway.

The final playful touch to the collection is the flower-shaped structural rugs in different colourways, marking a departure from geometric patterns found in contemporary rugs. ‘In design, I'm interested in creating tension between opposing ideas: beauty and discomfort, fragility and strength, fantasy and realism,’ says Hillary Taymour, founder and creative director of Collina Strada. ‘I think fashion and design should evoke emotion and individuality rather than perfection.’

layeredinterior.com

Nordic Knots

Nordic Knots's new collection, ‘Dancing Flower and Matches’, is rooted in Swedish Grace, an early 20th-century Swedish design movement that celebrated simplicity and proportion. The collection was shot at Stockholm’s Bio Skandia, a 1923 cinema designed by architect Gunnar Asplund, and the setting truly captures the rugs’ organic, yet graphic expression. There are two new rugs: 'Dancing Flower' leans towards floral motifs and comes in a warm sand or dusty blue colour. Matches is more graphic, honouring more rhythmic Art Deco geometric patterns with accents of golden bamboo silk.

nordicknots.com

Creative Matters

Over in Paris, RDAI and Creative Matters present Zoometry, a collection of six fine rugs, which replicate the microscopic workings of birds. Maison & Objet, local practice RDAI, led by Denis Montel and Julia Capp, teamed with Canadian rug manufacturer Creative Matters on the rugs. ‘The idea was not to design a carpet with a bird on it,’ RDAI interior architect Johan Thuillot previously told Wallpaper*. He looked at the microscopic patterns of birds and flattened them to create a pattern which could be rendered. The result, which is seemingly geometric yet contrastingly biophilic, was worked into Tibetan wool and Chinese silk, in a series of natural-looking colours from bright coral to deep brown. The collection is now on display at Galerie Mouvements Modernes.

creativemattersinc.com

Hull, in Yorkshire, is a city shaped by water, industrial history and generations of seafaring. For London Design Festival 2026, internationally acclaimed sound artist Chris Watson draws upon this rich maritime heritage in Trent Falls. This immersive spatial installation takes listeners on a sonic journey along northern England’s Humber Estuary.

‘This is a sound voyage that moves with the tide, down the estuary and eventually out into the North Sea,’ explains Watson.

The journey begins at Goole Docks, where the rivers Trent and Ouse converge to form the Humber. Following the ebbing tide, the piece moves through the reeds of Faxfleet Nature Reserve before a freight train rattles past the former Oxmardyke signal box. According to Watson, this sequence draws on the railway and Charles Dickens’ mystery story, The Signal-Man. ‘These sounds connect the industrial landscape with the human story of the estuary.’

The soundscape then passes beneath the Humber Bridge, announced by the thunder of vehicles crossing its expansion joints. Later, it gathers the cries of a local fairground, cathedral bells and the roar of supporters at a Hull Kingston Rovers home game.

Further along the estuary, birds scour the mudflats while their calls mingle with the distant echoes of Saltend Chemicals Park. ‘The piece is a mix of wildlife and industrial sounds constantly interrupting one another,’ states Watson.

The journey eventually reaches Spurn Point, an extraordinary, remote spit of land extending into the North Sea. Here, the haunting calls of grey seals drift across the water alongside the rolling wash of the waves. ‘I regard my work as cinematic. I want it to fire people’s imagination,’ notes Watson.

Created from recordings gathered over nearly two years, Trent Falls compresses time and collapses distance, drawing geography, seasons and memory into a single continuous passage. Originally commissioned as part of Hull’s year as UK City of Culture (in 2017), the work extends beyond the city to capture the wider character of the Humber Estuary.

‘The piece is inspired by Hull, but it’s really about listening to the whole estuary and how it changes as you move through it,’ says Watson.

At its heart, Trent Falls is an invitation to slow down and hear both Hull and its surrounding areas. ‘With my installations, I give people the time to listen. I want them to turn their phones off and allow themselves to be taken somewhere else.’

This exploration of water, infrastructure and industry finds a fitting setting at Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. Built in 1890 and closed to the public for 13 years, the building is hosting its first cultural programme under the custodianship of the Glass Castle Foundation. Here, Trent Falls is presented through L-Acoustics’ immersive sound system as part of The Art of Sound programme for the London Design Festival.

Running until 15 September 2026, The Art of Sound also features work by Max Cooper, alongside Hollie Buhagiar’s Lengua Desollada and Helen Lyon’s A Decade Is a Long Time. Both works were created in collaboration with L-Acoustics and the Alliance for Women Film Composers.

Follow the latest from London Design Festival 2026 with our live blog.

Twenty years ago, en route to his brother’s stag weekend in the country, Ollie Olanipekun watched a barn owl glide past his minibus and experienced a euphoric moment of mental clarity. From then on, looking up at the sky and watching birds became a way to slow down, still his active mind and relieve moments of stress. It was a life-changing moment that would eventually lead him to launch Flock Together, a birdwatching club that organises monthly walks for people of colour.

This month, he forms part of Shoreditch Design Week’s ‘Voices of Shoreditch’, a cohort of local designers and creatives pulled together by Shoreditch Design Week creative director Duncan Riches ‘to reflect the depth and diversity of talent in East London’. Olanipekun joins a distinguished coterie that includes Bethan Laura Wood, Jasper Morrison, Lee Broom and Martino Gamper, and the programme will showcase a selection of representative design pieces as well talks.

Ollie Olanipekun: from multidisciplinary creative to accidental birdwatcher

Having grown up on a Coventry housing estate, Olanipekun says he might have remained oblivious of the joys of nature had it not been for a brief stint in the cub scouts. 'I can thank my parents for that,’ notes Olanipekun. ‘They could see that I might be heading down a wrong path. It wasn’t for me in the end. I was battling with ADHD, and I found the uniform and the activities restrictive, but what it did do was introduce me to the possibilities of the great outdoors and exploring nature.’

Years later, while working in London as a creative director for clients such as Adidas, Burberry and Levis, he found high pressure projects became more manageable if he could step outside for an hour or so to wander in nature and take photos of birds. He began posting the pictures on social media and quickly found an enthusiastic fan base.

In 2020, against the backdrop of a global lockdown and Black Lives Matter protests, the seed of an idea formed and took flight in Olanipekun's mind, with his love for birds and recognition of the power of community to heal in dark times leading him to set up Flock. At the first walk - at Walthamstow Wetlands, in east London - around 15 people turned up. But at the subsequent monthly birdwatching walks, which now cover the four corners of London, as well as further afield (there are chapters in Tokyo, Toronto and New York), the number has been considerably more - one walk in Richmond Park saw around 450 turn up. And it isn’t about being a nature expert or bird fanatic, nor do you need any special equipment (the walks are free but brand partnerships ensure binoculars and the like are provided). It’s about connecting people to the planet and each other through nature – both seeing it and feeling it – with midwalk talk sessions proving unexpectedly cathartic.

Olanipekun is full of energy and his brain is undeniably a hive of activity. The walks aren’t just during the day – there are twilight ones too – and Flock works with schools and youth groups to encourage children to start loving nature too, particularly those from undersupported or historically underrepresented backgrounds. Olanipekun’s OpenArea platform supports artists, architects and performers to create for and within green space, and he has also recently opened gallery Allotment to spotlight work that connects nature and culture. He is constantly juggling ideas for the future, which include weekend nature retreats and collaborations, as well as a current plan to create a nature reserve in his home borough of Hackney.

For his contribution to ‘Voices of Shoreditch’, he chose a pair of binoculars to represent his social philosophy. ‘They are the one piece of equipment that binds everyone involved in birdwatching,’ says Olanipekun. ‘No matter your experience, background or where you come from, binoculars are the shared object that says you are part of this. They are an invitation and an equaliser. But more than that, they represent curiosity itself. They are about choosing to look closer, to lean in, to pay attention to what others might pass by. In my work, that act of looking deeper has been everything. Binoculars have taught me the art of noticing - that when you really see, you gain new perspectives not just on nature, but on ideas, place and possibility. They are a reminder that the more you observe, the more you understand. And that understanding is where real connection begins.’

‘Voices of Shoreditch’ at Shoreditch Design Week is on 15-20 September at House of Icon, Shoreditch Town Hall, London EC1, shoreditchdesignweek.com. flocktogether.world, openarea.live, @allotment_e8

South Asian design is no longer confined by geography; it has become a global language of contemporary expression. This year, it crosses borders with a major London showcase worth adding to every design lover’s itinerary.

India and UK-based Raw Collaborative – a design platform championing craft, material innovation and creative exchange – makes its first major international debut with Design Intelligentsia, a showcase at Shoreditch Town Hall. Part of London Design Festival 2026, the exhibition takes place from 15-17 September, bringing together 25 distinctive studios. 'We have been representing and collaborating with these practices over several years, through our previous showcases as well as our engagement with designers, makers and craft communities across India,' says Fateh Singh Bhatia, programme & curatorial lead at Raw Collaborative UK Ltd. 'For this showcase, we were interested in looking beyond the obvious or singular application of a craft.'

While the showcase spotlights studios advancing traditional craft through sophisticated technologies and digital tools, it resists reducing South Asian design to familiar tropes or viewing it solely through the lens of tradition. 'For us, this is the shift from craft-intensive to design-intensive practices; where craft is not simply an aesthetic or a technique, but a way of thinking,' says Tanvi Karia, founder & director of Raw Collaborative UK Ltd.

Here’s a look at some of the most distinctive names participating in the show.

Raw Collaborative - Design Intelligentsia is on view 15-17 September 2026. Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT

South Asian designers to discover at London Design Festival

Baarique

Led by Malika Budhiraj, the predominantly women-run studio has spent the past decade working closely with artisans to create handcrafted and hand-painted objects in brass and bronze, spanning tableware, barware, boxes and urns. For the showcase, they will present a selection of signature pieces alongside a new series of collectible works that pair hand-embroidered Madhubani motifs (a centuries-old folk painting tradition from India and Nepal) with repoussé brass, mounted on handspun Ahimsa silk and developed in collaboration with Madhubani artists.

Ikai Asai

The brand is the brainchild of entrepreneur and artist Ananya Birla. Rooted in material-led storytelling, it places craft communities at the heart of the creative process. At the show, that philosophy comes into sharp focus through objects made using traditions such as papier-mâché, Longpi pottery, brasswork and Channapatna lacquerware, revealing how age-old techniques can find fresh expression in new design.

Khambatta

Founded by Ismet Khambatta in the 1990s, the workshop reinterprets India’s woodworking traditions through a restrained modernist language. Working with timber in its natural form, the practice focuses on the honesty of joints, junctions and material character. At LDF, their presented pieces feel as relevant in a decade as they do today.

Arrti Mansinghka

Her practice began with an exploration of cloth, evolving into richly layered appliqué works in which landscapes, flora, fauna and the human form emerge almost like fragments of memory. At the event, the artist turns to discarded textiles, transforming material once deemed obsolete into deeply evocative compositions.

Wicker Story

Architect Priyanka Narula founded the practice as a way to explore the possibilities of cane and rattan beyond their conventional forms. At the showcase, the studio brings together traditional craft and parametric design methodologies, demonstrating the remarkable adaptability of these natural materials through a modern language.

Latika Nehra

An Indian-born, Berlin-based artist working across ceramics, stone and mixed media, her practice embraces raw surfaces as a counterpoint to the polished aesthetics of digital life. She presents expressive hand-built forms that explore beauty through slowness, materiality and the visible trace of the maker.

London Design Festival is back for another year, spotlighting the very best of design across the city. Emerging designers and independent studios present an array of pieces; some look to new and ingenious ways to create, while others focus on fine-tuning a craft rather than reinventing the wheel. What we're looking for is a blend of ingenuity, functionality, and, of course, beauty. With this in mind, each year we dissect how design is applied to lighting – and what we are seeing so far is an ode to the portable light. With that being said, here are seven designs that we are looking forward to seeing illuminate the festival.

LIGHTING DESIGN AT LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2026

Bocci x Bethan Laura Wood

Bocci is known for its orb-shaped lighting designs. In tandem with London Design Festival, the Canadian lighting brand is unveiling a new purple colourway of its 14p design. The glass ball-shaped light fits in the palm of your hand and is easily portable. What we are looking forward to seeing is how it slots into Bethan Laura Woods' installation, specifically designed for the occasion. Inspired by the movie Labyrinth, starring David Bowie, the designer playfully dubbed the light the 'Bowie Ball,' which later became the foundation for her sculptural installation. Expect to see maze-like architecture that unites colour and structure – formed from colourful totems that glow with the arrangements of the purple 14p.

The Bocci x Bethan Laura Wood installation is located at 15 Bateman Street, London, W1D 4AQ between 12 - 20 September, 2026

Lee Broom's 'The Chant Chambers'

Last year we saw Lee Broom’s original piece ‘Beacon’ light up the South Bank. This year, the British designer has decided to create a continuation of his portable ‘Chant’ light – welcoming you into the ‘Chant Chambers’. The collection will now include oversized chandelier compositions, sculptural wall lights, linear pendants and architectural lighting structures. Says Broom, ‘I’ve always loved lighting that can really inhabit a space, rather than simply sit within it, and that became the starting point for expanding the collection.’

The cubic design is easily stacked and placed together, allowing it to effortlessly flow through a room and intertwine within the interior, sitting at the intersection between architecture and decor. Presented in a new smoked glass finish, the darker tones echo a 1970s interior.

The full installation will be on view to the public during London Design Festival, 15–20 September 2026, at Lee Broom, 91, 93 and 95 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3AY

Faye Toogood

Faye Toogood presents Johnny. If you are familiar with British slang, you may note it is another name for a condom. The series of crumpled paper lanterns reminded the studio of just that, as Toogood explains, ‘During the design process, the studio was full of paper experiments. Stitched forms draped over tables and chairs that with a quick crumple and tug became standing oversize paper totems. We started to call the human height models “Johnny” as something of a joke – as they really did remind us of gigantic condoms.’ There is the ‘Johnny’, the largest of the lights which stands tall, yet crumpled, the Johnny pendant, and table light ( in two different sizes), are more compact, and squashed. The playfully phallic-looking lanterns bounce light and shadow. Switched on, the designs are delicate and show off the dainty stitching and its wrought iron skeleton.

Faye Toogood, 48a Union Street, SE1 1TD

Tom Dixon

Located in the Tom Dixon Coal Drops Yard flagship, the brand's presentation is titled ‘Have you seen the light?’. Visitors will see the brand’s latest collection in full, while also offering an early look at future launches. Nestled under each arch of the space will be the Flare, Melt Nickel, and Whirl copper lights (pictured above), alongside the Smash and Spot tables.

Upcoming releases include the Groove furniture collection in a glossy black finish, an armchair addition to the Plump series, a small outdoor-rated Melt light, and Pose task and portable lights in bronze. The display also includes new textiles, candles, and decorative vases.

Located at Tom Dixon, Coal Drops Yard, 4-10 Bagley Walk, London N1C 4DH

Studio Waldemeyer

Also focusing on smaller lighting is the London-based design practice Studio Waldemeyer, which will present its ‘Lumeable’ rechargeable candle lights. . Each rechargeable candle is housed in a hand-formed glass vessel, with a patented electronic flame, bespoke to the studio. The candles have different brightness levels, replaceable batteries, and are easy to repair.

The collection is showcased through an installation at the church St Stephen Walbrook on 15 September 2026. Creating a warm atmosphere to accompany a charity concert, the installation will raise funds for the care and maintenance of the church, and will surround the altar. Each rechargeable candle is housed in a hand-formed glass vessel, with a patented electronic flame, bespoke to the studio. The candles have different brightness levels, replaceable batteries, and are easy to repair.

