Come September, the cool kids flock to one of design’s largest playgrounds, the London Design Festival. The city transforms into a creative juggernaut fuelling both design and art pursuits with over 300 events held across 11 design districts, each championing local community and heritage. We made our way through the buzzing streets, landmark installations, bespoke commissions, iconic collaborations to bring together our top picks from the fair.
Cut Divider by Kouros Maghsoudi
We spotted Iranian American designer Kouros Maghsoudi’s work at Studio Iron (a concept store and gallery by Isamaya Ffrench ) at the Brompton Design District. In line with the theme of the district, Perfectly Imperfect, Alex Tieghi-Walker curated an exhibition bringing together diverse practices and materials creating a space where fine art, collectible design and craftsmanship coexist. Kourous brought his signature hedonistic and playful design sensibilities with the Cut Divider made with recycled aluminium. Borrowing from fashion and metropolitanism, the divider is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the idea of carving out a space.
AB Dining table, CH66 and Dalila from Cassina
Everyone’s favourite, Italian luxury furniture maker, Cassina had a colour-first approach to its showcase with a refined matte lacquered AB Dining table by Aldo Bakker that was poised between furniture and sculpture. This was paired with the reissue of the iconic, Bauhaus inspired CH66 chair in steel and leather by Nicos Zographos. Though our seating of choice would most definitely be Gaetano Pesce’s Dalila, with its bold blue, sculptural aesthetic brought back from Cassina’s historical archive.
Brute Rug in the colour Burgundy Red from MADE featuring striking striped geometric patterns
Daniel Swarilov’s botanical inspired candelabra from his latest series
Jennifer Seastone's stool Dora is a result of a slow, deliberate and laborious process stemming from precise plan and joinery work
Designer Faye Toogood MBE’s latest collection Johnny's minimal aesthetic is characterised by scrunchable paper skin hand-cut and sewn by traditional English shade makers and wrapped around a steel frame
Claudia Surrage and Christian Cowper’s series Plumus is a series of light fixtures that spotlights the subtle texture of the paper, whether illuminated or not
Iranian American designer Kouros Maghsoudi’s Cut Divider made out of recycled aluminium is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the idea of carving out a space
Jan Waterson’s Strata cabinet is crafted from Ash wood with rich ombré tones, once opened, it reveals a cave-like inner space
Named after the famed Iranian vocalist, Delkash marries memory with technology to create a striking curved silhouette that comes alive with the spirit of Iranian lutherie
Strata cabinet by Jan Waterson
It grows on you, the design, the scale and the finish of the Strata cabinet by Jan Waterson at the Charles Burnand gallery. Maybe it was always the objective, the cabinet’s contoured exterior is akin to time-sculpted stone while offering a sense of fluidity through its sinuous curves. Crafted from Ash wood with rich ombré tones, once opened, it reveals a cave-like inner space.
Johnny by Faye Toogood
British artist and designer Faye Toogood MBE once again blurred the lines between art and design with her latest lighting collection, Johnny. Showcased at her studio in Borough, the collection had a decidedly minimalist aesthetic, with the scrunchable paper skin hand-cut and sewn by traditional English shade makers and wrapped around a steel frame.
Dora by Jennifer Seastone
The Blackhorse Design District had its shares of details too with Jennifer Seastone’s woodwork that sat at the intersection of art and furniture. Dora, the stool much like most of her work is a result of a slow, deliberate and laborious process stemming from precise plan and joinery work and is shaped by instinct as much as design.
Candelabra by Daniel Swarilov
Austrian-born, London based artist and maker, Daniel Swarilov works across sculpture, functional objects and jewellery with his practice rooted in casting metal. His latest work ranging from cast reliefs, tableware, candelabras and furniture is inspired from botanical form. Each candelabra in this series begins as something found and is cast in aluminium, bronze, and silver-plated brass. What once reached for the light now holds it almost like a piece of forest brought into the home.
Plumus by Claud Christian
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne based Claudia Surrage and Christian Cowper brought their inspiration from turning fluid but symmetrical forms on the wood lathe to Shoreditch. Made from a wood skeletal frame coated in an off-white laminated parchment paper, Plumus is a series of light fixtures that spotlights the subtle texture of the paper, whether illuminated or not.
AB Dining table, CH66 and Dalila from Cassina Cassina’s showcase featuring Aldo Bakker’s matte lacquered AB Dining table, Bauhaus inspired CH66 chair in steel and leather by Nicos Zographos and Gaetano Pesce’s sculptural Dalila
MADE X Barbican
A brutalist icon, the Barbican is one of London’s best known building complexes, and as a nod to the launch of their collaboration, MADE created an immersive installation in the iconic institution. The collection draws upon archival research, original layouts and the pioneering work of designer Miriam Howitt, the name behind the estate’s most influential interiors. Now 97, Miriam’s timeless interiors have been the inspiration for this collaboration between MADE and Barbican where a selection of 23 pieces have been reimagined as architectural references into a range of furniture, lighting, textiles and accessories.
The Pangolin Shield by Studio Saar and Atelier One
London Design Festival’s landmark project, The Pangolin Shield by Studio Saar and Atelier One is a pavilion formed of recontextualised cane shields from India, underpinned by a bamboo grid. A combination of traditional Indian police shields and "knups" – woven rain shields, traditionally used by farmers in north-east India, were repurposed from their original use to create a comforting space to spark curiosity. Named after the Pangolin, the installation explores colonial legacies, power, ecological exploitation, and the movement of people and beings across borders.
Delkash by Sahand Zeinali
Borrowing from the sacred contours of the Persian Tar and named after the famed Iranian vocalist, Delkash marries memory with technology to create a striking piece of contemporary design. The curved silhouette comes alive with the spirit of Iranian lutherie while the lower vessel becomes an anti-resonant cradle for the driver. The upper chamber arches almost sensuously into an integrated bass reflex horn that projects low frequencies into the room.
