What to expect from London Design Festival
‘Tis the season to celebrate international design in all its glory at London Design Festival 2022. September is traditionally the month that interior designers, product manufacturers, developers, and independent makers flock to London to gather information on trends, new suppliers and upcoming projects, keeping their fingers on the pulse and their ears to the ground. London is a bonafide epicentre for international taste, investments and design prestige, so if you’re interested in design trends, are embarking on a home renovation or simply love colour, pattern, innovation and all things homeware, here is a little round-up of what to expect from this key calendar date for our industry.
London Design Festival will run from 20th-25th September this year, having been postponed to acknowledge the mourning period in the wake of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It represents and involves the coming together of design companies at several venues and districts across the capital to present new launches, providing privileged access to some of the world’s favourite brands and the teams behind them. From the Brompton Design District to the Shoreditch Design Triangle, the Southwark South to the Pimlico Road Design Districts, London will bubble over with things to do and see. Each year, there are a handful of particularly popular events and exhibitions that draw the crowds, so here is what we’ll be beelining for this week.
Sustainability to start
Presented by DesignSingapore Council, National Design Centre (SG) and V&A, and curated by Hans Tan Studio and Jane Withers Studio, the R for Repair: London x Singapore exhibition offers a reinterpretation of waste and how we can breathe new life into broke objects through design. This exhibition, which will be held at the V&A’s ‘Design 1900 - Now’ division, will include a curation of ten items, each repaired by a designer in a way that highlights the objects’ lives and damage.
While every object will be returned to its rightful owner after the exhibition closes, the stories behind each piece are sure to stay with viewers long after LDF 2022. The narratives imbue each repaired item with a sense of sentimentality, making one pleased to see they have been cared for in this new way. According to the LDF organisers, the exhibition aims to, “[invite] us to rethink the ways in which we, as a society, relate to old and damaged objects and ascribe value to the material items in our lives”
For the Love of London
Full of visual witticisms and unexpected pops of colour, 20 Things: Earl’s Court by designer, Sam Jacob, is a real treat for commuters and design hunters alike. This installation is hiding in plain sight in the firestation, in residential windows and in the Brompton Cemetery; 20 distinct artworks, be they sculptures or paintings, integrated into their environments to serve as a guide, although “not a traditional [one]”, says Jacob, of the area and its cultural history.
One of our favourite things about LDF is that it brightens London up in unexpected and uplifting ways with installations and attention-grabbing public art. Swivel, an interactive exhibition designed by Sabine Marcelis, will take over St Giles Sqare, a public space near Tottenham Court Road, transforming and elevating the empty and industrial backdrop. LDF has called Swivel ‘a playground of seating’ as the installation will comprise marble chairs with raw materials provided by Solid Nature in organic, rich colours. Encouraging Londoners to sit down and exist in the present sounds like a step in the right direction, be it for conversation or quiet reflection.