The Lumeable Candlelit Charity Concert, with the Square Milestones jazz band, will take place at St Stephen Walbrook, 39 Walbrook, EC4N 8BN, on Tuesday 15 September 2026. The concert is free to attend; no booking or tickets required

Made x Barbican

At the end of summer, furniture company Made unveiled its collaboration with brutalist landmark, Barbican. The 23 piece collection was designed to bring home a slice of the building’s raw concrete aesthetics. It also found inspiration inspiration not only in the estate’s public spaces – such as the concert hall and raised walkways – but also in some of its original apartments.

The ‘Curve’ lamp series, nodded to the Concert Hall’s tubular acoustic panels. The ‘Coffer’ series of ceiling lights and wall lights drew from the pick-hammered textured concrete and the rounded shape found in the building’s ‘waffle’ ceilings – a concrete-saving structural grid that also creates a great pattern in the Barbican’s indoor and outdoor spaces. To see the collection in full head to a free immersive installation at the Barbican Centre located at the Barbican Level G Hub Space.

Read more about the Made x Barbican collection here

Raw Edges design studio

Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay of Raw-Edges first launched LightMass^, a collection of lights, two years ago at London Design Festival. Now they add to the collection with the new LightMass^ Table Lamp series. Here, the designs take a sculptural form, with each piece crafted from a single material to help minimise waste. As a result, the table lamps have an airy, weightless quality, with each design named after its individual mass and weight. They are dainty, delicate and offer a slight phytoid quality, with curved petal-like shapes.

Raw-Edges' LightMass^ Table Lamp series will take over the third floor of the Shoreditch Wax Building , 4 Garden Walk, London EC2A 3EQ, from 15 –20 September 2026

For his second edition as curator of London Design Festival's Brompton Design District, Alex Tieghi-Walker chose a theme of 'Perfectly Imperfect', continuing on last year's honest view of design and the processes that drive the industry in its more independent and emerging practices.

The intersection of craft, applied arts, and design is what underpins Tieghi Walker's work as a curator, and this year's London Design Festival presentation will celebrate 'the experimentation, research, collaboration and occasional failures that underpin every creative practice.'

As part of his direction for the District, he has invited some of today's most exciting creative voices to take part, including Isamaya French's Studio Iron, Rafael Prieto, Conie Vallese, Patricia Urquiola, Laila Gohar, Tino Seubert, Kelly Wearstler, Cristián Mohaded, and more.

As part of the District, Tieghi-Walker is also unveiling a pop-up library: dubbed The Reading Room, the space will be dedicated to queer design, creativity and cultural history in London (36 Thurloe Place, SW7 2HP). True to his previous projects, the space will serve as a meeting point and salon and feature furniture and objects by London queer artists and designers, alongside books (curated by Soho-based Tenderbooks). On the occasion of the library debuting at London Design Festival, we asked Tieghi-Walker to share his personal reading list, and why each title is special to him.

Alex Tieghi-Walker must-reads

Cutting-edge contemporary furniture and iconic archival rugs come together in ‘Progressive Permanence’, an exhibition for London Design Festival hosted by Max Radford Gallery and rug producer Christopher Farr. Works by emerging designers such as Lewis Kemmenoe and LS Gomma are paired with designs by acclaimed artists including Gary Hume and Louise Bourgeois, in an installation that shows how creativity across eras and geographies can come together to produce new interior dialogues.

Rugs meet contemporary furniture

Both Max Radford Gallery and Christopher Farr are keystones of design in east London, with the exhibition taking place in Christopher Farr’s Shoreditch studio, where custom rugs are developed in wool and silk. While Farr started out in 1988, setting out to preserve weaving traditions while exploring new design expressions, Radford established his eponymous gallery in 2020, seeking to platform London’s emerging talent combining craft with artistic experimentation. ‘Progressive Permanence’ marks their first collaborative exhibition.

Radford describes Christopher Farr as an ‘OG supplier’ of rugs in London, and the fact the company has worked with such illustrious artists ‘speaks volumes’, he says. For ‘Progressive Permanence’, Radford – who is an interior designer as well as gallerist – was invited to select pieces from Farr’s impressive archives to combine with furniture made by the contemporary names he represents.

‘All the rugs have been chosen because we love them as individual textiles, but also love how they sit with the works from our roster of designers,’ Radford says. ‘It also enables us to put our designers on a platform with respected names of the 20th century, which is a new for all of us. I think presenting these contemporary works alongside such heavy hitters reinforces our belief that the designers we work with can go on to become the respected names of the 21st century.’

In the exhibition, ‘Graywacke OffCut Chair’ (2024) from artist-designer Carsten in der Elst – a brutalist assemblage of discarded stone blocks – is paired with ‘Plate 111’, an abstract and geometric tapestry of colour by Bauhaus artist Gunta Stölzl.

An orange chair made from polyurethane rubber and industrial metal mesh by LS Gomma (‘XR Mesh 2-seater (orange)’, 2025) is placed against Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Has The Day Invaded The Night? Has the Night Invaded The Day?’ (2009), a striking text-based monochrome work by the artist, inspired by insomnia.

A new bench from designer Tessa Silva – who uses smocked textiles to create sculptural furniture pieces – is offset by a colourful rug from fashion designer Romeo Gigli featuring a painterly sun. And chairs from Lewis Kemmenoe’s recent ‘Quilted Fragments’ series, in which timber offcuts are crafted into wooden patchworks, are united with minimalist green rugs from the painter and sculptor Gary Hume, which depict hospital doors.

The rugs and furniture works are presented ‘as a foil to each other – matching or contrasting sensibilities’, says Radford. ‘The rugs create spaces in which they are in dialogue with the furniture, rather than simply being surfaces for them to sit on.’

For Radford, the show celebrates the designers his gallery works with – people that he builds long-lasting relationships with, transcending notions of market trends. ‘We believe these works will be the masterpieces of the future,’ he says, ‘and, much like the classics of the 20th century, they deserve to be visited and revisited to fully appreciate their beauty.’

‘Progressive Permanence’ takes place 15 to 20 September at Christopher Farr, 18 Calvin Street, London, E1 6HF

The winners of the 2026 London Design Medals have been announced as the London Design Festival prepares to kick off (12-20 September), with Jonathan Anderson, Sir Christopher Frayling, Anab Jain and Solveiga Pakštaitė awarded the annual design accolade. The winners were selected by a jury of global creatives led by the festival’s director Ben Evans, and will be celebrated at RH London, The Gallery, on 14 September.

The winning quartet embodies the breadth of creativity and ingenuity at the heart of London's creative industries. 'This year's medal winners demonstrate the transformative power of design, from Jonathan Anderson’s work blending high fashion, art and craft, to Sir Christopher Frayling’s lifelong dedication to design education and cultural history, Anab Jain’s pioneering work in speculative futures, and Solveiga Pakštaitė’s solutions for intuitive, inclusive and considered design,' comments Evans. 'Each medal recipient exemplifies how creative innovation shapes our culture, industry and shared future.'

LONDON DESIGN MEDALS 2025: MEET THE WINNERS

London Design Medal: Jonathan Anderson

Blending his work in fashion with a lifelong dedication to craft, both historical and contemporary, makes Jonathan Anderson a fitting winner for one of London's most important creative accolades. 'It is a true honour to be recognised by the LDF for my work within the field of craft and design, which have always been a personal passion of mine,' says Anderson.

Throughout his career, and both as a personal pursuit as well as through his work for brands like Loewe and Dior, as well as his eponymous label JW Anderson, Anderson has operated, a note from the festival reads, as a 'creator and curator'. Through projects such as collaborations with The Hepworth Wakefield and the Offer Waterman gallery, and the founding of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, he transformed the role of creative director with a distinctive cultural perspective.

Lifetime Achievement Medal: Sir Christopher Frayling

British cultural historian, academic, broadcaster and champion of design education, Sir Christopher Frayling represents the festival's belief in the importance of fostering and nurturing the industry's future. Frayling recognises the similar mission the two share: 'Since 2003, the London Design Festival has been drawing the public's attention to the key importance of design in everyday life,' he notes. 'Through my teaching, my publications, my broadcasts – and my leadership of the Royal College of Art (RCA) – I have been on a similar mission.'

Frayling is a former rector of the RCA; among his achievements, he set up the pioneering History of Design postgraduate course with the V&A Museum, contributing to bringing modern and contemporary design at the forefront of the academic discourse. His belief in the accessibility of design education and the industry has led him to write and present programmes for the BBC and Channel 4, and to be a key voice in the crucial conversations surrounding funding for creative education.

Design Innovation Medal: Anab Jain

The co-founder of challenge-facing, future-oriented studio Superflux, Anab Jain is a futurist applying creative thinking to 'the complex and deeply interconnected nature of the challenges we face today'.

Today led by a mission of 'meaningful legacy', Jain was born and raised in India, where she studied filmmaking at the National Institute of Design before moving to London for a master’s at the RCA. Founding Superflux with Jon Ardern in 2009, her work has focused on designing speculative solutions where technology, politics, and nature are considered to confront the increasingly complex challenges facing current and future generations (as seen in the studio’s recent exhibition ‘The Craftocene’ in Venice). 'For us, [the award] is recognition that speculative and future-led design is inherently innovative and entrepreneurial,' she says. 'At Superflux, we have always believed that design’s greatest power lies in making complex, systemic futures viscerally felt, so people can step outside established narratives and find the courage to imagine alternate futures.'

Emerging Design Medal: Solveiga Pakštaitė

This year's Emerging Design Medal winner is chief design officer and founder of tech venture Mimica, and runs a multidisciplinary practice that deals with user-centred and sustainable design. Among her early achievements is Bump, which she developed while attending the Industrial Design & Technology course at Brunel University London: the surface of a temperature-sensitive label is applied to food, and its tactile pattern changes when the food is about to go bad – the mission being to cut food waste and support visually impaired individuals in their everyday life.

'I'm passionate about promoting inclusion and sustainable habits through design, and I think it's wonderful that work that makes the world a little bit better is being recognised,' she says. 'I feel very honoured! I'm proud of what I have worked on so far but I'm even more excited by the design challenges yet to come.’

In March, British furniture brand SCP announced plans to relocate from the Shoreditch showroom it had occupied for four decades – an unexpected, though perhaps inevitable, development. The previous month, Wallpaper* met founder Sheridan Coakley to hear about the impending move to a townhouse showroom in Clerkenwell – a significant shift not only for the company but for London’s design scene.

When SCP opened in a former upholstery warehouse in Shoreditch in 1985, Coakley chose the location because it was affordable and close to the manufacturers he worked with. As a retail destination, however, it was an industrial backwater. He recalls customers arriving by taxi and asking the driver to keep the meter running. Over the following four decades, the neighbourhood and its design community grew around SCP. New designers were discovered, countless pieces of furniture launched and many a party held.

Coakley himself has remained a pivotal yet famously self-effacing figure in the industry. He began his career as an antiques dealer in Notting Hill before making his name as the man who brought Philippe Starck’s furniture to the UK. He subsequently helped launch the careers of designers including Jasper Morrison, Matthew Hilton and Konstantin Grcic. SCP feels as much like a family as a business, but its ethos is also underpinned by a longstanding commitment to British manufacturing. Its vertically integrated model includes a Norfolk upholstery factory, opened in 2003, which now specialises in sustainable materials and production methods.

Coakley has never shied away from bold decisions, and the Shoreditch building – which combined the company’s offices, showroom and shop – was, he says, 'from a retail point of view', simply no longer working out.

'It’s changed,' he says of bricks-and-mortar retail. 'From a trade point of view, Clerkenwell is a much better place to be located.'

Here on Clerkenwell Green – among the area's many other furniture showrooms – the five-storey townhouse will benefit from the existing trade footfall while continuing to welcome those who want to browse and buy in person, something that Coakley notes is otherwise lacking in the area.

'Our retail and contract businesses are much more aligned now than they used to be,' he explains. Offices and hospitality interiors increasingly have a softer, more residential character, and SCP’s new showroom has deliberately been designed to feel more like a home than a conventional contract space – an approach also embraced by Danish brand Gubi at its nearby Charterhouse Square outpost.

Although its facade resembles a Victorian terrace, Coakley tells us the building was actually constructed in the 1980s. It also comes with a useful annexe, which SCP are using as an events and office space. The interior design is by Simone McEwan and Sacha Leong of Nice Projects – the studio behind 40 Duke, Selfridges' private shopping destination, which opened earlier this year.

At the shop's smart tobacco-brown entrance, a large window draws passers-by inside, where they will find accessories and gifts displayed in a space finished with finger-block parquet flooring. The basement hosts a lighting department designed by long-time SCP collaborator Jon Harrison while the other three floors are dedicated to furniture, arranged in distinct room sets divided by shelving and curtains. The top floor, known as the Apartment, is staged as a private residence rather than a conventional showroom.

The result is decidedly more polished than the previous store, with carefully considered materials and finishes, warm colours, soft lighting and an intentionally residential feel. 'I hope it's not too fashionable,' Coakley laughs. 'We haven't gone for a completely minimalist look.'

The annexe, which was formerly a metalworking workshop, sits in a courtyard at the rear of the building. Its ground floor serves as a meeting space with a materials and samples library, while a kitchen by Very Simple Kitchen – an Italian brand which SCP is launching in the UK during London Design Festival 2026 – is separated by a glass wall. SCP's offices are located upstairs on the first and second floors.

For this month's opening, which happily coincides with London Design Festival, the store is hosting a showcase of vases designed by Martino Gamper for Italian manufacturer Bitossi Ceramiche, alongside furniture by Swedish brand Källemo and lighting by Blue Green Works. Outdoor furniture by London-based woven-textile brand Shore Studios will be displayed in the courtyard.

Ever the pragmatist, Coakley is cautiously optimistic about the move. 'I feel less emotional about it than I did to begin with,' he admits. 'I was very resistant in my head initially because I thought [the move] would be looked upon as a negative thing. But actually, as a project, I'm very excited about it – this is the part I like.'

SCP, 16 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0QT

A giant windmill installed at annual desert music festival Coachella. A Christmas tree made of metallic propellers. Huge inflatable towers serving as backdrop for Craig Green's Moncler show. A train for half a dozen eggs to swirl and dance on a table. These and more marvels are the product of London-based creative studio Isabel + Helen, founded in 2016 by Isabel Gibson and Helen Chesner.

Focused on an analogue, hands-on approach, Gibson and Chesner started out as university friends and over the course of a decade, they built a practice rooted in problem-solving through playfulness and spectacle through ingenuity. Craft, movement and colour are at the heart of their installations, which often appear as larger-than-life, ambitious playgrounds for creativity.

During London Design Festival 2026, as the pair celebrates a decade in business, The Conran Shop stages an exhibition titled 'Motion Sickness' (12-20 September 2026), chronicling the studio's obsession with movement and offering a peek behind the scenes of their creative process. For the occasion, the designers have also created a series of objects and sculptures that will be available to buy, namely a series of 'Blimps' (kinetic optical sculptures), stools in stained birch plywood, and paintings from their Twister Series, made by a rotating canvas pressed onto 20 paintbrushes.

Here, the duo tells Wallpaper* about their journey so far, the unlikely inspirations behind their creative process, and what they want to do next.

Ten years of Isabel + Helen

Wallpaper*: How did you become creative partners?

Isabel Gibson: We met while we were studying graphic design communication at Chelsea College of Art in 2009 and became really good friends.

Helen Chesner: We were drawn to the same reference points, and humour was quite a big thing that underpinned a lot of our work.

IG: Because we shared the same sense of humour and were both naturally coming up with ideas that were really playful and exciting. That seeps into our work quite a lot because even just coming up with ideas together becomes this playful experiment. But we're also quite logical people, very interested in the way things work, in making and repurposing objects and bringing inanimate objects to life through movement. I think we've always been interested in the different feelings and emotions that movement can bring to an inanimate object. We bonded on that.

