London Design Festival

London Design Festival Next edition: 12-20 September 2026

Discover designers from across the world and join us in celebrating London as a design capital on the global stage.

London Design Festival was launched by Sir John Sorrell CBE and Ben Evans CBE in 2003. Building on London’s existing design activity, their concept was to create an annual event that would promote the city’s creativity, drawing in the country’s greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to a deliver an unmissable celebration of design. The launch of the first Festival took place at Bloomberg on 25 March 2003, with a show of support from design, education, government and London organisations. 20 years later, this vision remains ever strong. In 2019, the Festival welcomed a record-breaking 600,000 individual visitors from over 75 countries. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022, London Design Festival now moves into a new decade, celebrating how it has played a key role in the growth of the design industry, bolstering London’s position as a global destination for business, culture and tourism, and contributed to the UK’s reputation as a creative powerhouse. As one of the world’s leading design events, the Festival has also served as the blueprint for design weeks and festivals globally and continues to be a key moment on the cultural calendar.

13 Sep / Global Design Forum Day 02 / Designing AtmospheresDesign extends beyond what we see. It exists in the atmospher...
08/09/2026

13 Sep / Global Design Forum Day 02 / Designing Atmospheres

Design extends beyond what we see. It exists in the atmospheres we inhabit, the sounds we hear, the materials we touch, and increasingly, mediate and encounter at a distance. Through conversations spanning colour, sound, light, taste and contemporary craft, Day 02 explores how design shapes perception and embodies spatial experiences.

10:30-11:15 – The Shape of Colour
How does colour shape our relationship to space, nature and objects?

Speakers: Lakwena Maciver LAKWENA, Adam Nathaniel Furman Adam Nathaniel Furman, Prof. Anna Franklin, Ruth Lloyd , Benjamin Watkinson Ben Watkinson GF Smith
Moderator: Kassia St. Clair Kassia St. Clair

11:45-12:30 – Activating Objects
What happens when we move beyond preserving objects to experiencing them?

Speakers: Hideki Yoshimoto Tangent Craft x Tech, Francesca Lanzavecchia Francesca Lanzavecchia, Brendan Cormier Brendan Cormier V&A East, Sam Jacob
Moderator: Corinne Julius

12:50-13:35 – L-Acoustics: The Power of Sound
How can sonic thinking help create experiences and spaces that are emotionally resonant, memorable, and deeply engaging?

Speakers: Hollie Buhagiar Hollie Buhagiar, Stephen Dobbie , Kevin Pollard Kevin pollard and Sofia Boarino Sofia Boarino - LOTO
Moderator: Grace Xu Grace X Designs

With thanks to Session Partner L-Acoustics

14:00-14:40 – Panel Talk: FLORA
A conversation exploring how FLORA is building new AI-powered tools and workflows to imagine and create the visual worlds around fashion and design practices.

With thanks to Session Partner FLORA

15:00-15:30 – Bowmore: In conversation with Snarkitecture’s Alex Mustonen and ’s Dr. Calum Fraser

Centred around the launch of the Bowmore Captivo Collection, this conversation explores how material, form, craft and environment shape our relationship with objects and flavour.

Moderator: David Miles

With thanks to Programme Partner The Official page of Bowmore Whisky®
Planning to attend?
🎟️Book your FREE ticket at the link bio
📍V&A South Kensington, Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre

How can materials help redesign the systems that shape how we live? As designers respond to global crises such as resour...
08/09/2026

How can materials help redesign the systems that shape how we live?

As designers respond to global crises such as resource scarcity, environmental damage and social inequality, materials are becoming tools for rethinking how we build equitable relationships with the built environment.

This session explores how architects, designers, material researchers and collectives are transforming approaches to production, reuse and stewardship through regenerative materials, circular economies and new forms of material practice. They ask how design can move beyond extractive models and reshape the built environment through adaptive and regenerative approaches.

Speakers: Sultan AlBadran (Ithra Palm Initiative), Joel De Mowbray YES MAKE, Seetal Solanki Seetal Solanki, Rosa Whiteley Rosa Whiteley & Ananya Singhal Studio Saar
Moderator: Samta Nadeem Samta Nadeem STIR

With thanks to our Session Partner Ithra | إثراء

Interested in material futures and regenerative design? This one’s for you!
Global Design Forum is FREE to attend. Book your tickets via the link in bio

Day 03 / Session 04
After Extraction
13:50-14:35pm
Monday 14 September
Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington

Co-curated by Carrie Chan Carrie Chan and Kristian Volsing Kristian Volsing 🏳️‍🌈, V&A x LDF26: Awakenings takes a critic...
08/09/2026

Co-curated by Carrie Chan Carrie Chan and Kristian Volsing Kristian Volsing 🏳️‍🌈, V&A x LDF26: Awakenings takes a critical approach to one of the most contentious issues of our time, bringing together artists and designers exploring how design, technology and craft shape ecology, cultural representation, movement, spirituality and materiality.

