‍

London Design Festival returns for its 24th edition, running 12–20 September 2026, transforming the capital into a nine-day celebration of architecture, craft and technology. With eleven design districts spread across the city, there's an incredible amount to see and explore, from east to west. This weekend is your last chance to catch it so if you’re looking for inspiration for your next shoot. Here are some of our highlights put together by Monde correspondent Justyna Szymanska.

‍

‍

BROMPTON DESIGN DISTRICT

‍
London's original design district, running since 2006, returns for a second year under curator Alex Tieghi-Walker, whose 2026 theme, Perfectly Imperfect, puts the emotional value of furniture, homeware and collectibles centre stage through a series of pop-up exhibitions and installations.

‍

‍

Alex Tieghi-Walker own presentation of this year's programme, The Reading Room is an ode to queer design and creative history in the city which sits somewhere between library and exhibition. Parented with Soho’s iconic Tenderbooks is showacases  furniture, objects, books and printed matter all meant to be used rather than just looked at. Behind it is a lineup of queer artists and designers: Nicolas Zanoni, Rich Aybar, Joe Sweeney, Tino Seubert, Zack Toppin and Henry Svendson.

36 Thurloe Place, SW7 2HP
Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am - 4:00pm
tiwa-select.com

‍

Rafael Prieto: On the Sunset, Which is Only One is a presentation At which centre are six sculptural chairs by Rafael Prieto's design studio, Savvy (@savvystudio), each tuned to a different position of the sun. Instead of one sunset, you get six distinct encounters with the same phenomenon, a nod to the idea that perception itself is never singular. Alongside them sit Marrow lights by Loup Sarion and Rafael Prieto, and work from Laila Gohar, Connie Vallese Pierre Marie Agin, Kadri Cashmere and Casa Bosques Chocolate. Furniture, light and art come together in one space, built simply for gathering and conversation.

‍

4 Cromwell Place, SW7 2JE
‍Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am - 4:00pm
savvy-studio.net

‍

Photography: Will Edgecombe

‍

Among other special mentions are Our Parlour is an immersive domestic space hosted by four Igbo women working across design, art direction, photography and food. At its centre is Nchọ, Zoë Chinonso Ene's heirloom take on the traditional Igbo strategy game, designed as a good reason to gather. Inspired by the Nigerian parlour, where families eat, talk and pass down stories, the space runs a week of game nights, conversations, workshops, performance, vinyl sets and communal dining. Nchọ boards sit alongside vessels, scents and sounds by Chinasa Chukwu, photography by Christina Nwabugo and food by Ogochukwu Igwilo.

A Veiled Boundary is a solo presentation from designer Jesse Butterfield, featuring a considered set of metal stools alongside a series of paper and metal lamps. Working partially from the studio and partially on location, a decision that let him respond directly to the space itself, tuning each piece's form and scale to its surroundings rather than imposing a fixed design onto the room. The result is a body of work that feels built for its site: proportion, material and light calibrated in situ, so the presentation reads less like objects placed in a space and more like something that grew out of it.‍

Founded by Isamaya Ffrench, Studio Iron is a concept store and cultural platform for a new era of design, bringing together emerging and established artists distinguished by their approach to craft, material intelligence and form. For Brompton's Perfectly Imperfect theme, Studio Iron puts bold contemporary voices in dialogue with craftsmanship, fine art and collectible design, celebrating what happens when different practices, perspectives and materials collide. The lineup: Andu Masebo, Anoe Melliou, Apoli, Atelier Formenta, Atelier Moore x Camille Cabanes, Barnaby Lewis, Buchanan Studio, CJ Aslan, Completed Works, Cruda, Gast Studios, Jane Wright, Jesse Butterfield, Jude x Aya, Kelly Wearstler x ARCA, Kouros Maghsoudi, Marten Herma Anderson, Pannorammma, Paul Coenen, Phil Hale, Robin Hunter Blake, Thomas Cardiff, Wretched Flowers and Yaz_XL.

‍

4 Cromwell Place, SW7 2JE
‍Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am - 4:00pm
homenka.com
jessebutterfield.org
‍studio-iron.com

‍

‍

SHOREDITCH DESIGN WEEK

LDF's largest district has had a glow-up, evolving from the long-running Shoreditch Design Triangle into a six-day showcase spanning over 100 showrooms, galleries and studios across East London.

‍

‍

‍

Béton Brut's LDF showcase is the Masur Edition by Isokon, a fresh take on four Marcel Breuer designs in rare masur birch veneer. Marking 90 years since Breuer's originals for Isokon, it revisits his experimental use of veneer and pushes back on the idea that these pieces only ever came in unfinished birch plywood. Handmade in small batches at Isokon's East London workshop, the range includes the Cut-Out Armchair, Cut-Out Chair, Isokon Nesting Tables and Isokon Dining Table. Presented exclusively by Béton Brut, it'll sit alongside the gallery's vintage collection and new work by David Horan.

‍

Unit 2, 30 Felstead Street, E9 5LG
Saturday 11:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday 11:00am - 5:00pm
betonbrut.co.uk
www.isokon.furniture

‍

‍

Christopher Farr's Shoreditch studio hosts 'Progressive Permanence', the first collaborative show between rug producer Christopher Farr and Max Radford Gallery, pairing emerging designers with 20th-century names from Farr's archive. Lewis Kemmenoe's timber-offcut "Quilted Fragments" chairs sit against minimalist green door rugs by Gary Hume; a brutalist stone chair by Carsten in der Elst is placed with a Bauhaus tapestry by Gunta Stölzl; and an orange rubber-and-mesh piece by LS Gomma faces a Louise Bourgeois text work. Gallerist Max Radford describes the rugs and furniture as playing off each other rather than one simply sitting on the other, the point being to put the studio's contemporary roster in dialogue with the "heavy hitters," and make the case that today's names could be tomorrow's classics.

We had the pleasure of attending the talk this past Wednesday, where both parties discussed how different setting up a design practice looks today compared to when Christopher Farr's studio launched his the '80s. Back then, most sales came from direct buyers; today, they're largely initiated by interior designers, a shift they tied to two things: the way social media exposes our living spaces to a far wider audience, turning homes into more of a canvas we set ourselves in front of, and rising property prices, which have pushed designers to focus increasingly on more affluent clients

‍

18 Calvin Street, E2
Saturday 11:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday 11:00am - 5:00pm
maxradfordgallery.com
christopherfarr.com

‍

‍

Village Meeting at Hackney Downs Studios is reimagining it’s gallery space as part of London Design Festival, All Ears (Julia B Lubner & Jan Stawiarski) hosts a group show of collectible design curated by OP-OV (Demi Oyeyinka). Over 30 of London's emerging designers and makers come together to explore how ideas take shape as objects and move into space, through the lens of different disciplines and cultural perspectives. Expect signature pieces and first looks at finished works across furniture, product, materials and spatial design.

Showcasing: Amelia Stevens, Andu Masebo, Annelise Agossa, Anya Glik, Apohli, Arran Gregory, Daniel Swarilov, Ne Pop, Demi Oyeyinka, Deniz Özcan, Ellen Huwy, Gayatri Salkar, Hanna Fastrich, Issi Nanabeyin, Jane Wright, Jesse Butterfield, Julwasjul, Lobna Sana, Milo Kester, Misia Zeslawska, Mo Tong, Nacha Palomeque Coll,
Selin Nisa Açıkel, Sriratmakes, T. Sykes, Valeria Montero, Ylam Deme.
‍

Hackney Downs Studios
17 Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT
Saturday 12:00pm - 6:00pm
Sunday 12:00pm - 5:00pm