W*: What your first steps as a studio?

HC: When we first started out, we didn't have any money, and so we had quite a DIY ethos to the way that we worked, using really low-fi materials and simple kinetic special effects. We would just build everything ourselves and learn on the job and design through making.

IG: one of the first projects we did was for the V&A, the brief was really open, but it was to do with Russian art and culture. So, we picked up on the Constructivist movement and created a piece that people could really physically engage with. We made a play set of shapes that people could then interact with. From the outset, our work was just about how can we engage the audience in a really physical and tangible way, and then that's led us to more movement and motion over the years.

W*: Do you think of yourselves as designers, artists, or something else?

HC: We do fluctuate between the two quite a lot. Fundamentally, we see ourselves as designers, as we answer briefs and we work in quite a logical way. But then at the same time over these 10 years we've evolved into this artistic practice, and so now that's what we're known for.

IG: We are designers at heart, and we're usually designing something that serves a bit of a function or a purpose, even if it's a bit futile.

HC: Like, how do you make eggs dance? And then make a performance with some eggs.

IG: The function of the object is to bring a small moment of joy to someone.

W*: Can you tell me more about the eggs?

IG It's called the Scrambler, and it's a little train that can carry half a dozen eggs, and it makes them spin and dance as you move them. That was just a self initiated project, we're always developing ideas that we've had in the studio alongside more of our commercial work. As the 10 years have gone on, we get to spend more and more time on that part of our work this obsession of movement and mechanisms.

W*: What is the starting point for a project?

HC: We'll just kind of bounce ideas back and forth.

IG: But the starting point is usually some kind of transformation, whether that's a visual effect or whether that's something actually physically changing. The experimentation and the process are just as important as the outcome

HC: That's something that we really relish in and leads us it takes us down paths that are quite unexpected. And that's why it's always really important to document the process

W*: What are the pillars of your creative process?

IH: It goes like this: does it have some kind of transformation or optical effect? Does it celebrate the beautiful simplicity of the analogue and the tactile? Does it inspire some human reaction? We need to tick each of these boxes in order for a project to feel like it's got legs.

W*: What have been the encounters that have shaped your creative practice?

IG: We were both inspired by similar artists and designers, there's a few that we met while we were studying, like Daniel Eatock, his work was all about process and the joy and the experimentation within that. But also also video artists John Wood and Paul Harrison, with their dead plan performance art. They often use quite low-fi tricks in camera to create really graphic scenarios that include the human body. That encouraged us to look at human interaction within space and sculpture.

A real moment for us was when we saw Julio Le Park in 2014 at the Serpentine; we were really amazed by the simplicity and the hypnotic nature of his work, something which we take into our practice today. We love the idea that a piece of art could act as visual therapy, or put you in a meditative state.

HC: On a more personal level, We've both had children in the last few years. So that's also had a really positive impact on our work in quite a different way: [our kids'] sense of wonder and the excitement and intrigue when they're experiencing stuff for the first time. They get completely obsessed with one thing, don't they? Even just the repetition of opening and closing a door that can just become the most exciting thing.

W*: You work on a variety of scales. Do you have one that you prefer?

HC: We're constantly fluttering between the smaller scale and the large scale and I think that's what we love about it.

IG: The biggest work we did was at Coachella, which was a 60 foot windmill. And then it goes right down to the Scrambler. They both offer challenges in quite different ways. Obviously the larger scale is all about achieving an impact in a spatial, architectural way, whereas the smaller projects have to be much more specific in the detail. I think we quite enjoy the contrast of the two, and they both offer different experiences for the audience as well, and I think both are just as important.

W*: What commissions have felt like a turning point for the studio?

IG: Craig Green was a huge inspiration to us and also just an amazing collaborator as we have worked for a few seasons on the Moncler Genius Collection, and also for his individual label as well. But his work has always been a big inspiration to us, and we've been so lucky to work alongside him; he really pushes an idea and we've been able to really increase the scale of our work with him.

HC: The Moncler Genius installations meant that we could think of our work much more spatially and in a multisensory way.

W*: What are the things that inspire you and fill your life and as a result creative work?

HC: Most of the time, it's the mundane. We always say the playfulness in the everyday is something that really inspires us. It could just be some really simple mechanism you see on your daily commute, and it can then lead to a whole project.

IG: We're also quite inspired by really old school films that we'd watch as kids, where special effects are really analogue - things like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, Toys with Robin Williams, or the 80s animation film Button Moon.

HC: Labyrinth with David Bowie, or the old Beauty and the Beast, when all the candlesticks come to life and start dancing.

IG: A lot of theatre is quite inspirational to us as well, I recently saw some great mime performances where they interact with the set and it's all about telling a story through props and movement, using the body to communicate.

W*: what can we expect from your exhibition at The Conran Shop?

IG: One of our first projects was with them back in 2016. They are such a great British institution for design so it's really nice to be back there doing our exhibition. It explores this obsession with movement and motion that we've had over the past 10 years.

We're going to showcase a lot of our process and all the models and maquettes that are behind our projects over the years, they act as starting points for explorations and experiments. So you'll be able to see a lot of those low-fi tests. There'll also be a series of films that we've collected over the past 10 years of those different experiments.

HC: We'll show the behind the scenes, the inner workings of the projects, and then we're doing some limited edition artworks as well.

W*: How do you feel about this past decade, and what would you like to achieve in the next 10 years?

HC: It does feel quite lucky to make a living out of this.

IG: And that we're still working as a duo. I remember when we first started out, an accountant we went to see about setting up our partnership was like, "You do know that 100% of partnerships fail?" like what? We are happy to have made it so far, and just hope that we can carry on working together.

For the next 10 years, I think it's just about trying to remember to be in the moment and enjoy the process

HC: And also doing more things in the public realm as well, so people can really experience and interact with our work and see it at scale.

IG: And the things that we get excited by, we want to be able to share that with more people.

Motion Sickness, an exhibition by Isabel + Helen is on view 12-20 September 2026 at The Conran Shop, 16 Sloane Square, SW1W 8ER

UK housing estates and Brutalist tower blocks such as the Barbican and Trellick Tower have long divided opinion among onlookers – what is a modernist masterpiece to one person is an eyesore to another. But of course, for many whose opinions are not so often heard, they are simply a home – a backdrop to daily life. For Shawn Adams and his fellow members of POoR Collective (Power Out of Restriction), some of whom grew up on housing estates, these buildings are a source of inspiration – one the studio has channelled into a joyful new rug for British brand Floor Story.

Realised in two contrasting colourways of New Zealand wool, the flatwoven design, named 'Power', is informed by the rigorous geometry found in the plans and sections of London tower blocks. In the pattern, these vertical and horizontal elements are abstracted, hinting at the outline of a deck-access walkway or a circular column borrowed from the Barbican.

The goal, Adams says, was to translate these spatial, three-dimensional concepts into a two-dimensional medium while maintaining an optimistic aesthetic rather than creating an austere or literal architectural plan.

'It's about finding the beauty in something everyday that might ordinarily be overlooked,' says Adams, who, born and raised in south-west London, runs POoR Collective alongside Matt Harvey-Agyemang, Ben Spry, Akmaral Khassen and Larry Botchway. 'We asked, "If we were to take the stories of an estate and try and make it into a rug, what would that look like?"'

He likens the resulting designs to a palimpsest – a visual translation of the layered lives and histories of residents who live within architecture that is so frequently fetishised or derided, and who are often talked about but rarely listened to.

For POoR, which primarily works on architectural projects focused on community development and platforming young people, designing a rug was a new but natural extension of its spatial design practice. 'It’s kind of the same process in a way,' he says, 'whether it’s 2D or 3D. We sketched out ideas, gathered references and started creating and testing. I think all of us were quite aligned from the start.'

To bring the collection to life, POoR worked with Floor Story's head designer Gill Thorpe. 'I was drawn to POoR Collective's ethos of community, joy, wellbeing and their beautifully coloured graphic language,' says Thorpe. 'Power is a versatile and graphically structured flatweave, the only one in the wider collection that comes in two stock colourways. The pattern has been made with the intention of building onto the shapes instead of just scaling up or down, reflecting the inspiration of London's tower blocks.'

Made in Mirzapur, India, POoR's rugs are being showcased during London Design Festival alongside four other designs by four London-based creative practices: Coco Lom, House of Quinn, artist Lakwena Maciver and Les Keepers. Thorpe deliberately chose to work with local designers who had not designed rugs before. 'Each of the five designers has such different styles and ways of creating,' she told Wallpaper*. 'Paint, textiles, photography and mark-making were all brought into the world of rugs for the first time; it was both exciting and explorative.'

While the designers brought new energy and creativity, Thorpe provided the essential technical insights regarding material depth, weave textures and practical considerations like colour durability for high-traffic areas. The POoR team moved from hand sketches to digital drawings and finally to physical samples to understand how different fibres and colour movements would behave in person. The ability to see and touch the fibres in person, Adams says, was a vital part of the process. 'There are aspects like the movement of the weave that you can’t really capture in the same way in a drawing or on a computer screen – you have to see how it will look in person and in samples, and see how the textures will work.'

The rugs will be displayed next month at Floor Story's Shoreditch showroom, which will be transformed into a series of room sets featuring furniture from Spanish brand Sancal and curated by Trifle* Creative. The display will include all five designs – a fitting celebration of London's design talent.

For POoR Collective, the rug offers another medium through which to continue deeper conversations that have long informed its work. Housing estates are filled with overlooked design stories. Platforming them, POoR argues, is a way to challenge design hierarchies and invite marginalised voices to the table. 'With our work moving forward, we’re really looking at what power means,' says Adams. 'We want to talk about buildings, spaces and aspects of design that people don’t typically discuss. We want to shift the conversation.'

The rugs will be on display during London Design Festival, 15–18 September 2026, 10am–6pm daily; Saturday 19 September, 11am–5pm, at Floor Story, Cairo Studios, 4 Nile Street, London N1 7RF

British designer Lee Broom invites visitors into The Chant Chambers, a new installation for London Design Festival 2026. Last year we saw his original piece ‘Beacon’ light up the South Bank. This year sees a continuation of the designer’s portable lighting piece entitled ‘Chant’. The newly expanded collection includes oversized chandelier compositions, sculptural wall lights, linear pendants and architectural lighting structures.

Step inside The Chant Chambers by Lee Broom

Broom, who has been busy illuminating Madonna's Confessions II film , notes that some pieces feel complete as a single object, while others are collections that can evolve. ‘It’s often the ones based around very simple shapes that allow me to do that, and ‘Chant’ has that quality. It’s a very pure form, a glass cube with a circular indentation, so there’s a natural opportunity to play with repetition, scale, and different configurations. I’ve always loved lighting that can really inhabit a space, rather than simply sit within it, and that became the starting point for expanding the collection.’

The cubic design allows it to flow through a room and intertwine within the interior, sitting at the intersection between architecture and decor. The pieces feel atmospheric and sultry. Presented in a new smoked glass finish, the darker tones echo a 1970s interior.

‘I’m a modernist,’ exclaims Broom, ‘but I’ve always been drawn to nostalgia, particularly the late 1970s. There was something very distinctive about interiors from that period; they could be decorative, but they also had a real sculptural quality, and often a slightly more masculine sensibility than traditional interior decoration. I love the smoked glass, mirrors, and wall-to-wall carpeting.

‘They were strong design gestures that created a real atmosphere. I also like the lighting from that period too. It didn’t always take centre stage, but there would often be one strong sculptural chandelier, or lighting would be integrated throughout the interior in a much more architectural way.’

When designing ‘Chant ', Broom looked towards the glass block’s two historical references: when it first emerged during the Art Deco period, and then its re-emergence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The collection draws on these moments, but filtered through a modernist lens.

Broom’s work has a distinctive sense of geometry, yet he doesn’t quite know why. ‘Even when I try to design something more organic or textural, there is usually some sense of symmetry, balance or geometry sitting within. I’m not a particularly mathematical person, but I do think I’m very drawn to order.

‘I suppose it also reflects the way I am generally. I like order, I like discipline, and I’m a perfectionist. So the geometry within the work probably comes quite naturally from that. It gives me a framework, and then within that framework I can start to play with material, proportion and light.’

For Broom’s expanded vision of ‘Chant’, how it makes you feel is just as important as how it functions. ‘I’ve always designed from quite an emotive place. Of course, form and function are fundamental, and that’s where the real challenges lie, but with the expanded Chant collection I wanted to create something that also brings a sense of nostalgia and playfulness, while still feeling very considered and conceptual.

'There’s something quite mesmerising about seeing these glass forms repeated across a ceiling or through a space. In multiples, they become almost hypnotic. So I hope people feel uplifted by it, a sense of joy, but also slightly transported, so that they stop for a moment and really experience the light rather than simply see it.’

The full installation will be on view to the public during London Design Festival, 15–20 September 2026, at Lee Broom, 91, 93 and 95 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3AY

With its world-class concert halls and galleries, peaceful fountain court and large foyers wrapped in textured raw concrete walls, London’s Barbican is a haven for arts, architecture and design fans. Now they will be able to bring home a slice of the brutalist landmark’s aesthetics, thanks to a furniture collection by Made and the Barbican, available to buy now

Built in 1982 on the largest Second World War bomb site in the City of London, the Barbican was designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon as both a cultural and residential complex, and the new 23-piece collection finds inspiration not only in the estate’s public spaces – such as the concert hall and raised walkways – but also in some of its original apartments.

Explore the Made x Barbican furniture and lighting collection

The design team at Made, a homeware brand that aims to make high-end design accessible, worked closely with the Barbican, Europe’s largest multi-arts centre, sifting through its archives and researching the pioneering world of designer Miriam Howitt, who was tasked with creating five show homes for the development in the late 1960s.

Inspired by her travels to Scandinavia and bold Dutch interiors, Howitt’s work shaped the project’s direction, and resulted in a range of furniture, lighting, textiles and accessories infused with architectural references to the Barbican’s unique visual language of sculptural forms, modular layouts, grid structures and curved silhouettes.

‘The ambition was to create a complete product range that works both in isolation and together in an open living space,’ says Made’s in-house design team. ‘The final designs reimagine products, graphics and architectural details through a new lens, and into a cohesive product range that captures Barbican living: bold, considered and inherently social.’

The Barbican’s concrete architecture is softened by a recurring motif of semi-circles, often upside down, which appears throughout the complex, from the sills of the podium windows and the top-floor penthouse roofs, to fountains, stair towers, and the shape of the Frobisher Crescent apartment building at the centre of the estate.

In the new furniture collection, these signature curves can be found in the wooden side panels of the ‘Dual’ accent chairs, whose silhouette recalls the estate’s concrete pillars; the ‘Plinth’ coffee table, inspired by the sunken seating pods found next to the Barbican lake; or the ‘Curve’ lamp series, which echoes the Concert Hall’s tubular acoustic panels.

As well as the pick-hammered textured concrete (a massive undertaking that took nearly 17 years from the start of construction to completion), another key element of the Barbican is its heavy coffered ‘waffle’ ceilings – a concrete-saving structural grid that also creates a great pattern in the Barbican’s indoor and outdoor spaces. Their rounded square shape is mirrored by the ‘Coffer’ series of ceiling lights and wall lights.

Also available are two sofa designs, a dining table and chairs, and a wooden sideboard in stained ash. The warm colour palette found in the lights and soft furnishings, including moss greens and burgundy hues, is similar to the one Howitt used in her show apartments.

Accessories include a graphic cushion featuring the Barbican’s ‘boat edge’ balconies, as well as the ‘Brute’ retro deep-pile rug in ochre tones and white stripes. ‘In 1967, Howitt anchored the Barbican’s plain off-white flats with “show-stopping” patterned carpets,’ explains the Made design team. ‘By using bold colours to create visual weight, she ensured the spacious rooms felt grounded instead of empty.’