Threading through the V&A’s permanent collections, the site-specific installations invite visitors to question how our material and digital worlds are evolving, and what it means for how we understand ourselves.

The programme features work by Linda Dounia Rebeiz Linda Dounia Rebeiz, Henry Svendsen Henry Svendsen, Sam Ghantous sam ghantous, Intoart’s Andre Williams, Nina Davis Nina Davies and Albert Yonathan Setyawan , alongside new commissions by Aziza Kadyri Aziza Kadyri, Eunjo Lee Eunjo Lee 이은조 and V&A Emerging Designer 2026 Playfool Playfool.

Sitting down with Chan and Volsing, we discuss the concepts behind Awakenings, the forces shaping its diverse installations, and how design, craft and technology can spark new perspectives on our collective future.

Swipe through to explore the exhibiting artists and hit the link in bio to read the full interview.

V&A x LDF26: Awakenings
📍Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL
🧭 Brompton Design District
📅12 September -18 October

Curators: Carrie Chan Kristian Volsing 🏳️‍🌈,
Producers: Katya Spiers Faunsia Tucker

*Three individual projects were co-curated by .herman & Louis Copplestone

📸 your golf course made my GPU by Sam Ghantous

📸 Nadime’s Garden Still by Linda Dounia Rebeiz

📸 The Server by Playfool

📸 Image Syncers by Nina Davies

📸 Time After Time by Andre Williams

📸 Sender Unknown by Aziza Kadyri

📸 Metamorphic Modulation by Albert Yonathan Setayawan

📸 When the Void Gazes Back by Eunjo Lee

📸 Lovers Hold by Henry Svendsen

07/09/2026

⏰ 5 days to go! The countdown to is officially on – and our full Partner Programme is now live.

Over nine days, our partners will bring more than 300 events to locations across London, from exhibitions and installations to open studios, workshops, talks, product launches and much more.

Across 11 Design Districts, discover a diverse programme bringing together emerging and established designers, exploring everything from material intelligence and digital futures to regenerative design and the power of craft.

Head to our website to explore what’s on and check out our festival map!

📌 Planning your visit? Don’t forget to use our ‘My Programme’ feature to save your favourite events and curate your own festival itinerary.

‘For a modernist building, it’s quite extravagant; the gold dancing down the front of the façade is so delicate against ...
07/09/2026

‘For a modernist building, it’s quite extravagant; the gold dancing down the front of the façade is so delicate against the hardness of the concrete. But then this is architecture that flows, enabled by the articulation of the angles on the façade, a kind of soft brutalism,’ says Jane Lock-Smith, Managing Director at cube_design.

Originally opened in 1905 and redesigned in 1967 by George Anthony Wilson Brandeth, The Imperial has had a distinguished presence on Russell Square. Since 2016, Lock-Smith has led an extensive programme of restoration, uncovering and preserving the building’s original character while shaping a new chapter for the landmark.

From its V-shaped bays and gold mosaic tiling to elements recovered from the original hotel, The Imperial brings together layers of its past with a contemporary approach to hospitality, rooted in its distinctive character.

Following its reopening last month, we caught up with Lock-Smith to explore The Imperial’s involvement with and the story behind its restoration.

Swipe through to explore The Imperial Bloomsbury and head to the link in bio to read the full feature.

📍The Imperial, 61 – 66 Russell Square, WC1B 5BB

📅12-20 September

✍🏻 Tamsin Kingswell

🔴 13 Sep / Global Design Forum Day 02 / Designing AtmospheresDesign extends beyond what we see. It exists in the atmosph...
07/09/2026

🔴 13 Sep / Global Design Forum Day 02 / Designing Atmospheres

Design extends beyond what we see. It exists in the atmospheres we inhabit, the sounds we hear, the materials we touch, and increasingly, mediate and encounter at a distance. Through conversations spanning colour, sound, light, taste and contemporary craft, Day 02 explores how design shapes perception and embodies spatial experiences.

10:30-11:15 – The Shape of Colour
How does colour shape our relationship to space, nature and objects?

Speakers: Lakwena Maciver LAKWENA, Adam Nathaniel Furman Adam Nathaniel Furman, Prof. Anna Franklin, Ruth Lloyd , Benjamin Watkinson Ben Watkinson GF Smith
Moderator: Kassia St. Clair Kassia St. Clair

11:45-12:30 – Activating Objects
What happens when we move beyond preserving objects to experiencing them?

