London Design Week 2018
EXPRESSIONS OF INDIVIDUALITY
Upbeat, vibrant and more creative than ever, London Design Week 2018 saw key influencers and decision-makers converge on Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour for an exhilarating week of inspiration, experiential events and exchange of ideas. Embodying this season’s playful, assured collections, the show acted as a dynamic barometer of global design today. Established makers and luxury brands came together to celebrate interiors that brim with personality, sharing their stories and exploring new patterns and colours with a design-savvy crowd, while further visible expressions of imagination were evident in the new ‘Legends’ window displays. The Canvas of Creativity installation, filling the Centre Dome with giant paintbrushes encapsulated the daring, layered approach to decoration that is in the ascent.
LEGENDS
With the capacity to surprise and delight, over 40 showrooms took part in ‘Legends’ – a celebration of creative collaborations. Showroom windows and showcases were transformed for London Design Week 2018 by international tastemakers from the realms of design and decoration, art, fashion and architecture.
The new initiative generated a feast of eye-catching displays which acted as a voyage of discovery for visitors in both the domes and Design Centre East. After much deliberation, the winner – judged by Gabby Deeming, decoration director of House & Garden, and Martina Mondadori Sartogo, editor of Cabana – was de Le Cuona’s homage to two great Impressionist masterpieces: ‘Woman with a Parasol’ by Claude Monet and ‘Dancers in Blue’ by Edgar Degas.
Highly commended went to: Loewe/Morris and Co’s Capsule Collection at Style Library; Colony’s collaboration with Lambart & Browne’s Freddy van Zevenbergen; and Vaughan’s homage to Diana Vreeland.
CONNECT, CONVERSE, CREATE
In recognition of the design community’s sociable nature, convivial pop-up restaurants and cafés were an essential component of London Design Week 2018. Devised by creative director Arabella McNie, they punctuated and enhanced the show with the season’s most influential looks.
Art Deco-inspired details set the tone for the elegant atmosphere of the FT How to Spend It Restaurant – a new collaboration with the luxury magazine, while the informal South Dome Deli showed glorious pastel prints on the perimeter walls. With one-third of all the showrooms now situated in Design Centre East, the Design Hub – the ground-floor space linking it to the domes – became one of the buzziest spots.
Thanks to its redesign for the show, it was a spring-like arbour of pretty purple wisteria. On the third floor, Perky Blenders kept London Design Week 2018 up and running with its speciality grade coffee in Design Space.
ONLINE ON TREND
Millions of users go online for a regular dose of creativity to stay on the pulse of original design ideas. The London Design Week 2018 Blog Award was given to the best post that summed up the show’s theme – the rise of individuality and creative expression. Edinburgh-based designer Mairi Helena’s insightful report picked up on trends such as bright pastels and nature-inspired prints, and enthused about the ‘Legends’ showroom windows and the power of collaboration. The judges were Jenny Gibbs from KLC School of Design, lifestyle journalist Fiona McCarthy and Scott Maddux of Maddux Creative, all of whom felt that the informative writing was balanced with visual flair. Read the full article here.
GETTING SOCIAL
We know that interior inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere but when it comes to visual content, it is hardly a surprise that the design community loves Instagram – the platform is a tempting smorgasbord of delights. The growing popularity of the photo-based app, which now boasts 800 million users, is getting more engagement that any other platform in the industry, making avid followers aware of the beauty, power and diversity of design, whether it be wayfinding or experiential. London Design Week 2018 saw a huge rise in visitors sharing their discoveries at the show and favourite ‘Legends’ windows. For more design inspiration, news and images every day, be part of the conversation and follow the Design Centre’s authoritative social media channels @designcentrech. There's a reason it is called social media, after all.
Companies
Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour
- Interior Design