To celebrate the launch of the collection, Made will be creating a free immersive installation at the Barbican Centre in partnership with London Design Festival this September. Located at the Barbican Level G Hub Space, it will shine a light into the archives of the Barbican and the inspiration behind the collection.

Meanwhile, the Barbican is currently on the lookout for a designer to reimagine a bespoke range of up to 500 pieces of furniture across its public spaces, as part of a complete overhaul timed for its 50th anniversary. The competition is open to anyone, and proposals must be submitted online by the end of the month. Expectations are high – the original designer of the Barbican furniture was none other than Robin Day.

The ‘Made x Barbican’ collection, with prices starting from £32, is available at Made.com now , with selected items also available at the Barbican Shop.

There are few weeks in London’s calendar when the city feels quite as alive as it does during London Design Festival. Every September, museums, galleries and streets become the centre of conversation, where architects, designers and makers invite us to look differently at the spaces we move through every day.

The first programme announced for London Design Festival 2026, which returns from 12 to 20 September, looks at both the origins of design and its future direction. This year, both craft and artificial intelligence sit alongside one another as historic techniques are revisited through contemporary collaborations, exploring themes of migration, ecology, and cultural exchange across many confirmed projects.

London Design Festival 2026: programme announced

A bamboo pavilion with a bigger story to tell

Among the first commissions announced is The Pangolin Shield, the festival’s inaugural Landmark Project by the Anglo-Indian studio Studio Saar and structural engineers Atelier One. Installed on the Strand, the pavilion takes its cue from the pangolin, the shy, armour-plated mammal whose overlapping scales serve as the starting point for a structure made of bamboo and woven shields traditionally used by farming communities in north-eastern India.

While the pavilion could easily be appreciated for its impressive engineering, the aim is to encourage visitors to engage with it on a deeper level. It invites reflection on colonial histories, the movement of people and ideas, and the stories that materials carry as they journey across the Indian Ocean. Traditionally, the bamboo canopy serves both as shelter and as a space for contemplation, urging those on London’s busiest streets to slow down and be viewed.

On view all day, 12-20 September, Strand, Aldwych, London, WC2R 1ES

Made looks back to the Barbican

Renowned for its iconic brutalist architecture, the Barbican has profoundly influenced London’s design imagination. Its impact is evident in contemporary interiors, furniture design, and even the conversations surrounding urban living.

This autumn, Made revisits that legacy with a new Made x Barbican collection developed by designer Miriam Howitt, drawing on archival research into the estate and its original interiors. Furniture, lighting and textiles draw on the Barbican’s distinctive interiors. To accompany this, an installation at the Barbican during the festival explores how one of Britain’s most recognisable architectural landmarks continues to shape ideas of home decades after it first opened.

Installation on view 8am-11pm, 12-20 September, Barbican, Level G Hub Space, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS

The V&A begins with an awakening

The V&A has become the spiritual home of the London Design Festival, and its annual commission often captures the mood of each edition. This year, ‘Awakenings’, curated by Carrie Chan and Kristian Volsing, looks at how design can reshape our relationship with the world around us.

Spread throughout the museum, the programme brings together designers including Aziza Kadyri, Eunjo Lee and Henry Svendsen, alongside new commissions exploring sound, identity, artificial intelligence and the natural world. There is a sense of curiosity running through the exhibition, as well as a sense that technology is no longer treated as something separate from craft. Instead, both are becoming part of the same conversation.

From 12 September, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL

The Design Museum turns its attention to people behind the practice

The Design Museum’s programme during LDF, as ever, spans fashion, furniture and contemporary design culture. A major ongoing retrospective celebrates Nigo (until 4 October), charting the Japanese designer’s influence across streetwear and luxury fashion. London-based designer, educator and cultural change-maker Simone Brewster’s Platform installation (until January 2027) continues her exploration of sculptural furniture and material histories, layered with references from 'palaeolithic fertility deities to African diasporic traditions'.

Away from the galleries, conversations take centre stage too. Brewster joins Jasmi Hussein, Emefa Cole and Hettie Judah for a discussion exploring design and motherhood, shifting the focus away from finished work towards the lives and experiences that shape creative work.

224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG; visit designmuseum.org for the full programme

Japanese craft meets contemporary design

This year, Craft x Tech Tokai Project continues its tradition of collaboration between Japanese artisans and international designers. The exhibition highlights the fusion of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design, featuring media such as ceramics, washi paper, lacquer, textiles, and woodworking.

It spotlights designers such as Bethan Laura Wood, David Caon, and Philippe Malouin, who engage with artisans whose techniques have been refined and passed down through generations, showcasing the exciting possibilities born from this rich exchange of ideas.

12-30 September, Victoria & Albert Museum, Medieval & Renaissance, Room 64b, The Simon Sainsbury Gallery, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL

New conversations between Asia and London

Elsewhere, cultural platform MixZ continues its exploration of exchange between Asia and the UK through a pair of exhibitions taking place at the V&A and the Old Selfridges Hotel, an event space within the London department store.

At the V&A, ‘MixZ: China White Reimagined’ highlights the ancient beauty of Dehua porcelain. At the Old Selfridges Hotel, ‘Future Living with Shenzhen Style’ explores future living through future with immersive technologies and artificial intelligence. Throughout both presentations, the focus is on collaboration as community, underscoring the idea that true innovation seldom occurs in a vacuum. Instead, it flourishes through the shared knowledge, materials, and ideas that flow between different cultures.

V&A, Cromwell Road London, SW7 2RL
Selfridges, 1 Orchard St, London W1H 6HJ

St Paul’s Cathedral becomes a space of light

Ukrainian artist and lighting designer Mykola Kabluka will install two works inside St Paul’s Cathedral. Created with his Kyiv studio, Expolight, Soul and The Point of Unity examines the moment when a thought or feeling remains private.

Soul draws on research into the brain during daydreaming and inward thought. Its audiovisual imagery has no set sequence. Light travels through glass and responds to people moving around the cathedral, changing the work as they pass. The Point of Unity debuted at Burning Man in 2025 and will make its UK debut at the LDF. Some 3,500 fibre optic points illuminate the sculpture after dark; during the day, its mirrored surfaces reflect the cathedral around it. Kabluka explores how an individual presence becomes part of a larger whole.

Created during the ongoing war against Ukraine, Kabluka highlights his thoughts and personal experience of uncertainty and hope.

St. Paul's Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD

The Speaking Oasis gives palm weaving a 'new language'

Saudi architect Shahad Alazzaz turns to the date palm for The Speaking Oasis, presented at The Lavery in Cromwell Place during the London Design Festival. Her project explores how a material deeply woven into Saudi cultural life can be used in contemporary design.

The largest self-contained palm oasis, Al Hasa Oasis in eastern Saudi Arabia, acts as a reference point. Its extensive date palm groves have long made it a place of movement and exchange, while generations of craftspeople have worked with the palm through weaving. Supported by the Ithra Palm Initiative, launched by the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture in Dhahran, Alazzaz, founder of Azaz Architects, brings this skill and knowledge into architecture and design, exploring how the material and its techniques can develop.

On view all day, 12-20 September,The Lavery, (3 Cromwell Place), London SW7 2JE

Mali Mowcka creates a special sanctuary in Shoreditch

At the Hart, Shoreditch has invited contemporary urban artist Mali Mowcka to create Sanctum of Renewal inside its pan-Asian restaurant 'UBA', turning it into a contemporary sacred space for the London Design Festival, filling the upper part of the room with wooden pieces that descend from the ceiling.

Making between 160 and 200 forms by hand, each with an organic shape. Translucent resin petals will be suspended among them, drawing on Yūgen, the Japanese idea that 'beauty can be found in what remains partly unseen.' UBA will continue operating as a restaurant throughout the installation, with guests eating beneath the sculpture as staff move through the room.
On view all day, 12-20 September, 61 - 67 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HU

Brompton Design District puts craft in focus

Brompton Design District returns for London Design Festival under the direction of British and Italian curator and gallerist Alex Tieghi-Walker. The Wallpaper* USA 400 honouree has invited designers and curators to occupy spaces across the district, bringing together more than 150 participants. Isamaya Ffrench and former guest editor Laila Gohar are among them, along with a group of New York designers making their festival debut alongside launches from designers and brands including Molteni&C, Cassina and Tai Ping, presenting new collections from their Brompton showrooms.

Following his 2025 programme, Tieghi-Walker returns with a closer look at craft and contemporary design, introducing work by new voices London audiences may not yet know. Taking place from 12 to 20 September, this year's programme considers the personal attachments we form with the objects and design around us. Titled Perfectly Imperfect, the programme opens up studios and workshops, bringing unfinished experiments into public view.

On view all day, 12-20 September, The Lavery, (3 Cromwell Place), London SW7 2JE

Byron Pritchard lets the material decide

Also at Brompton Design District, British designer Byron Pritchard presents a new body of work featuring a slab of sycamore at the London Design Festival. Building on traditional woodworking techniques and with a deep appreciation for the craft, he and his team will, in work yet to be completed, work entirely by hand in a garage in Cromwell Mews, following the grain and responding to the timber as they go.

Finding Form brings this part of the design process into public view with no drawing setting out the final object; visitors will see each decision take shape as the work develops. To do this, Pritchard will research historic woodworking at the nearby V&A, then return to the garage and keep making.

On view all day, 12-20 September, Cromwell Mews Garage, London SW7 2JS

Past Made Present takes over Ham House

At Ham House, students from Kingston University’s MA Product & Furniture Design programme have responded to a place with more than 400 years of history. Developed with The Storybox Collective and the National Trust, Past Made Present brings the work of a new generation of designers into the house and gardens that inspired it.

Projects and prototypes will be installed throughout the property, drawing on archival research and stories connected to the house. Accessibility is central to the exhibition, with the students considering how design can give visitors another way to experience a historic place. Their material experiments enter into the existing rooms quietly, responding to Ham House as it is.

From 10 September to 11 October, Ham St, Ham, Richmond TW10 7RS

When the world came to a standstill six years ago during the pandemic, some speculated that it might spell the death knell for the design trade show – and in some ways, perhaps it did. Traditional fairs have struggled to draw the same crowds and have taken time to regroup. Stockholm Furniture Fair announced earlier this year that it will skip 2026, returning as a biennial in 2027, while London Design Fair cancelled all future events indefinitely in 2023. Others are taking steps to move with the times. In Milan, Salone del Mobile continues to grow its busy cultural programme and in 2026 will reinvigorate its offering at Fiera Milano with the introduction of a more intimately scaled collectible design pavilion, created by Formafantasma.

In tandem, smaller, more agile design fairs staged in architecturally compelling locations have surged in popularity, with design platform Alcova and the travelling showcase Nomad leading the way. It turns out that making the design fair experience more pleasurable – less overwhelming, more considered – has its appeal. Who would have thought?

The result is a seemingly ever-expanding fair calendar. It’s no exaggeration to say that, if time, money and inclination allow, you could now spend almost every week of the year at a design fair somewhere in the world. But where to begin? Seasoned design tourists have their fixtures – spring in Milan, summer in Copenhagen, winter in Miami – yet there’s something especially appealing about seeking out the less expected. We reached out to friends and insiders for their steer on the most interesting design fairs in the year ahead, and were pleased to find a healthy mix of new arrivals alongside trusted favourites. Here’s what they recommended.

January

Paris Déco Off / Maison & Objet, Paris, France

In January, décor enthusiasts head to Paris for the biannual design fair Maison & Objet, held at the city’s Parc des Expositions from 15–19 January. Running in parallel, Déco Off ,14–17 January, sees more than 150 textile houses unveil their latest collections across showrooms in the city’s Marais and Madeleine districts. Together, the two events serve as a barometer for the design trends set to shape the year ahead, drawing buyers, decorators and the design press alike.

At this year’s Maison & Objet, the theme is ‘Past Reveals Future’, a celebration of furniture rooted in craftsmanship. The fair’s designer of the year, Harry Nuriev, will also present a dedicated installation and unveil a new collection of home objects created exclusively for Baccarat.

14 to 17 January 2026
paris-deco-off.com

15 to 19 January 2026
Parc des Expositions Paris Nord Villepinte 82, avenue des Nations 93420 Villepinte, France
maison-objet.com

NEW for 2026: Shoppe Object Paris, Paris, France

Further bolstering the appeal of Paris in January is the launch of Shoppe Object Paris. The New York–founded trade fair will make its European debut from 17–19 January within fashion and lifestyle trade show Who’s Next at Porte de Versailles. Located in Hall 7.2 and conceived as a ‘showroom within a showroom’, it promises to bring a tightly curated international edit spanning tableware, furniture, gifts and lifestyle, with a focus on materials, craftsmanship and contemporary retail culture.

The showcase, developed in collaboration with WSN, the group behind the recently launched and hugely popular Matter and Shape, is designed to act as a strategic bridge between European and North American brands and buyers.

17 to 19 January 2026
Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is 1 Place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris, France

The New York editions of Shoppe Object take place 1 to 3 February 2026 and 2 to 4 August 2026
Starrett-Lehigh Building 601 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001, USA
shoppeobject.com

NEW for 2026: Der Pavilion, St. Moritz, Switzerland

Curator Giorgio Pace, who co-founded the collectible design fair Nomad in 2017 before departing last year, has announced his next venture: Der Pavilion. The four-week-long constellation of exhibitions, performances and experiences will open in St. Moritz on 29 January, overlapping with Nomad St. Moritz, which takes place from 12–15 February.

Described by Pace as a ‘natural evolution’ of what he has been building over the past fifteen years, Der Pavilion is conceived as a residency-style exhibition model. It is designed to foster a slower, more reflective cultural experience during the St. Moritz winter season, offering visitors deeper engagement, greater visibility and sustained access to collectors.

The inaugural edition will unfold within the former Hotel Eden, currently slated for redevelopment. Looking ahead, Pace says the project will evolve into a permanent architectural structure, serving as a year-round home for exhibitions, performances and gatherings.

From 29 January 2026
Hotel Eden, Via Veglia 12, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland
giorgiopaceprojects.com

DesignTO Festival, Toronto, Canada

Launched in 2010, DesignTO is a ten-day, city-wide festival that evolved alongside Toronto’s annual Interior Design Show, emerging as a platform for independent design studios to host off-site events. Championing the local design community, this year’s programme spans workshops, talks, exhibitions and window installations.

The talks cover a wide range of topics and don’t shy away from important issues, from the climate crisis and social justice to decolonisation. The workshops, meanwhile, sound refreshingly playful – try bacon embroidery at the Drake Hotel with textile artist Laura Carwardine, or join a life drawing class on vintage furniture from In Corso, hosted by design Substack For Scale at the Ace Hotel.

23 January to 1 February 2026
designto.org

February

Zsonamaco and Unique Design X, Mexico City, Mexico

It won’t take much persuasion for those in the northern hemisphere to book flights to Mexico City in the bleakest of months, but if you need an excuse, Mexico Art Week – and its headline event, Zona Maco – is it. The largest art fair in Latin America, the action unfolds across the city and at the Citibanamex Centre, where visitors will find contemporary art, design, photography and antiquities.

For its 22nd edition, the fair welcomes British designer Lee Broom for a creative residency at a historic villa in Polanco, owned by lighting brand Diez Company. Here, Broom will present more than 50 works, spanning new editions and collaborations with Calico Wallpaper, Lladró and a selection of Mexican artists chosen in collaboration with Diez.

For the past three years, the festivities have also included nomadic design fair Unique Design X, which brings together international galleries such as Carpenters Workshop and Marion Friedmann, alongside local talents such as Esteban Tamayo and Atra Form.

