This year, 100% Design, the UK’s leading design trade event, celebrates 25 years of introducing some of the industry’s most influential designers, makers and producers. Here, we share five things you won’t want to miss if you’re visiting the show.
This is a big year for 100% Design as it celebrates its 25th anniversary during London Design Festival. Taking place from 18-21st September 2019 at Olympia London, the UK’s leading design trade event will showcase over 400 exhibitors along with the latest products across furniture, lighting, textiles, glazing, surfaces, accessories and more. Over 27,000 visitors, including architects, designers and interiors specialists are expected to visit the show over the course of four days.
Here we round up five things that we are looking forward to seeing at 100% Design this year.
Design Fresh
One of the highlights of the show will be Design Fresh, a platform for emerging talent selected by 100% Design at New Designers, with a further selection by Barbara Chandler, design editor of Homes & Property at the London Evening Standard. Each designer that features in the show has been selected for their explorative ideas, exciting new perspectives and original products.
Colin Wilkes
First on our list of fresh talent to hunt down is Colin Wilkes. Having recently graduated from Plymouth College of Art in the UK with a degree in 3D Design Crafts, Wilkes’ Unify Series unites rugged concrete with delicate blown glass to create enticing mixed media sculptures.
The focus of Wilkes’ current practice is to work in a more sustainable way by continually recycling the materials he uses. He draws on his previous knowledge of moulding techniques that he gained as a concrete finisher to make innovative moulds for hot glass production. These moulds then become part of the finished work and provide a contrast to the vibrant glass.
Benjamin Stanton
Next up is Benjamin Stanton, also exhibiting as part of Design Fresh. Inspired to harness some of the waste products created by the fashion and textile industries, Stanton created a freestanding shelving unit. The frame is made from oak using traditional mortise and tenon joints, while the shelves are corrugated denim boards that have been created from eight compressed layers of discarded denim bound together with bio-resin. Stanton chose to work with denim due to the vast amounts of water used in the growing stage of cotton production, and the fact that recycling denim poses many issues.
“Over 27,000 visitors, including architects, designers and interiors specialists are expected to visit the show over the course of four days.”
Tijana Kostić
Tijana Kostić’s Subversion furniture collection has also been selected for Design Fresh. Having recently completed an MA in design at Central St Martin's, the Serbian designer has created a collection of transformable furniture that takes inspiration from construction and industrial disciplines.
For her design, Kostić has modified standard but immensely strong industrial quick-grip clamps so that they can slide up and down to support table tops in glass or timber at any height and in any size or shape.
Design & Build
Design & Build is a dedicated resourcing show for the architectural build and design industry and brings together high end architecture and interior design. It showcases the latest innovative glazing technology, exterior surfaces, integrated automation technology and more as part of London’s largest and longest running architectural build and design show.
Designer Doorware
At Design & Build we are looking forward to seeing Designer Doorware, an Australian company that specialises in architectural hardware. The Bullet & Stone collection features lever handles and knobs that combine raw concrete with sumptuous metals. The resulting visual and tactile experience allows users to observe both finishes simultaneously, amplifying and bringing to light the contrast between them.
Material Studio
Material Studio is another highlight of 100% Design this year and will showcase 29 innovative materials, many of which have never been shown in the UK before. Created in collaboration with Material Driven, the exhibit will address some of the key issues of our time such as sustainability, performance, energy efficiency, waste, health and wellbeing.
Fernando Laposse
Fernando Laposse immediately stood out to us as someone to watch. He is a Mexican product and material designer who studied Product Design at Central Saint Martin’s and now works between Mexico and London. His work focuses on transforming humble natural materials that are often considered waste into refined design pieces after extensive theoretical and practical research.
On show at Material Studio will be Totomoxtle, a new veneer material made with husks of heirloom Mexican corn. Once cut, ironed and glued onto a paper or textile backing, the husks are reassembled into designs using marquetry techniques, and applied to furniture or interior surfaces.
Totomoxtle focuses on regenerating traditional agricultural practices in Mexico, and creating a new craft that generates income for impoverished farmers and promotes the preservation of biodiversity for future food security.
