Must-sees at Decorex International
(UK) – With new collections from more than 400 brands, Decorex International remains a key destination of London Design Festival for trade professionals.
Visitors can see new products, experience inspiring feature installations and attend a host of talks from esteemed industry professionals.
This year, 120 new companies exhibit for the first time at Decorex. These include a number of lighting brands, such as Hand & Eye Studio, established in 2011 by Tom Housden, who will be launching its A-Beam terracotta light, a striking piece suspended from two bespoke suspension cables. While a former winner of the Lighting Design Association’s Lighting Design Award Tom Raffield will showcase a new collection of steam bent furniture and lighting, including the Archer table light, the Spinnaker ceiling light and the Wheal floor light.
Returning exhibitors include Curiousa & Curiousa, which will unveil its Winter collection including the Caravaggio and the Clock & Dagger ranges. Embracing autumnal colours, the hand-blown glass pendants from Caravaggio are adorned with shimmering Swarovski crystal beaded tassels, while the Clock & Dagger designs showcase sleek, bullet-like glass pendants, with a metallic and leather aesthetic. Tigermoth Lighting will present its new Lattice wall light, featuring a silk douppion shade encased in a delicate metal lattice.
The Seminar Programme continues to provide visitors with an array of insightful and informative talks on topics relevant to the industry. On Monday, renowned furniture designer Tim Gosling with speak in conversation with Design Director at John Cullen Lighting, Sally Story; Joanna Wood, Owner of Joanna Wood Trading, and Campbell Thompson of And So To Bed to discuss the future of British interior design and the luxury market. On Sunday, a panel discussion with Rebecca Weir, Creative Director of Light IQ, Charlotte Rowe, Owner of Charlotte Rowe Garden Design and Tom Pike, Architect at Giles Pike Architects, will discuss how the interior designer, architect and garden designer all collaborate to create a garden the client desires.
A feature not to be missed is Future Heritage – a celebration of the names to collect in British contemporary craft – curated by applied arts and design critic, Corinne Julius. Fourteen makers will be producing new works exclusively for this year’s show, including Vezzini & Chen’s Dive In, a bespoke lighting installation where glass ‘bubbles’ run across the wall as if rising to the surface from the deep, and Tangent’s Inaho, an interior lighting inspired by golden ears of rice swaying in the wind. Light from LEDs is cast in dots, reminiscent of paddy rice, through perforated tubes attached to narrow stems.
A new feature this year is Crafthouse – a series of interactive roomsets exploring the notion of daily rituals (Eating, Bathing, Sleeping and Working), presented by The New Craftsmen. Within the Bathing roomset, glass artist Jochen Holz will explore the possibilities of laboratory glass, showing a new lighting feature with neon gas and water pouring vessels.
Other features to look out for include the main entrance, this year curated by Tim Gosling, who has worked with the archives of the V&A and the Frederick Parker Collection, to present an impressive exhibition called ‘The Heritage of Chair Making’, working with the likes of Anya Hindmarch, Jo Malone and Sir Paul Smith. Design studio, 1508 London, will create a classically inspired champagne bar, while the Food Market and Syon Estate restaurant, will provide visitors with a choice of the finest cuisine and scenic views across Syon Park’s ‘Capability Brown’ designed landscape.