4 to 8 February 2026
Zsonamaco, Citibanamex Centre, Avenue del Conscripto 311, Lomas de Sotelo, Miguel Hidalgo, 11610 Mexico City, Mexico
zsonamaco.com

5 to 8 February 2026
Av. Morelos 67 Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Mexico City, Mexico
uniquedesignxgroup.com

India Art Fair, New Delhi, India

We’re told that this year’s India Art Fair is set to expand its collectible design offering, spotlighting the work of 12 design studios and two design galleries. Among them is Mumbai-based Æquō, which has teamed up with the French Institute’s residency programme, inviting French designer Marie Gastini to explore a cross-cultural dialogue between traditional Indian textile techniques and contemporary scenography.

A new design talks programme, curated by multidisciplinary media agency Border & Fall, will further explore design practices across South Asia and beyond. Elsewhere in the city – at Sunder Nursery – conservation scientist and creative director Tara Lal, in collaboration with architectural studio T__M.space, has created the Aranyani Pavilion, a spiral-shaped structure that explores sacred ecologies, invasive species, Indigenous knowledge systems, and decolonial approaches to restoration in South Asia.

5 to 8 February 2026
NSIC Exhibition Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi, Delhi, 110020, India
indiaartfair.in

Object Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands

For those in Europe, Object Rotterdam kicks off February. Long praised for its considered curation and easy-going scale, the fair is particularly strong on championing a diverse mix of voices, bringing emerging talent into dialogue with more established names across disciplines. Last year, it moved from its usual home in the HAKA building to the centrally located AIR Offices; this year, to the delight of architecture fans, it remains in the heart of the city, relocating to the 1980s Central Library on Hoogstraat – reason enough to visit in itself. Currently awaiting large-scale renovation, the former library offers visitors the rare chance to wander its stacks one last time, transformed into a temporary showcase for contemporary design.

6 to 8 February 2026
Central Library, Librijesteeg 4, 3011 HN Rotterdam, Netherlands
objectrotterdam.com

NEW for 2026: FUTUREOBJEKT at Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne Art Fair is also upping its design offer with the launch of a new collectible design salon, FUTUREOBJEKT. Described as a ‘fair-within-a-fair’, the showcase brings together 20 Antipodean design studios, including several Wallpaper favourites. Among them are Melbourne-based Volker Haug Studio, which will debut a series of Murano glass lamps, and Don Cameron, presenting a selection of rare vintage design pieces alongside new works of his own.

Also launching in 2026 is the fair’s first-ever design commission, presented in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne-based artist and designer Anna Varendorff of ACV Studio, known for her distinctive curved brass sculptures, will create an ambitious installation for the VIP lounge.

19 to 22 February 2026
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Exhibition Door 1, 1 Convention Centre Pl, South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia
melbourneartfair.com.au

March

Matter and Shape, Paris, France

Returning for its third edition, Matter and Shape has quickly become a firm favourite among design aficionados. Launched in 2024 and held during Paris Fashion Week in a temporary show space at the Jardin des Tuileries, the salon highlights the increasingly porous boundary between fashion and design, drawing collectors, buyers and creatives into the same orbit. As the show's artistic director, Dan Thawley, noted last year '...design has never been more fashionable than now.’

Conceived as a tightly curated platform for both established and emerging voices, Matter and Shape pulls together objects and interiors that sit at the intersections of ‘design, industry and craft, creativity and commerce’. This year look out for Irish glassware brand J Hill's Standard, which is launching Irish fashion designer Richard Malone's first products.

6 to 9 March 2026
Jardin des Tuileries, 75001 Paris, France
matterandshape.com

Collectible, Brussels, Belgium

Last year during Brussels design fair Collectible we discovered a lively design scene as the city continues to emerge as one of Europe’s most compelling places for creatives to live, work and sell. Needless to say, we’ll be returning this year to see how that energy has evolved. Now in its ninth edition, Collectible Brussels takes place at the Vanderborght Building, once again positioning itself as a key platform for the discovery of contemporary collectible design.

12 to 15 March 2026
Vanderborght Building, Rue de l'Ecuyer 50, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
collectible.design

April

Milan Design Week, Milan, Italy

Every year, there is plenty of chatter about which trade show is the ‘new Milan’, alongside much lamenting over the way fashion and tech brands have infiltrated the design ranks. Yet despite it all, Milan remains undefeated as the most important event on the design calendar. At its heart, it is an unrelenting but thrilling, negroni-fuelled networking marathon, played out across wisteria-strewn courtyards and palazzi – and, for all its intensity, a lot of fun.

As well as annual favourite Alcova, which announced its 2026 locations earlier this month, this year, don’t miss Salone Raritas at Salone del Mobile: a new collectible design pavilion conceived by Formafantasma, which promises to tempt even the most weary design cognoscenti into making the pilgrimage out to Rho.

21-26 April 2026
Rho Fiera, Strada Statale Sempione 28, 20017 Rho, Milan
salonemilano.it

May

DesignMarch, Reykjavík, Iceland

Despite its small size and remote location, Iceland is home to a vibrant, energetic design community as evidenced each year at Design March in Reykjavík, the country's annual festival of design, architecture and craft. The five-day event unfolds as a citywide programme of exhibitions, talks, open studios and installations, bringing together local and international practitioners while placing a particular emphasis on Icelandic design culture and local materials – expect plenty of wool, algae and lava stone. Spread across galleries, institutions and unexpected venues across the city, DesignMarch offers a focused snapshot of contemporary practice, from product and furniture design to architecture, fashion and graphic design.

6 to 10 May 2026
honnunarmidstod.is

NYCxDesign and ICFF, New York, USA

New York Design Week(NYCxDesign) is the city’s annual, city-wide celebration of design, spanning exhibitions, talks and trade fairs across Manhattan and beyond. Among its highlights in 2026 is the second edition of Afternoon Light, the design fair founded by Minya Quirk and Deirdre Maloney, who first launched the project as an online collectible design marketplace. Last year, the fair debuted under the name Shelter by Afternoon Light; in 2026, it returns simply as Afternoon Light and relocates to downtown venue WSA.

As before, the fair will feature an invitation-only exhibitor list and a tightly edited curation. Widely regarded within New York’s design community as a welcome counterpoint to ICFF – the mega trade show at the Javits Center around which Design Week originally coalesced – Afternoon Light brings a fresh, considered perspective.

14 – 20 May 2026
nycxdesign.org

17 to 19 May 2026
ICFF, Javits Convention Center 429 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10001
icff.com

Afternoon Light, WSA, 161 Water Street, NYC 10038
afternoonlight.com

June

3 Days of Design, Copenhagen, Denmark

True to its name, the festival unfolds over three days each June, animating historic buildings, showrooms and temporary venues across the Danish capital. Copenhagen is ideally scaled for a city-wide event of this kind: if not entirely walkable, then effortlessly cyclable. June in Copenhagen only adds to the appeal, with the city’s relaxed, assured hospitality lending the festival a warm, celebratory atmosphere, helping to explain its runaway success.

That popularity has inevitably driven rapid growth. While the 2026 programme has yet to be announced, last year saw more than 400 brands take part across eight districts. The challenge now will be ensuring the event retains its lightness of touch as it continues to expand.

10 to 12 June 2026
3daysofdesign.dk

NEW for 2026: Nomad The Hamptons, Long Island, USA

As longtime admirers of theatre director Robert Wilson and his Water Mill Center – the experimental arts foundation and campus he established on the East End of Long Island in the early 1990s – we were pleased to learn that it will host Nomad's US debut. A long-standing hub for cross-disciplinary exchange, the Watermill Center was chosen, Nomad says, because it aligns naturally with the fair's interest in dialogue across art, design and architecture. Set to take place in summer 2026, the Hamptons edition marks a significant moment for the fair, situating its collectible design programme within one of the world’s most concentrated collector communities.

25 to 28 June 2026
Robert M. Wilson, Water Mill, 39 Watermill Towd Road, Water Mill, NY 11976, USA
nomad-circle.com

July

Work/Shop Nantucket, Nantucket, USA

Nantucket, the rarefied Massachusetts island, isn’t an obvious choice for a design fair, but its strong culture of craft, tradition and collecting suggests otherwise. Founded by design communications agency Alpha Kilo, Work/Shop Nantucket is a year-round, residency-based platform that transforms a historic property in the heart of town into a rotating showcase for craft, design and cultural exchange. Structured around four seasonal chapters – Culinary (May–June), Design (July–August), Sustainability (September–October) and Entertaining (November–December) – the programme brings together artisans, designers and heritage brands through workshops, demonstrations, salons and retail-led installations. Timed to coincide with Nantucket’s high season and events such as Nantucket by Design (hosted by the local historical association), Work/Shop, now in its second year, positions itself as an intimate, narrative-driven alternative to the traditional trade fair.

The design residency runs 10 July to 9 August 2026
alphakilo.com/workshop

August

Setmana d'Arquitectura i Disseny Club Pollença, Mallorca, Spain

Mallorca has become a veritable haven for creatives, with plenty happening in the island’s capital, Palma, alongside architectural pilgrimages such as Jørn Utzon’s Can Lis near Portopetro, Fundació Miró Mallorca, and artist-run hotels like Corazón in the Tramuntana mountains. But for one week in mid-August, head north-east from the capital to Pollença, where a mini architecture and design conference takes over the town. Over its 12-year history, guests have included Sabine Marcelis, Kersten Geers, Rafael Moneo, Jacob van Rijs, Alfredo Häberli, Daniel Libeskind, Boltshauser, Carme Pinós and Stephen Bates.

2026 dates TBC
instagram.com/setarqcpollenca

September

London Design Festival, London, UK

At London Design Festival 2025, Duncan Riches, creative director of the Shoreditch Design Triangle, told us that he sensed ‘a renaissance in the UK design sector’ – a view we were inclined to share after encountering a confident new generation of design talent across the city. In Brompton, Alex Tieghi-Walker made his debut as district curator (and is tipped to return in 2026), foregrounding a fresh mix of emerging voices, while Shoreditch buzzed with renewed energy, from House of Icon to Slancha Gallery’s pop-up on Brick Lane. The 2026 programme has yet to be announced, but if last year is any indication, it promises to be one of the most energised editions yet.

12 to 20 September 2026
londondesignfestival.com

Lake Como Design Festival, Como, Italy

There is a clear move towards slower, more reflective alternatives to the big trade shows, and Lake Como Design Festival is no exception. Set against one of Italy’s most compelling landscapes – and less than an hour from Milan – the fair returns for its eighth edition in 2026. This year's theme is 'Confine', which invites designers to explore borders not only as lines of division, but as sites of encounter, exchange and transformation. Over nine days, a programme of exhibitions, installations and talks will unfold across venues around Lake Como, inviting designers and audiences alike to consider how geographical, cultural and conceptual boundaries continue to shape both creative practice and contemporary life.

12 to 20 September 2026
lakecomodesignfestival.com

Vienna Design Week, Vienna, Austria

2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Vienna Design Week, a small but firm favourite within design circles. Moving beyond a narrow focus on product, the festival’s talks programme is known for tackling more searching questions – from the role of designers today to the future of design education – while in 2025 platforms such as the Feminist Welding Club kept things lively and accessible. Organised by an independent association, and retaining an agreeably offbeat spirit, the festival spans around 200 events across the city and welcomes some 40,000 visitors each year.

25 September to 4 October 2026
viennadesignweek.at

October

We Design Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

We're already marking our calendars for the next edition of We Design Beirut – a five-day design experience that brings architecture, craft, exhibitions and workshops to life across historic sites in the Lebanese capital. The 2025 edition expanded significantly from its 2024 debut, activating landmarks from Roman Baths to Villa Audi and Burj El Murr with curated projects that explore legacy, resilience and continuity.

2026 dates TBC
wedesignbeirut.com

Edit Napoli, Naples, Italy

More than a few designers we’ve spoken to cite Edit Napoli as their favourite fair, and it’s easy to see why. The place to go for designer-makers, independent producers and craftsmen pushing back against the conventions of the mainstream design industry, the three-day fair was founded by design historian and independent curator Domitilla Dardi and engineer-turned-gallerist Emilia Petruccelli.

It takes place at La Santissima, the city’s former military hospital. Alongside the main exhibition, Edit Napoli runs its own awards programme, recognising the best unreleased product, as well as Edit Cult, a satellite initiative that sees selected brands present special projects in some of Naples’ most significant cultural sites.

‘In the context of a big design week, you don’t always have the attention to listen to the stories behind the work,’ Dardi told Wallpaper in 2019. ‘This kind of design deserves time.’

9 to 11 October 2026
La Santissima, Vico Trinità delle Monache, 80134 Naples, Italy
editnapoli.com

November

ART X Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa

Lagos, Nigeria is widely recognised as Africa’s creative and design capital, anchored by major events including Design Week Lagos, Lagos Photo Festival, Lagos Fashion Week and ART X Lagos. Of these, ART X Lagos remains the city’s most established and buzziest cultural moment. The 2025 edition had plenty of art–design crossover, with highlights including Nifemi Marcus-Bello’s Material Affirmations – Okírì Acts I–III at Tiwani Contemporary, and Portraits of Modernity, a live installation inspired by photographer J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, featuring the 'Pàtẹ́wọ̀' chair by Wallpaper* Future Icons Salù Wadi Studio. This year’s programme is yet to be announced, but as the fair marks its tenth anniversary, expectations are high.

Dubai Design Week, Dubai, UAE

The Middle East’s largest creative festival celebrates design in all its forms, bringing together installations, new commissions, exhibitions, talks and workshops across the purpose-built Dubai Design District (d3) and beyond. What began as a festival dominated by international brands has since evolved to include a strong presence of exhibitors from across the MENA region, bringing their own distinct design languages to the world stage.

2026 dates TBC
dubaidesignweek.ae

Cairo Design Week, Cairo, Egypt

Now in its fourth edition, Cairo Design Week has established itself as a significant new hub for design in the MENA region, broadening a landscape long centred on Dubai. The event is set to return in November 2026 for its fourth edition, building on its 2025 programme that transformed the Egyptian capital into a sprawling design playground with installations, exhibitions, workshops and talks across three districts: Heliopolis, Zamalek and Downtown. A meeting ground for regional creativity and innovation, the festival highlights both heritage and contemporary design in one of the Middle East’s most lively cities.

2026 dates TBC
cairodesignweek.net

Design Mumbai, Mumbai, India

The shifting design landscape in India is one we’ve been watching closely at Wallpaper*, and one of the reasons we eagerly anticipate the third edition of Design Mumbai in 2026. As with many international trade shows, global names and headline activations tend to dominate the programme – 2025's edition included a packed talks schedule and Design Mumbai Exchange, a series of installations by international designers – yet it is the local studios and brands that most pique our interest in this rapidly evolving market.

25 to 28 November 2026
Jio World Garden, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai 400051, India
designmumbai.com

December

Design Miami, Miami, USA

The final major design event of the year, Design Miami will open its 22nd edition in 2026. What started as a modest gathering in 2005 during Art Basel Miami Beach has grown into a leading global fair with annual editions in Miami, Basel, Paris and Los Angeles with a new edition launching in Dubai in 2027.

The Miami iteration has helped to revitalise the city’s design district and continues to attract designers, collectors, and curators from around the world, all in search of high design with a side of winter sun.

1 to 6 December 2026
designmiami.com

DesignTide Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

After a 12-year hiatus, DesignTide Tokyo returned in 2024, reviving a platform that originally ran from 2005 to 2012 and was widely admired for prioritising creative experimentation over commercial trade. The 2025 edition, currently underway as we write, builds on that legacy with an expanded, more considered format shaped by an international board of directors and curators, including Hirofumi Akimoto of furniture label E&Y, Disegno editor-in-chief Oli Stratford, London-based sound artist Yuri Suzuki, and Sight Unseen co-founders Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer.