Speakers: Hideki Yoshimoto Tangent Craft x Tech, Francesca Lanzavecchia Francesca Lanzavecchia, Brendan Cormier Brendan Cormier V&A East, Sam Jacob
Moderator: Corinne Julius

12:50-13:35 – L-Acoustics: The Power of Sound
How can sonic thinking help create experiences and spaces that are emotionally resonant, memorable, and deeply engaging?

Speakers: Hollie Buhagiar Hollie Buhagiar, Stephen Dobbie , Kevin Pollard Kevin pollard and Sofia Boarino Sofia Boarino - LOTO
Moderator: Grace Xu Grace X Designs

With thanks to Session Partner L-Acoustics

14:00-14:40 – Panel Talk: FLORA
A conversation exploring how FLORA is building new AI-powered tools and workflows to imagine and create the visual worlds around fashion and design practices.

With thanks to Session Partner FLORA

15:00-15:30 – Bowmore: In conversation with Snarkitecture’s Alex Mustonen and ’s Dr. Calum Fraser

Centred around the launch of the Bowmore Captivo Collection, this conversation explores how material, form, craft and environment shape our relationship with objects and flavour.

Moderator: David Miles

With thanks to Programme Partner The Official page of Bowmore Whisky®

Planning to attend?
🎟️Book your FREE ticket at the link bio
📍V&A South Kensington, Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre

presents While I Sat To Make Life by ROMANI HOME from 14–21 September as part of .Marking the studio’s London debut, t...
06/09/2026

presents While I Sat To Make Life by ROMANI HOME from 14–21 September as part of .

Marking the studio’s London debut, the new collection is inspired by Jarrar’s journey through pregnancy into early motherhood.

Consisting of six pieces, the collection explores the dualities of motherhood and womanhood: vulnerability and power, movement and stillness, surrender and grounding. Working primarily in bronze, oak and stone, Jarrar brings together contrasting materials she describes as holding memory, with the maker’s hand left visible in each finished piece.

Discover the limited-edition pieces this September!

While I Sat To make Life
📅 14-20 September
🧭 Mayfair Design District
📍 14A Hay Hill, Mayfair, London, W1J 8NT

🔺Explore the full programme at londondesignfestival.com

YDF Interiors, a curated design destination and interiors showroom, joins with two events exploring light, material & ...
06/09/2026

YDF Interiors, a curated design destination and interiors showroom, joins with two events exploring light, material & design.

On 15 September, enjoy an evening with Gabriele Chiave, the creative mind behind Contardi Lighting’s Alma collection and discover Alain Ellouz Paris’ latest alabaster creations on 17 September – both exclusively presented at their Brompton showroom.

💡A Conversation on Light & Design
📅 15 September 6pm-9pm
🎟️ Free to attend – RSVP required

💡Where Stone Becomes Light
📅 17 September 6pm-9pm
🎟️ Free to attend – RSVP required

📍 70 Brompton Rd, London, SW3 1ER

🔺Explore the full programme at londondesignfestival.com

‘The body language of The Vertebra has the Caged or Carried theme embedded in it. The binary tension between the two mat...
05/09/2026

‘The body language of The Vertebra has the Caged or Carried theme embedded in it. The binary tension between the two materials becomes a sketch of new tectonic thinking in an object,’ says Stella Qiao, ESTRA’s Head of Communication.

ESTRA first exhibition, Caged or Carried, explores a question posed by Founder Philip Chung: could the value of an object be determined by structural truth and its interaction with time, rather than branding, narrative or surface?

The answer takes the form of The Vertebra, a handbag prototype where the structure comes first and is placed externally. Combining a 6061 aluminium alloy frame with semi-aniline leather, the design explores the contrast between the two.

Visitors are invited to physically engage with the prototype before casting their vote: Caged or Carried, with the exhibition leaving space for each viewer’s own interpretation and experience.

Ahead of ESTRA’s debut at , we spoke to the team about the ideas shaping The Vertebra, the questions it raises around value and structure, and their vision for taking this tectonic concept to the wider design community.

Swipe through to explore The Vertebra and head to the link in bio to read the full feature.

04/09/2026

Planning your itinerary? 💥

From 12–20 September, 11 Design Districts will bring London’s creative neighbourhoods to life, with Design District Days, late-night openings, exhibitions, talks, installations, parties and more.

So, clear your calendars and save the dates – there’s plenty to explore across the city.

📅 Sat 12 Sept – Park Royal Design District

📅 Mon 14 Sept – Mayfair Design District

📅 Tue 15 Sept – Shoreditch Design Week

📅 Wed 16 Sept – Fleet Street Quarter, Bankside Design District & Soho Design District

📅 Thur 17 Sept – Brompton Design District , Chelsea Design District & EC1 Design District

📅 Sat 19 Sept – Blackhorse Creates & Dalston to Stokey Design District

🔺Explore what’s on and create your programme at londondesignfestival.com

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