Designers are selected through an open call and rigorous review process, with the programme unfolding across a Main Exhibition, student showcase, market and extension venues. Details of the 2026 edition are yet to be announced, but the fair’s renewed ambition is clear.

2026 dates TBC
1F Forest Hills West, 4-18-16 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
designtide.tokyo

This year's London Design Festival offered some great moments of discovery, with emerging designers and independent studios taking over the city, opening their spaces and offering new approaches to creation and making. Along the way, we discovered some new lighting designs that caught our attention for their mix of ingenuity, functionality and beauty. From brands such as Tala, a regular fixture of London Design Festival who this year aimed to tackle an ongoing problem of our generation with a new lighting device to Raw Edges' lighting venture returning for a second year, from emerging design ideas by the likes of Six Dots and Yoonjeong Lee, illumination was central to our week.

Here, we bring you six lighting designs that caught our attention at London Design Festival 2026

Raw Edges for LightMass^

After launching the brand last year, Raw Edges and LightMass^ return with a new series of pendant lights that explore the design possibilities of the brand's experiments in additive technology and bio-based filaments. Featuring the same distinctive mesh shade of the launch collection, these sculptural, imposing pieces are an effortless decorative presence in a space. 'We wanted to achieve something sculptural and impressive that will be a pillar in space,' Alkalay told us when the company launched. 'At the same time we wanted it to be light in weight - almost like a mobile that can react to any little movement of air - and with a low carbon footprint through the light usage of material.'

'Wake' by Thomas Heatherwick for Tala

Launched at Tala’s Rivington Street store, this new lamp is three years in the making: ‘Wake’ is Heatherwick Studio’s response to our dependance on screens in the bedroom. Part bedside lamp, part circadian-aware sleep aid, it pairs hand-glazed ceramic and pressed glass with programmable light and sound sequences designed to help users wind down at night and wake gently in the morning – no harsh blue-light-emitting screens required. Ali Morris

Plug by Dean Edmonds

British designer Dean Edmonds' practice is rooted in ultra-functionalism and a no-nonsense approach to making. There is a sense of DIY in his work, often featuring raw metals and visible welding in a graceful way that adds sophistication and curiosity to the process. For Das Programm at System Studios: DP: CDRA, an exhibition of contemporary designs rooted in functionality, Edmonds created a wall lamp that very simply plugs into a socket, is connected to a bulb, and shaded by a perforated, curved piece of metal. It is everything an industrial design object should be: essential, functional and honest.

Six Dots

At Wallpaper*, we have admired the work of Joe Ellwood of Six Dots for a few years, and it's always exciting to see new pieces come from his experimental, hands-on studio. Among new welded pieces on show in Shoreditch this year, was this table lamp. 'This little drop of work has really been about trying to make things that feel intensely precious,' Ellwood explained. 'We bought a forge to cast our own aluminium a few months ago and immediately the objects that came out of the sand felt organic, otherworldly and precious.

‘Abiogenesis: Vol . 1’ by Abid Javed

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 collection, called ‘Abiogenesis: Vol . 1’, blurs the line between art, design and science. Ali Morris

Yoonjeong Lee

The highlights at the Charlotte Taylor-curated space at The Lavery, part of the Alex Tieghi-Walker-curated 'A Softer World' showcase, were too many to name. Set up as a small apartment full of life, treasure and curiosities, it looked like its inhabitants had just momentarily stepped out and you were allowed in for a peek. We particularly admired this desk lamp, made by Korean designer Yoonjeong Lee and featuring a pencil holding the shade in place. It is a highly symbolic tool for the designer: 'When writing, a pencil is a form of thought, when writing a letter, it is a bridge that connects emotions between people, when used as a tool of study, the pencil is an agent that gains knowledge and opens new possibilities,' she explains.

At Tala’s Rivington Street showroom during London Design Festival, visitors were asked a series of personal – some might say impertinent – questions, the first being: What do you usually do before going to sleep? Below the words, four glass beakers invited a response. The container marked 'I spend time on my phone or screens' quickly filled with red marbles.

The poll captured the problem neatly. Our phones, it turns out, make excellent alarm clocks – and terrible sleep companions. 'They are the first and last thing you see in the day,’ says Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio. 'Even when you don’t pick them up, if they’re in sight, your brain is still spending time on them. Sleep is a fragile thing – we need to treat it as a precious commodity.'

Heatherwick is here at Tala’s Rivington Street store for the launch of the studio’s latest product. Three years in the making, ‘Wake’ is Heatherwick Studio’s response: part bedside lamp, part circadian-aware sleep aid, created with British lighting brand Tala. It pairs hand-glazed ceramic and pressed glass with programmable light and sound sequences designed to help users wind down at night and wake gently in the morning – no harsh blue-light-emitting screens required.

Thomas Heatherwick x Tala: from idea to object

‘We all know what it feels like to have a bad night's sleep,’ says Stuart Wood, Executive Partner at Heatherwick Studio, who led the project alongside Heatherwick. ‘A poor night's sleep, of course, affects your mood… it's now proven scientifically that a repeated poor sleep really harms your ability to recover, for your body to repair itself, to replenish, renew… the better your sleep… everything feels better – every question, every thought, every movement, just feels better.’

Yet, he points out, the current offering of sunrise alarm clocks is lacking. ‘If you go to a store and say, show me your sleep lights, they’re very plasticky, feel very temporary and very techy. We wanted to get rid of the visual noise so that it actually meets the objective.’

Heatherwick agrees: ‘It was about trying to make something that felt more like it belonged in your home, rather than something that looks like a micro spaceship that’s landed ready to go in a landfill site tomorrow.’

Tala, founded in 2015 by Josh Ward, Max Wood and William Symington, has built its reputation on championing the emotional quality of light. With ‘Wake’, the brand wanted to move beyond the bulb to create its first full smart lighting product, aiming squarely at the rapidly growing $600 billion global sleep market. The brief to Heatherwick Studio was deceptively simple: design something tactile and beautiful that helps people reclaim bedtime from their phones. The result took three years to develop and is the most technically ambitious object Tala has made to date.

Touch, light, and sound

The final design feels simple but hides a surprising amount of engineering. A weighted ceramic base, hand-glazed so each one is subtly different, is topped with a softly rippled glass ‘sun’. Rotate the base to adjust brightness; press once to start a wind-down or wake-up sequence. The display hides behind the glass, glowing only when needed.

‘We were absolutely set on zero buttons,’ Wood explains. ’Rotating and pressing felt intuitive. The hard part was making the screen bright, legible and affordable while keeping it hidden.’

At night, the light fades gradually to warm tones as the room darkens; in the morning, it brightens slowly like dawn. Users set preferences in the Tala app once, then leave the phone out of the room entirely. 'The rhythms in our body are controlled by light,’ says Heatherwick, demonstrating a slow 'wind down' cycle designed to promote melatonin release. 'The idea that we can have a more gentle progression into sleep is quite important.'

Sound soon became part of the story, too. ‘For a number of people, actually, myself included, audio and sound complement light. And actually, those two go together,’ Wood says. ‘Some people prefer naturalistic sounds, whether that be rainfall or birdsong, but others actually do prefer versions of white noise… that help your brain sort of disconnect from the noise inside your brain.’

Material intelligence

Material choice was as much about feeling as function. Heatherwick talks about wanting to ‘not touch plastic’, about creating something ‘earthy, rooted, calming’ that carries weight and won’t skid off a bedside table. The grooves of the lamp’s ceramic base recal a sunset over water but are also a natural fit for fingertips to run over surface.

That thinking draws partly on the studio’s architectural work, including a vast new district in Xi’an, China, where extruded ceramic was used across façades to introduce warmth and imperfection at urban scale. ‘Ceramic has the imperfect qualities that give you the necessary visual complexity that our eyes and brains need,’ Heatherwick says. ‘Actually, if our environment is too clinically perfect, our cortisol actually rises.’

The same principles shaped Wake. Wood explains that while the team was drawn to ceramics and glass for their warmth and tactility, working with natural materials on a product of this complexity proved challenging. 'It's a very hard thing to mass manufacture, because those are imprecise materials with tolerances that can't be controlled, like plastic.' In the end, the studio decided to celebrate these imperfections and differences between each ceramic base. 'I really like the fact that it's this sort of technology and science delivered through the lens of something that feels natural and calm and a bit varied, because we couldn't control everything – I think that was an important part of the project.'

For Wood, this cross-pollination between projects is key to Heatherwick Studio’s work. ‘For me, the connection is thinking about functionality at the same time as joy, delight and emotion. It's all design. Designing an airport, in a way, is the same process as designing a sleep light. It's just bigger and there's more of it.’

Heatherwick links Wake to a broader shift in society’s interest towards health, human experience and rediscovering our basic, but often overlooked, needs. As general director of the Seoul Architecture Biennale, opening this week on 26 September, he is leading a city-wide conversation about the impact of buildings on wellbeing. ‘We’re talking about sleep health,’ he says, ‘but also looking at the impact of buildings from a health perspective on society more broadly… it's so obvious that buildings affect your health, and yet there’s no training at all on their wider impact on society. It’s been treated as though [architecture is] not part of our public health. So I think there’s a sort of spectrum on which these things relate.’

Available in the UK (£255), US ($295) and EU (€305) through tala.co.uk and John Lewis, Wake is the studio’s most accessible product to date which is a prospect that fills the team with excitement. ‘The idea that this could be in hundreds of thousands of homes, helping people have a nicer day,' Wood says, ‘that gives me real pleasure.'

tala.co.uk

For the uninitiated, polyurethane foam, long the default in upholstered furniture, actually carries a heavy environmental toll, from its petrochemical origins to landfill persistence. Increasingly, designers and manufacturers are questioning its ubiquity, recognising both ecological costs and creative limitations.

Thankfully, a new generation of makers is embracing responsible alternatives that align sustainability with design excellence. At London Design Festival (and until 1 November 2025) Aram Gallery presents ‘Beyond Foam', an exhibition curated by Yash Shah’s research start-up EcoLattice. Showcasing EcoLattice’s pioneering 3D-printed lattice foam replacement, the presentation invites eight UK-based designers to experiment with the material, illustrating how easily this innovation can be embraced by the industry.

Beyond Foam: EcoLattice's innovation at Aram Gallery

The origins of EcoLattice are as compelling as its innovation. While studying at Central Saint Martins, Shah sought to confront the global pollution crisis, identifying the widespread use of polyurethane foam in sofas, cars and trainers – a toxic, near-unrecyclable material entrenched in everyday life.

Thus he conceived EcoLattice as a university project: a 3D-printed alternative crafted from elastomers, including those found in TPU phone cases and automotive waste. Beyond its design versatility, the material stands out for its recyclability, scalability and affordability, all qualities that position it as a viable replacement for one of design’s most damaging staples.

For the exhibition, Shah invited eight emerging product designers – Arianna Kilachand, Harinad PM, Maria Bravo, Richard Price, Rupert Warries, Shivangi Vasudeva, Tom Howell-Jones and Tomas Thorsson, to experiment with EcoLattice.

'The breakthrough of EcoLattice’s 3D-printed lattice foam replacement comes from working hand-in-hand with designers and manufacturers,' says Shah. 'Designers push our material to its creative and technical limits, showing us applications we’d never have imagined on our own. Manufacturing and scaling those ideas into real-world products and proving they can be produced responsibly at volume.'

The highlights include: ‘Eco Fidget’, a cluster of chairs that transforms the once-frowned-upon act of fidgeting into a tool for stress relief; ‘Évoque’, a sleek lounger designed for effortless repose; ‘CorpusForma’, a spine-inspired seat that adapts to multiple modes of sitting; and EcoLattice’s reinterpretation of the classic ‘Bibendum’ chair by Eileen Gray (Aram holds the global head licence for Gray’s designs), and more.

Adding an immersive layer to the showcase, exhibition designer and co-curator Nina Zenhäusern has conceived a dedicated 'Material Playground', inviting visitors to touch, test, and experience EcoLattice’s foam replacement firsthand.

'Modern furniture foam has several environmental drawbacks, including poor biodegradability leading to greater landfill, as well as chemical emissions while in use,' says Daniel Aram, managing director of Aram. 'Alternatives have been developed over recent years, and EcoLattice’s solution is the latest in these developments. I feel that showcasing this new design technology from young, innovative designers is at the heart of what Aram’s gallery should be doing, and hopefully this will lend a helping hand on the long road in persuading manufacturers to experiment in moving away from today’s polyurethane foams to a more sustainable alternative.'

Beyond Foam is on view at Aram Gallery until 11 November 2025, aram.co.uk

Wood is a material rooted in craftsmanship and tradition but one that also offers endless possibility. At this year’s London Design Festival, we've discovered a variety of projects pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with this everyday material, whether by working with discarded offcuts, combining it with other materials to alter its appearance, extracting its resin or finding new ways to manipulate it with tools and techniques.

‘We talk about wood being a very traditional material but also about it being a perfect material for the future,' says designer Brogan Cox, who runs furniture brand Sebastian Cox with her husband and who is showcasing her 'Tides’ collection – created with artist Nat Maks – as part of the group show 'The Objects We Live By'. 'Not least because of its environmental credentials but also because of the myriad ways in which it can be worked.'

This year, many of those experimenting with wood come from a younger generation eager to redefine what the material can be. Among them is London-based, Minneapolis-born designer Blake Carlson-Joshua of studio B.C. Joshua, also showing work at 'The Objects We Live By', who has recently expanded his practice from paper pulp to hardwoods, combining them with hand-painted aluminium inlay. ‘Working with wood has made it much easier to translate my ideas from paper to object,’ he says of the development. ‘Shaping materials with newer systems such as CNC and laser cutting has opened up new doors to creative ideation.’

As well as the individual pieces showcased below, during the festival, design enthusiasts can marvel at entire showcases dedicated to the material. For instance, 'Grain Pile', a show at Clerkenwell Fire Station, sees Max Radford Gallery join forces with British furniture maker Ercol. Six London-based designers – including Andu Masebo, Eddie Olin, Joe Armitage, Jaclyn Pappalardo, Isabel Alonso, and Lewis Kemmenoe (whose work is highlighted below) – have delved into the Ercol archives to reimagine its wooden furniture for today, producing new stools, tables, benches, chairs, cabinets, and a rocking chair in collaboration with Ercol's workshops.

Just a mile south-west in Holborn, at Material Matters at Space House on Kingsway, the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is spotlighting emerging talents including Andu Masebo, Daniel Schofield, and Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng, who have crafted furniture from No.1 Timber – an underused hardwood grade known for its knotty character – in collaboration with Benchmark’s workshops. Originally shown during 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, the work champions a more sustainable approach to material selection, using what nature provides rather than demanding perfection.

Also at Material Matters, the Wood Awards – a competition dedicated to architecture and design in wood – is exhibiting its 2025 shortlist, from small-scale furniture pieces to Feilden Fowles’ timber pavilions for London’s Natural History Museum gardens.

Together, these initiatives show that, when it comes to wood, tradition and innovation aren’t opposites but partners – and that a material humans have worked with for millennia still has plenty of surprises left to give.

Seven projects reimagining wood

Brogan Cox and Nat Maks explore marbled timber surfaces

The tides of their local beach in Margate inspired designer Brogan Cox and artist Nat Maks to see what happens when timber meets marbling inks. The results are two English-grown sycamore pieces – the 'Low Tide' coffee table and 'High Tide' side table – CNC-machined, hand-finished in Cox’s Kent workshop, and dipped into swirling shades of pink, blue, yellow, green, and white ink.

'The Objects We Live By', Atelier Seventy-Six, 76 Sussex Square, London W2 2SS

B.C. Joshua celebrates Black American history through inlay

Made from CNC-cut British ash with hand-painted aluminium inlays, the 'Dogtrot II' stool by Blake Carlson-Joshua draws on the architecture of the southern US dogtrot house and the cultural spirit of the Harlem Renaissance – the 1910s–1930s movement that redefined artistic expression and ideas of identity in America. Created during a design residency with Colony in New York, the piece is part of a wider 'Harlem cabin' collection that nods to Carlson-Joshua‘s grandfather, who migrated to Harlem in the 1920s, and features painted motifs of Black cowboys as symbols of freedom and self-determination. It's on show at 'The Objects We Live By', curated by Emma Louise Payne at Atelier Seventy-Six, alongside his 'Topo Lamp', a suspended light from his ongoing series of sculpted pulp works.

'The Objects We Live By', Atelier Seventy-Six, 76 Sussex Square, London W2 2SS

Lewis Kemmenoe crafts patchwork timber furniture

London designer Lewis Kemmenoe wowed us with his collection for Fendi at Design Miami last year, and this week we have been equally captivated by his 'Patchwork Rocking Chair' for the Max Radford Gallery x Ercol collaboration. Crafted in ash and oak, including waste from Ercol’s factory floor, the piece combines a spindle back with solid, panelled sides, its angular geometry and Kemmenoe's signature patchwork detailing – where different woods are pieced together to form subtle patterning – transforming familiar forms into something entirely new. The design continues Kemmenoe’s exploration of functional objects with a quietly subversive character, drawing on influences from architecture, fashion, and design.

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

Jacob Marks revives pine resin for contemporary design

A tree has more than just wood to offer. Designer Jacob Marks has been exploring the untapped potential of pine resin, a material once widely used before being displaced by petroleum-based alternatives. On show at Material Matters, his exhibition 'Explorations in Pine Resin' brings together years of experiments, from handles, lights, and mirrors to small-scale furniture and a recent collaboration with Sanne Visser's Hair Cycle, creating a sustainable composite material. By combining contemporary techniques with the resin’s rich history, Marks makes a case for its revival.

Material Matters at Space House, Kingsway, London WC2B 4AN

Darren Appiagyei presents vessels exploring texture, growth, and imperfection

At an exhibition called 'Mirroring Dialogue', curated by New York-based curator Tione Trice and London-based fashion designer Ronan Mckenzie, woodworker Darren Appiagyei is showcasing vessels made throughout his career that demonstrate how he has developed from a woodturner into a wood artist. Pieces include his 'Ignatius' vessels, one of which is pictured here, created from cherry and horse chestnut wood. Named after Appiagyei's father, whom he describes as 'a strong fiery man', the 'Ignatius' collection is made using a pyrographic machine to create the intricate finish.

'Mirroring Dialogue' (South Kensington), 36 Thurloe Place, South Kensington, London SW7 2HW

Tabitha Isobel and Dom Callaghan craft furniture from felled London Plane

For her debut furniture collection, launched this month during London Design Festival, interior designer Tabitha Isobel (formerly of Conran + Partners and Tatjana von Stein) teamed with maker Dom Callaghan to create 'Ferro' – a side table, mirror, and wall light using brushed steel and London Plane timber sourced from felled city trees by Fallen & Felled. With its clean lines and warmth of material, the standout is the mirror composed of alternating London Plane tones in a checkerboard pattern.

Launched online at tabithaisobel.co.uk

Shintaro Oku showcases zero-waste camphor-wood designs

Returning for its third edition at LDF, 'Kagoshima: Stories in Craft from South Japan' takes over wagumi at London’s Oxo Tower Wharf, spotlighting Japanese woodworker Shintaro Oku, who works under the brand KOPPA. Known for transforming camphor wood off-cuts into smooth, textural forms and using even the smallest fragments, Oku brings a zero-waste approach.

'Kagoshima: Stories in Craft from South Japan', wagumi, Oxo Tower Wharf, Unit 1.09, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London SE1 9PH

londondesignfestival.com

London-based designer Oliver Spencer started with a stall in Portobello Market, which sparked his love of cloth and craftsmanship. Now, five stores (Soho, Shoreditch, two in Bloomsbury on Lamb’s Conduit Street, and the latest addition in Marylebone ) and two decades later, he is known for his contemporary take on classic British menswear silhouettes.

Taking place this week – and for the second year running – Oliver Spencer is using his Shoreditch address on Calvert Avenue as a platform to encourage and celebrate creativity and innovative design during London Design Festival 2025, a reflection of his own craft-focused approach (and desire to make his stores into hubs for the local community).

London Design Festival 2025: The Loop by Studio Rhythmics at Oliver Spencer

In association with the Shoreditch Design Triangle (an LDF design district), Oliver Spencer is hosting an installation titled ‘The Loop’ by London-based design studio Studio Rythmics. Spencer came across the design duo through a friend, now a lecturer at Goldsmiths University: ‘He introduced me to his colleagues Chien and Su, who are two of the team that make up Studio Rhythmics,’ Spencer tells Wallpaper*.

An interior environment and the designs it accommodates are deeply personal. This is true of all of Oliver Spencer’s outposts, which are made to have a neighbourhood feel. Using the Shoreditch space as a creative platform during LDF not only benefits the customer experience and highlights a designer’s work, but also Spencer’s own creative process. ‘In previous years we’ve hosted Mac Collins’ “Iklwa” chair, which was a huge success,’ he says. ‘That design really stayed with me, and the colour, shape and inspiration behind the chair definitely influenced parts of future clothing collections we made.’

‘I think it’s really important, wherever possible, to bring creativity into our shops,’ he continues. ‘With “The Loop”, you get this brilliant immersive experience. Also, this [is] the work's debut public exhibition, so customers will get to see something totally new that’s a one-of-a-kind piece. “The Loop” is quite a meditative installation, so if nothing else, I hope customers will have a very peaceful experience.’

“The Loop” by Studio Rhythmics is on display until 21 September 2025, at Oliver Spencer’s Shoreditch store on Calvert Avenue, London E2 7JP, oliverspencer.co.uk

The Bank of England might not be the first place you’d think to go for lessons in the creative repurposing of waste, but circularity is the story that the Bank of England is exploring this London Design Festival. Currently installed in the Bank’s walnut-furnished former Stock Room is ’Reconstructing Value’, a collaboration between Saskia Boersma, head of the Bank of England Museum, material specialists Surface Matter, and Plasticiet, a studio focused on upgrading recycled matter through design.

The pop-up exhibition features benches made from a material specially developed for the project, created from £2.5m worth of shredded decommissioned banknotes. When no longer fit for purpose as precious tender, retired tenners are in fact no more than polypropylene waste, useless in our pockets but rich food for creative minds.

‘Reconstructing Value’: circularity at the Bank of England

The bank’s first engagement with the creative community came during last year’s LDF, when a project with Kessels Kramer invited 17 artists to take part in an exhibition at the museum entitled ‘Currency of the Future’, bringing fresh energy into the financial institution. A subsequent meeting between Boersma and Surface Matter highlighted the importance of circularity within the Bank's context, and the potential to give new life and value to a vast volume of old notes through design.

The idea was simple – the execution harder. 'Developing a new material is always complex and comes with risk,' explains Jane Campbell, strategy director at Surface Matter. 'Add in operational hurdles like security protocols and logistics between recycling partners, and there were a lot of moving parts. We also needed to strike a design balance – making a modern material that’s respectful of the bank’s historic, baroque setting. That meant navigating budget, time and aesthetic constraints, all while keeping the pieces impactful and functional.'

This is where the Delft-based material and design studio Plasticiet came in, using its expertise in the field to beautifully transform the humble waste into a piece of refined, high-end furniture. The new material and finely crafted forms easily hold their own in the stately interior, effortlessly demonstrating how value can be transformed through design.

For the occasion, the elegant curved benches are arranged into the form of a pound symbol. Around the periphery of the space are curated palettes of recycled and recyclable materials, created to underscore the story of reassigned value, and make the bridge between modern materials and architectural heritage.

Each palette nods to the colourways of British banknotes, while also reflecting architectural details from across the bank: the patina of aged bronze, the softness of Portland stone, the intricacy of mosaic flooring, the iridescence of the rotunda glass. The installation complements the adjacent Building of the Bank exhibition, which tracks the evolution of the bank’s design, from Sir John Soane’s original architecture to its present-day structure.

'The aim is to challenge assumptions and where we assign meaning and value – we often associate “recycled” with cheap, temporary or throwaway. These materials flip that idea. They’re enduring, refined, and able to stand proudly in a place steeped in heritage,' says Campbell. It’s a story of riches to rags to riches.

‘Reconstructing Value’, 15-21 September 2025, Bank of England Museum, London EC2R 8AH

Design fair Material Matters returns to London Design Festival (LDF) 2025 for its fourth edition (17-21 September). From its new location, the 1960s Space House, the fair promises its traditional mix of leading brands and emerging material explorations.

The initiative started out as a popular design podcast during lockdown, and developed into a fringe event that quickly piqued the design industry's curiosity. Fast-forward a couple of years, and Material Matters is a key feature of LDF, recently made its first outing in Copenhagen, during 3 Days of Design 2025, and is staging a series of pop-up events, including a bookshop that ran in early September, and a conference, planned for November 2025.

Earlier this summer, Wallpaper* sat down with founder (and podcast host) Grant Gibson to chat about Material Matters, where it came from and where it's going. Here, he shares more about the making of the fair, the new material explorations he's excited about, and why we should be keeping the material conversation alive.

Grant Gibson on Material Matters

Wallpaper*: Material Matters started as a podcast: can you tell us more about the idea and its early days?

Grant Gibson: I've been a design journalist and magazine editor for many years, but as people stopped reading magazines, I felt like I was in a position where I'd spent quite a few years fundamentally managing decline. And when I left Crafts Magazine, which I edited for over a decade, I needed something else to do. I wanted to create something that was bigger than me, and I needed to do that on a budget. I thought there was probably a market for a podcast, and so I recorded six episodes with people like Bill Amberg, Edmund de Waal, Celia Pym, with no great expectations. I put them out all together and realised it caused a bit of a ripple, and that, probably, there was an audience for this. This was 2019.

I spent a year going to people’s studios, and then Covid hit and people were at home, looking for things to do, or listen to. And at the same time, we discovered Zoom, among other things, and I realised that suddenly I could talk to designers, artists, makers, architects, scientists from across the globe, which was quite liberating.

W*: Why did you decide to focus on materials?

GG: I liked this notion of having a thread that ran through the interviews, rather than just a set of random interviews, it seemed like a sensible way to go. I started out with craftspeople and I was looking for something that wasn't overtly about sustainability, because it was becoming, even by that stage, really quite a tricky word, and people would start unpicking it. And I wanted some wriggle room, so I developed the conversations into the larger sphere of material intelligence. So if I wanted to interview John Barnard, the F1 designer who pioneered the use of carbon fibre in many ways, I could do that.

W*: How have conversations around materials evolved in the six years you've done the podcast, but then also since you've worked more in depth on the topic through the fair?

GG: I think it has become more mainstream. We have an installation this year in the fair, which is a follow-up from last year, called ‘In the Making’, curated by [architecture practice] TP Bennett in a partnership with The Furniture Practice, for example. And these are major companies, who are concerned with the environment and their impact upon it, looking at materials as a way to mitigate their impact. And up to a point, that's almost becoming more important than form. As an example, it seems like many of the contract and office furniture companies are in the process of thinking beyond the office and thinking about their wider impact on society, and they're doing that through materials.

W*: What did you learn in six years of doing the podcast?

GG: What struck me about doing the podcast is exactly this. It started very much as a series of conversations about craft. But then I expanded the scope because suddenly there was this realisation that materials touch every single part of our lives. And that can be on a macro scale; I did a podcast on the Grenfell Tower disaster, for example, and how aluminium composite material ended up cladding that building. But it can also be on the micro scale, and I have had many very intimate conversations with creatives over the years. I think the joy of doing the podcast is that you get these stories on different scales, all filtered through the prism of materials, which is really fascinating. As a society, we've lost touch with materials, with how things are made, and their value. And what we try to do on the podcast and in the fair is to explain why they matter, why they're important.

W*: The Materials Matter fair is a unique expansion of your concept that has become so successful, growing when many fairs were declining. How did the opportunity to evolve the podcast into a fair happen?

GG: Quite quickly, I realised that I'd created something close to a brand (I am cautious using that word), something that people were interested in. So the question was how to expand it, and make a living out of it. I'd known the person who became my business partner, William Knight, since the mid-1990s. We first met when he was at Design Council – he went on to become deputy director of the London Design Festival, and also a director of 100% Design, so he knew how to make events. It made sense to join forces and launch an event, get a space and fill it with worthwhile stuff, and the podcast gave it this kind of philosophical underpinning.

We didn’t want it to be in a large shed out of town, because people don't want to go to those kinds of places so much anymore. So we looked for a space, which is not straightforward in London, because it's been gentrified to within an inch of its life. So we found Bargehouse [at OXO Tower] in 2020, and year one was about proving that we could do it, which we did. And then we built on it, until it became clear it was something worth exporting, which is when the Copenhagen edition happened.

W* What should we expect for Material Matters 2025?

GG: The main news is our venue, Space House. It's a 1960s building by Richard Seifert, the architect best known for Centre Point. It's quite an extraordinary space; there's a lot of natural light coming in.

In terms of exhibitors, we have a mix of people coming back and new exhibitors. We’ll have ‘In the Making’ [as mentioned]. The Wood Awards will be showing their shortlist of the best buildings and products in wood. We've got a new installation from The Only Natural Design Competition, which encourages students to think about using materials such as hemp.

We have brands like Hydro and 3M, and exhibitors include MycoWorks, exploring the potential of mycelium, and then a variety of smaller designers and makers working in waste or pine resin, all sorts of new and different materials. It’s great to have a variety of people, from those working on a smaller scale, in a small studio or even at a kitchen table, to global brands.

W*: You obviously spent the past several years pretty much immersed in materials. What are the current trends?

GG: It's a bit of a cliché, but we've got quite a lot of mycelium going on. And one of the most interesting examples we've got in the fair is called Filie Materials, a leather alternative made from the plastic film taken from broken car windscreens. The two big strands that come through in the fair and the podcast are biomaterials (hemp is a big favourite, increasingly), but also waste and people doing things with waste in different ways.

Material Matters, 17-20 September
Space House, 1 Kemble St (Kingsway), London WC2B 4AN

Most of us have a mixed relationship with the tent. For some, it conjures memories of childhood camping trips, festival weekends, or nights shivering under nylon in the rain. For others, it evokes images of military camps, mountaineering expeditions, or humanitarian relief efforts. In The Camping Tent, the fifth book in the Typologie series, this deceptively simple structure is given the detailed design analysis usually reserved for furniture classics or architectural landmarks.

‘The Camping Tent’ by Typologie

Created by four designers and a photographer – Guillaume Bloget, Raphaël Daufresne, Thélonious Goupil, Guillaume Jandin, and Alberto Strada – Typologie is a series of self-published books that explores the forms and cultural significance of everyday objects.

Previous editions have looked at the pétanque ball, the wine bottle, the cork stopper, and the wooden crate. With the tent, the team turns its lens on a hybrid object: part shelter, part product, part symbol.

Three years in the making, the book’s first section methodically documents 55 tents, from 19th-century expedition models to the latest high-performance bivouacs, capturing each from the front, top, and side to reveal design evolution and technical ingenuity. The second half of the book dives into history and meaning, with essays, archival images, and interviews spanning military, leisure, and humanitarian contexts, alongside a factory visit exploring contemporary production in China.

Central to this title is the family-owned Italian brand Ferrino, Europe’s oldest tent manufacturer, whose archive underpins the book’s historical sweep. Founded in 1870, Ferrino’s tents have sheltered everyone from mountaineers to explorers to refugees, making it a fitting collaborator for Typologie’s rigorous study.

Ultimately, this is a book for anyone with an eye for detail and an appreciation of the utilitarian – particularly product designers – making Jasper Morrison's Shop the perfect host for its launch during London Design Festival 2025.

Typologie : The Camping Tent, €25, is available to order from collectionstypologie.com

The members of East London-based design collective Heirloom studio were researching the design of medical objects for a catheter design project, when they realised they had quite the collection on their hands.

This marked the beginning into a deep dive into objects that are conceived to be inserted into the body, whether for medical need or pleasure, and culminated into an exhibition to coincide with London Design Festival 2025. Titled 'Out of Orifice' and with an identity and posters by Studio Frith, the small display takes over the studio's office in Mile End.

Out of Orifice: design that goes inside of you

The 36 objects - ranging from catheters to inhalers, retainers and dummies all the way to grills, earbuds and butt plugs - give a magnificent overview of the extensive potential of design and its very tangible impact in our everyday life. It is obvious from looking at the group how important good design is for the world to function on a very detailed, intimate scale.

'The orifices of our bodies are the thresholds at which we meet the outside world,' reads a text from the collective introducing the exhibition. 'They are places of entry and exit; input and output; consumption, emission and exchange.

'These are the gateways between our interior and exterior universe. Some take in the materials we need to live, some are outlets for waste, some are erogenous zones, and some are all three and more.'

On the oval table, the objects are arranged from the medical to the pleasurable, with an emergency Nasopharyngeal Airway as the first item you encounter, all the way to a lollipop at the end. Curiously, the medical objects are all in shades of white and light blue, or teal, while the objects designed for pleasure are pink (a perineal massage wand) or bright fuchsia (a vibrator).

'Blue is a psychologically calming colour,' explains studio member Yemima Lorberbaum. 'These are objects you either choose to use, or have to use. This led us to notice how ones you choose are always looking quite fun, and wondering why can't we inject some of that in the objects you have to use? It has been a positive experience for us as a studio to explore this language, and we have loved how people have reacted and what conversations these objects have sparked.'

Shown on a neutral stage, however, the objects, even the most intrusively medical ones, end up appearing quite friendly, perhaps thanks to their no-nonsense, streamlined design.

Accompanying the exhibition are a series of colourful posters by Kerr, typographic exercises where some of the objects instructions are taken in isolation: 'Chew thoroughly', 'Stop at resistance', 'Lubricate if needed', they read.

Dubbed by the studio 'an eclectic catalogue of insertables,' the small display is cheerful as it is educational - both for visitors and the studio themselves.

'The fun projects [we do] and the functional ones inform each other, you can't design in isolation,' continues Lorberbaum. 'But the objects we put in our bodies end up being the more humane'

5 Tredegar Mews, E3 5AF

Japanese craft retailer Nakagawa has made its European debut in London, designed by Jones Neville with graphics by A Practice for Everyday Life.

Nakagawa, which can trace its roots back to 1716, stocks stylish household items made by more 800 artisans around Japan – from aprons and tea-sets to brooms and bento boxes – all designed to age gracefully with use.

The brand already has more than 60 directly managed stores in Japan, with pop-ups popping up in Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul.

Inside Nakagawa's London pop-up

The 10-month pop-up in Shoreditch follows on from a shop at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, designed by Yosuke Hayashi of Tokyo-based design studio, which opened in 2024. There, the display system comprised a collection of vermillion wooden volumes resembling oversized trunks.

Jones Neville, which straddles furniture-making, product and exhibition design, and architecture, was asked to make a shop in this bijou 5msq space that related to its surroundings.

'They wanted it to feel in context in London,' says co-founder Simon Jones. The client showed them one of the brand’s famous patterned dish cloths made from mosquito netting, folded into four with a diagonal stitch line.

Jones and Jack Neville took that module concept as a starting point for their design, and combined its geometry with the Victorian octagonal bandstand in nearby Boundary Garden, a local symbol of community and cultural gathering.

For the layout, they overlaid these two shapes. Around the edge of the room, they built and installed a low plinth in an octagon, with wall panels hiding storage and display shelves. And in the centre, there’s an octagon table, displaying more wares.

The cork floor echoes the same modular grid system, with some of them into triangles. As a result, the floor has the same square pattern with a diagonal seam as the dish cloth, and relates to the facets of the octagons.

The north London-based duo lined the room with joinery, to make it square, and added storage in the alcoves. The sales counter is angled at 45 degrees, and behind that they turned a little stock room into a changing room.

Rather than ape Japanese joinery, which is typically cedar or cypress, Jones Neville sourced sycamore, with its pale tone and even grain, from Warwickshire in England’s West Midlands. This was used for the worktops, central table and storage doors. 'It seems like an appropriate nod to the quietness of Japanese joinery,' Jones says of the sycamore.

A Practice for Everyday Life hand-painted the shop signage onto the back of the fan light above the shop door and onto a wall panel inside.

In Shoreditch, around 500 items will be on show, including textiles, ceramics, kitchenware, home accessories, and clothing. Part of the pop-up are two limited-edition dish cloth designs inspired by the nearby Columbia Road Flower Market, which will be exclusive to this store. They are a rendition of Nakagawa's famous Hana-Fukin dishcloths, originally derived from mosquito net fabric and ideal for modern kitchens for their lightweight, quick-drying, highly absorbent material.

The pop-up will also host workshops in tea ceremony, kintsugi (golden repair), and traditional ice shaving.

The pop-up is open until July 2026. Tuesday–Saturday 11:00–18:00, Sunday 11:00-17:00
16c Calvert Avenue, Shoreditch, London E2 7JP

RDI designers Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd take comfort seriously. Over their 28-year career, they’ve designed everything from award-winning office chairs to airline seats and hearing aids – where comfort and ergonomics are non-negotiable. So when they were tasked by furniture brand Cozmo with creating a high-back sofa that makes you feel held, their design process, they reveal, was as rigorous as it was tactile.

Launching today at London Design Festival 2025, the appropriately named ‘Hug’ sofa was created in collaboration with Cozmo founder Jacob Peres, who singled out Pearson Lloyd as the ultimate connoisseurs of comfort for the project.

‘Exploring high-back design was an obvious brief for us, even though it’s often overlooked in contemporary, design-led furniture,' explains Peres. 'Low, slim profiles are easier to achieve, with appealing proportions, but we wanted to take on the challenge. Pearson Lloyd were the perfect partners. They combine first-class design innovation, beauty, and style with a real depth of ergonomic knowledge.’

The making of the ‘Hug’ high-backed sofa

The process to create ‘Hug’ began not at the drawing board, but on the workshop floor, where at their first meeting, in July 2024, Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd showed Peres a ‘Frankenstein-like’ wooden structure with moving parts. ‘Hand sketching often focuses on the search for aesthetic, material or constructional ideas,’ explains Tom Lloyd. ‘In this case, we started with the idea of comfort, which is a very physical thing. The use of foams and fabrics to create comfort and the exploration of posture and ergonomics is clearly challenging to explore or convey through drawing.

‘We also wanted the look of the sofa to reflect the comfort that we were trying to establish, he continues. ‘So we let the design as much as possible reflect these early experiments. In a similar way to creating a beautiful coat, it is a form of tailoring that cannot be left to the end of the design process.’

As the design started to emerge, full-scale mock-ups gave the designers ‘immediate feedback’ on the ergonomics of the design. The secret to the sofa’s embrace-like feel, Lloyd explains, lies in its high back – ‘much higher than other contemporary upholstery’ – so that it cradles the back, neck and head.

Meanwhile, its exaggerated lumbar support is integrated within the back – a feature that 'shaped the entire design direction', according to Peres. 'We realised early on that comfort should be visible,' he remembers. 'The proportions, the posture of the sofa, the way it holds itself, even the way the textile wrinkles over feathers – all of that should communicate comfort before you even sit down.'

To achieve the perfect balance between support and softness, its frame is made of webbed steel packed with varying densities of foam, memory foam and a feather quilt. Unlike much traditional upholstery, which is stretched tight and stapled into place, the fabric treatment for 'Hug' is handled in a looser and freer way. ‘It feels more like a piece of clothing draped onto a body,' says Lloyd. 'This also makes it much easier for the customer to remove jackets for cleaning or replacement later.’

During LDF, 'Hug' will be displayed at ‘Comfort Lab’, an exhibition at Shoreditch’s Wax Building that documents the designers' scrupulous research, design and development process, complete with all of the early scale models as well as the full-size prototypes. Alongside this, Cozmo has created a film that captures the process.

The showcase promises to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the amount of work and research that goes into making a sofa, and crucially, sample the results for themselves. 'For me, it proved that a focused brief and true creative exploration can achieve something remarkable,' concludes Peres. 'Comfort and design don’t just coexist – they inform each other. And that’s what makes this collaboration so exciting.'

'Comfort Lab by Pearson Lloyd' and the launch of 'Hug' can be seen on the 2^nd floor of WAX, 4 Garden Walk, London EC2A 3EQ during London Design Festival, 13 – 21 September 2025

mycozmo.com
pearsonlloyd.com

Extremely pleasing teapots, tactile mugs, and all manner of other cosy-yet-delicate China tableware: Feldspar has spent the past decade perfecting the everyday object. Now the Devon studio is scaling up its craft, unveiling its first furniture collection at Lindsey Ingram gallery during London Design Festival 2025.

Feldspar furniture debut

A culmination of pieces developed over several years, the collection includes a dining table, side tables, a bench, a floor lamp and the possibility of a cheval mirror. All made in Feldspar’s workshop on the Devon cider farm in Dartmoor, where Cath and Jeremy Brown moved to leaving their 'unfulfilling' jobs in London back in 2016, it is a natural progression of the brand’s ethos of enduring and endearing design that makes the everyday feel special.

As with the Feldspar ceramics, all the materials used are local and sustainable. 'The wood is storm-felled and sourced from a farmer – also a family friend – just down the road from us.' Among the selection are unusual timbers with striking visual character. 'There’s some beautiful burr oak, some elm, sycamore and yew, which is amazing, like a ripple ice cream, with these big swirls through it.'

Some pieces were gifts of wood too precious to ignore. Jeremy recalls a small section of rippled sycamore 'as rare as hen’s teeth', which he transformed into a miniature bench. The new furniture carries that same spirit: finding the beauty in the materials and coaxing out forms that are as sculpted as they are constructed.

The process, however, is anything but effortless. 'The dining table has taken over a month to make,' says Jeremy. 'Obviously when you sculpt clay, it’s pretty immediate, and then you have drying and kilns. With wood, I couldn’t move my hands after sculpting the table!' He describes long days of sanding, planing and chiselling until the motions followed him into his dreams. 'You’ll close your eyes at night and you’ll just see the chisel going through the grain.'

The pressure to succeed the first time is great, unlike in ceramics, where clay can always be reconstituted. 'With wood, one slip at the very finishing stages and you can mess things up. But that length of production time really means that you get into it. You feel that piece. It has its own character.'

For Jeremy, who trained as a boatbuilder before founding Feldspar, walking the line between high-stakes precision and meditative craft is familiar. Boatbuilding demanded millimetre accuracy; furniture making demands a similar respect for material, scale and finish.

Still, Feldspar’s signature sense of play persists. Not everything is destined to be a table or lamp. Jeremy talks about making a full-sized table football set for his son, or perhaps a pinball machine one day.

Even within the collection itself, surprises abound. A heavy-looking table reveals a delicately carved underside, hidden from view until touched. A bench that looks archetypal — four legs and a seat — turns out to be 'glass smooth' to the touch.

Feldspar’s aesthetic has always had a subtle wobble to it - the look of having been drawn by a child - and that wonkiness is exactly the point. 'I’d prefer to make someone smile than think, ‘oh isn’t this clever’,' he says. 'We don’t want things to be intimidating.'

For the collection’s floor lamp – in ceramic – Feldspar partnered with Bath-based lighting designer Eloise Scotland. 'When you see her shades in real life, they steal the show,' Jeremy enthuses. 'With the floor lamp we’re using the ceramic base, a brass shaft, and then on top sits this giant fabric orb. It’s like a cool blue mist colour, very light blue, almost beige blue, with our cobalt blue running up the inside rib.'

Really it’s just a taster, the start of a conversation, says Jeremy. 'When we launched Feldspar, we planned to launch ceramics in the first quarter, and then in the second quarter get onto the furniture, and then by the end of the year there’d have been glassware and cutlery and loads of things. And, yeah, it’s taken a while to get there, but now we’re finally ready to start showing them.'

The guiding principle remains unchanged: to make objects for life that people use, rather than just have for display. But by its nature, you can’t get hold of that much storm-felled wood, so everything will be special, unique, and made to order. A production line it is not. (That said, the Browns are already fielding orders from major hospitality brands for the new designs.)

They also really do want everything to be passed on to the next generation, but even that is not enough in itself, he explains. 'It has to create a feeling. Essentially, we’re trying to create these magical moments for people in their lives. We’re serious. We’re doing it seriously, we’re doing it as well as we can with the best materials. But at the end of the day I’d prefer to make someone smile.'

Lyndsey Ingram, 20 Bourdon St, London W1K 3PJ

A stone’s throw from Hyde Park in west London, an elegant post-war townhouse turns into an unusual exhibition space for London Design Festival this year. Both family home and work studio of ceramicist Emma Louise Payne, the building becomes an immersive showcase of crafted design pieces for ‘The Objects We Live By’ (13–21 September 2025).

'The Objects We Live By': design and everyday life

Bringing together the work of nine makers, the curated group exhibition places one object in each room of the house, inviting the visitor to explore design in a natural domestic setting.

'Every room is activated – from the basement studio up to the attic,’ says Payne. Named Seventy-Six, the five-storey house in Paddington is ‘a place designed to accommodate both work and family,’ she adds. ‘The fact that it is a domestic setting, as well as a commercial space, adds to the theatre of this exhibition and helps demonstrate how design is a part of our everyday lives. The whole point is to see how design pieces sit within a real, lived-in environment, with all the quirks and compromises of a family home.’

Work on show includes a colourful hand-tufted rug with striking geometrical design by Granite + Smoke in collaboration with rug maker Roger Oates Design, a wooden stool with hand-painted aluminium inlays by London-based Studio B.C. Joshua, and molten glass table lamps by glassware studio Gather.

The Tides collection by artist Nat Maks and designer Brogan Cox – sycamore tables dipped in colourful marbled ink – are also featured, after a successful debut at London Craft Week earlier this year.

Other makers featured include Los Angeles-based designer and artist Daniel Mullin, industrial design studio Atelier Thirty Four, Newcastle-based designer David Irwin and Payne herself – showcasing everything from sculptural vases and lighting to candlesticks and tableware.

‘I invited friends and collaborators with distinct practices, from furniture to textiles to hybrid art and design,’ says Payne. ‘There is a mix of artisans I have worked with before, and then others who I have long admired and now relish the opportunity to collaborate with. Each designer offers something unique and has been chosen for a specific room, so their work feels at home in the space.’

Focusing on design in a domestic setting, rather than a white-cube gallery space, allows the visitor to understand how objects take on lives after they are made, and play a role in ours.

‘Our homes are portraits of our lives,’ says Payne. ‘They contain souvenirs from holidays, inherited oddities, practical purchases, and design pieces we can’t live without.’ How and where we place these objects around a house, she adds, ‘signals something about how we live and what we value’.

‘The Objects We Live By’ is on show at Seventy-Six, 76 Sussex Square, London W2 2SS from 13 to 21 September 2025. Find out more at londondesignfestival.com